Dig out the picnic basket (the earplugs, too). And settle in for some summer fireworks, flowers of the sky.

During the summer months more than half of North Carolina heads for the coast (joined by surf-pilgrims from landlocked states nearby: Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio). Wilmington

Hope, excitement, even affection…these can be drummed up. Not so with awe. Awe must be handed to you.

Thank you, Theo Bosboom.

We stumbled on images of his Flowerscapes in PetaPixel , a spot where VERY serious photographers share trade secrets. Bosboom’s expertise with lighting,

Do flower choices announce how you voted?

We’re supposed  have a secret ballot in the U.S., but the flowers and vegetables in our yards may make a sham of it.

According to George Ball, the president of the giant seed company W. Atlee Burpee, the

Two pot-hothouse tenders use their good intentions— flower growing—as defense.

Two middle-aged women were arrested last July (2006) when police in Peterborough, England, found them watering about 500 marijuana plants growing under high-powered lights in a well ventilated “city house.” Ai Y Huang and A

Our friend Zelma Mason disparaged them as “railroad lilies.” We’ve since heard a bigger put down: ”ditch lily”—which is only slightly kinder than George Bush’s moniker for Karl Rove.

We grew up with Hemerocallis fulva but never would have called them that. They were “tiger

Royal botanical porcelain would make a nice gift—for somebody else. (Just don’t put it through the dishwasher.)

The best gifts are free or longed for – that’s our view, anyway – so please to take us off your to-do list this or any season.

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