A profusion of pink roses bending ragged in the wind speaks to me of all gentleness and it enduring.
– William Carlos Williams, American poet, from The Collected Later Poems of William Carlos Williams

I have been so busy with work, business travel, trying to wrap up finishing the edits to my novel and my book’s dust jacket, and the end-of-school-year activities that always bunch of in the last month or two that I’ve neglected blogging. I’ve been meaning to write more blogs in May and now it’s a month later since my last blog. Now we are full bore into summer! And I can’t wait any longer, even if it means losing sleep to post.

The first dahlia bloom of the season.

As you know, for the last several years I have donated weekly summer bouquets to our children’s schools’ auctions. This year, emboldened by planting several dozen dahlia bulbs in early spring, I made donations to both Jacob’s high school and Isabella’s middle school, which she’ll be enrolling as a student in the fall. I thought about donating for her last year of elementary school, but I wisely decided that three bouquets might be pushing it, especially with the ongoing drought.

A magenta dahlia.

This Thursday marks the second week of delivering bouquets. Thankfully, the auction winners have been very appreciative of the early efforts. Just wait till all the dahlias are at full strength! Something to look forward to as we enjoy the end of school and the beginning of summer vacations and travels!

The first week’s bouquet for the recipient of the high school’s auction bouquet.

And the other bouquet for Korematsu Middle School’s auction bouquet winner.

My favorite dianthus, the Chomley Farran.

Scabiosa caucasica “Fama Blue” is almost as big as my palm.

Dianthus “Bliss.”

The first salmon-colored gladiola bloom of the season.

Blue Fama and scabiosa anthemifolia are a nice complement to the pink hydrangea.

This week’s bouquet!

Another view of the high school auction bouquet.

The first dinner plate-size yellow dahlia, which the first owner of our house had planted.

The middle school auction bouquet!