Wednesday Blooms - Red, White and Blue

Today, July 4, in the United States, it is our Independence Day.


One of the many things people do on the 4th of July is fly the American flag.

Back in early June, I was exercising walking in Otsiningo Park, a county park where I live in upstate New York.  someone had decorated this tree, I assume for Memorial Day. (In our country, that originated as a holiday to decorate the graves of those who died in our Civil War, 1861-1865.  It is now an overall day to honor war dead and - sadly - to shop.)  I think this picture is fitting for our Independence Day, too.

Since this is my Wednesday bloom days, I will decorate my blog with patriotic flowers.

Red roses., taken on a walk through the West Side of Binghamton, New York.

White.  Yes, these are white marigolds, and gardeners know this is an unusual color for marigolds.  I've been on a mission for years to grow these.  For some reason, marigolds just don't like my garden.  I grew them nicely when I lived in Kansas and in Arkansas, but they have boycotted my upstate NY garden with a couple of exceptions.  This is one of my few marigold success years.  The variety (bought locally from plants, which I can't do every year either) is called Vanilla.

And blue.  I noticed this cornflower in my front yard last night.  I have no idea how it got there because we didn't plant it. Thank you - I needed a blue flower! (I would have used chicory, which is blooming abundantly all over, right now.)

We will have a BBQ later - hamburgers, sausage and peppers.

A part of me is thinking of the people all over our country who are suffering from weather gone wild.  So many to list: the wonderful people of Colorado Springs, CO (it's been some 35 years since I've been there last!) whose houses are ash, the many people suffering from heat and still without electricity from the deracho of earlier this week, the people of Duluth, MN recently flooded (their online paper reminds me so much of our paper 10 months ago - just the names have changed), the people of Florida who have suffered through Tropical Storm Debbie,  and even the people of West Virginia, some of whom are running short on food.

Our country is experiencing some hard times - but it has happened before, and we have always been stronger at the end of it.  May it be the same this time.

To my readers in the United States, may you have a wonderful 4th of July.