August in the Rockies

My favorite time to be in the garden - or just outside.  The whole sky lights up and there is an aching beauty of hope that we're all gonna be alright.  I feel the stress diminish on the breeze and become hyper aware of the birds and the silence. I am aware of my breath and turn in slow circles to take it all in. I should be making dinner but August in the Rockies means dinner's not ready until 10pm.  Not exactly healthy so we stay up later digesting.  One of my favorite songs on earth is the song of the coyote - always different, always hilarious, always joyful. Sometimes I am lying in bed with the cool, silky mountain air coming in the window and I hear them as I drift off to sleep.  What would I do without them?  The ground animals would take over our life.  Coyote does good work.

Last night we ate the last of Joseph Lofthouse's glorious Maxima Squash mix. From last year!  They were still as fragrant as a melon and the seeds were perfect.  I will be offering this amazing squash Grex this fall.  This is obviously a long storing squash as in the heat of August, and without a root cellar, they have stored perfectly.  How I loved them.  Another crop is coming on beautifully amongst the Rocky Mountain Bee Plant.  Since it snowed and froze throughout June, we will need September to finish many things and I am calling that in.  I have talked to Mother and she assures me we can have September.  Since our season is something like June 1 to September 1 - it is a lot to ask.  But hope springs eternal. This squash went with beautiful Eggplant Parmesan, from eggplants I got from growers down below. Delicious!  Comfort food!  Color!  Beauty!  Ahhhh.

Cleome serrulata, to know it is to love it. In the apricot light of evening it glows and glows. In the morning it buzzes and buzzes with bees and other pollinators. This is the Rocky Mountain Bee Plant - it grows all around us here in the west - high and low. It is a glorious thing to see en masse. Another name for it is Stinking Clover - ha!  The plant has a smell I have never noticed to be unpleasant as I strip the seed pods that burst into my hand each fall.  Cattle and deer do not touch it but the pollinators are out of their minds with joy over it.  It is called the fourth sister by some tribes, as they knew that wherever it grows, the bees come.  That is why it is encouraged to volunteer in the Maxima patch.  

Today on my early morning walk I was blessed with this image.  Winterfat, backlit and glowing in the morning sun.  I love this plant.  Krascheninnikovia lanata, starting to bloom and blow my mind with it's wonderful luminescence.  It greets me on my walk.  Its medicinal properties are mysterious and wise and it beckons me to touch it and feel its soft power.  I had to report this to you.  It will be in full bloom soon and you will see it from the lowest desert all the way to the high high.  A great textural plant for the perennial garden, it lives long and strong.  In the bottom left corner of this image you will see the flowering tops of Artemisia firgada, Fringed Sage, another fragrant favorite.  Our beloved Doberman Coco used to roll upside down and backwards in the new growth of this staple plant, cleaning her coat and perfuming herself with sage - she knew what's what.  I put springs of it in my car to keep it fresh. 
The Rockies are full of food, flowers and medicine - all coming and going as Mother decides.  Each year is different and this year has been just amazing so far.  Snow = Wildflowers!  Thank you Mother!