gladiolus

I’m joining Cathy and others for a weekly garden meme called “In A Vase on Monday.” Cathy encourages her readers to cut flowers from our garden and then arrange them in a vase.

A top-view image of a bouquet of pink gladiolus flowers in a white vase, placed on a textured beige tablecloth.

Today’s vase features pink gladiolus loosely arranged into a pink triangle in honor of Pride Month. For the past 31 years, San Francisco, which is just an hour from here, has hung a large pink triangle from Twin Peaks during Pride Month.

A white vase filled with pink flowers, placed on a table outdoors, beside a small stand displaying a rainbow pride flag card.

I’ve used a small Pride flag magnet as a prop. This Wiki submission explains the symbolism.

“A pink triangle is a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community. Initially intended as a badge of shame, it was later reappropriated as a positive symbol of self-identity. It originated in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s as one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, distinguishing those imprisoned because they had been identified by authorities as gay men. In the 1970s, it was revived as a symbol of protest against homophobia and has since been adopted by the larger LGBT community as a popular symbol of LGBTQ+ pride.”

Gladiolus symbolizes strength, integrity, resilience, moral character, and the ability to fight through difficulties.

Close-up of pink flowers with frilled petals against a blurred green background.

Happy Pride Month.

You can see other garden vases in the comments section of Cathy’s Monday blog, Rambling in the Garden.

Our summer solstice is still three weeks away, but all the signs of the season have arrived. When we left for Vancouver in mid-May, the California poppies in the front garden were ending the season as the nigella bloomed.

I had hoped the poppies might linger, as the orange and purple look pretty together. Flowers have their own time and place, so, of course, nature took its course. It’s one of the joys of gardening.

I laughed when one of the seed pods split open as I worked along the path, spewing tiny seeds in my direction, which bounced off my cheek. The seeds could almost be mistaken for course black pepper. I swept them into the garden and will enjoy what takes hold next season.

With the first San Jose heat wave, the sweet peas cry uncle and begin to set seed. I leave the plants for a few weeks to allow the seeds to drop. This past week, I removed the plants, gathering seeds to offer to friends while leaving an equal amount to self-seed in the fall.

As I removed the sweet peas from the curb garden, I uncovered sturdy gladioli. The sweet peas created a dense cover, but the gladiolus thrived and were none the worse for it. Today, we planted two tomato plants, four sunflowers, and some strawberry starters. The existing ground cover has room to spread its delicate leaves, with lovely purple flowers to contrast the yellows, pinks, and, of course, green.

Over the long weekend, Mike put up the shade sails in the front and back while I uncovered the garden swing, tables, and the like. With virtually no rain until October, we can leave things out.

Nasturtiums spread throughout the back garden, traveling up, over, and around various obstacles, spreading stunning shades of orange, yellow, and, occasionally, red. They took over one of the garden paths while we were away, and how I wish I had a photo of our cat’s expression when he couldn’t pass.

My garden has found its rhythm these past few years as natives are more established, and annual seeds, bulbs, and rhizomes reliably return, filling the garden with spring’s abundant gifts. Back-to-back seasons of welcome rain certainly helped create healthy roots.

We’re expecting temperatures around 90F (32C) this week, so my time in the garden is limited. I’m glad to have accomplished so much in the last two weeks with Mike’s help, and every day, I celebrate this lovely patch of earth.