We just returned from a two-week trip and are dealing with some intense jet lag, so I won’t try very hard to make words work today. Here are some pictures instead!

1. Pinkcurrant (Ribes rubrum ‘Aili’) got picked yesterday. They probably should’ve been picked earlier, since it looks like the birds got about half the berries already. Can’t blame them, these are probably the tastiest currants I’m growing. I managed to get around 300g, which is decent considering this is one of my youngest fruit bushes. I also took semi-ripe cuttings after harvest, so am looking forward to increasing my stock of these plants next year.

2. Several years ago, some wild raspberries (Rubus idaeus) invaded the front flower border. Since I hadn’t gotten around to planting any garden varieties yet, I let them stay and started tidying them up every year. Absolutely no regrets, since they are super productive and give us several weeks of fruit for minimal maintenance.

3. This cute little pansy is the second generation of a flower that my son brought home from school last mother’s day. I planted it in a toy dump truck last year and it self seeded, though the plants just started flowering recently. I’m saving seeds this year to make sure they return, both for sentimental value and because I love the two shades of purple together.

4. Alcea ficifolia ‘Happy Lights’, winter-sown last year, is now in flower! Two colors so far, both lovely. The peachy flowers are much bigger with thin, almost hibiscus-like petals. I love the rich burgundy color on the smaller one, though, because I didn’t end up with many dark-colored flowers this year. Mental note to work on that.

5. Rudbeckia hirta ‘Prairie Sun’, winter-sown last year, also in flower. These are much taller than I expected! Going to grab a few for the vase tomorrow morning, since the long stems look perfect for cutting.

6. Eschscholzia californica ‘Rosa Romantica’, winter-sown this year. I planted California poppies mostly because they remind me of the house I grew up in, where they grew prolifically as native plants do. I planted this specific variety because it never occurred to me that they might come in any other color than the standard bright orange, and the idea intrigued me. These plants are smaller than the ones I remember, but then again, they are in a very different environment. The flowers are just as prolific as I remember, and no two flowers look alike, so that’s pretty cool.

Thanks for visiting and please do check out what the other SoSers are doing over at Jim’s page!