bloom-y afternoon

Things in the garden certainly seem to be doing very well this year, perhaps despite my anxiety that I'm somehow going to kill everything because I want it to do well so badly. I bought the pink dahlia (above) last year at the end of the summer for less than 1$, and it thanked me with this gorgeous bloom this week. I was sitting in my fabulous hammock chair on Sunday evening, finishing up 'The Heart of the Ancient Wood' by Charles G. D. Roberts, and I looked up to see a hummingbird feeding from it! (Hummingbirds are another thing I'm afraid that I might care too much about. I've had a feeder out since May, and have kept faithfully refilling it, even though I had seen no signs of hummingbirds until this past weekend. I kept telling myself "Well, there are so many flowers in the garden anyway, why would the birds come to the feeder? I'm sure they're around" all the while doubting it. Anyway, since Sunday, Adam and I have seen both the male and female of a pair several times. I can't begin to explain how excited I am about this.) The roses are a climbing variety and are climbing up a cedar tree, which is quite a beautiful thing, and the clematis is covered in blooms, even though the trellis I put up was nowhere close to being big enough for it. Also, the tomatoes are coming right along and are looking great! (I'm still preparing myself for when they suddenly fall off or something.) But for now, I'm so thankful that things grow and thrive despite me!