Konigin von Danemark Rose was the last new Rose Essences I made this summer. Here she is in her early morning glory. Isn’t she gorgeous? Now I will sit with the Deva of Konigin von Danemark Rose to find out what she has to say about her Flower Essence. Then she will be added to the research list and made available to anyone who wants to work with her Essence.

Over time, as we work with her, we will learn more from this Rose from further conversations with her, from our experiences with her Flower Essence, and from what you tell us about your experiences with her Essence. When I go to rewrite the Guide sometime in the next year, I will see if the Angels overlighting our Flower Essence collection want to move Konigin von Danemark Rose out of the relative quiet of the research list to the main line up.

Sometimes a new Rose Essence will get added right away to our existing mixes as was the case last summer with Madame Hardy Rose. She was added to our Grief & Loss mix because of her vibrational gifts of consolation for those who lose a lover, a cherished friend, or beloved place. Only time will tell how these lovely new Rose Flower Essences and other Flower Essences of the summer of 2007 will be used.

I find that the Flowers that call out to become new Flower Essences each growing season are often very appropriate Essences for the vibration of the present times. They often become a part of our mixes or become immediate “frequent flyers”, flying out of here as fast as I can bottle them. Nature wants to support us fully in our spiritual journies. Bringing particularly helpful Flower Essences forward for our use is one way Nature does this.
I know I have dwelled on the Roses lately, but when the Roses bloom each summer, it is a consuming experience. I can never imagine being able to let them go without a lot of angst. They are so compelling in their beauty, vibration, and fragrance.

However, as they begin to go by, many other wonders fill the garden and there is not as much need for regretting their departure as I expect.

One specific reason for this is berries. July is all about berries and small fruits. I love this, because I love berries and berry picking. In fact. my hands are stained with raspberry juice as I sit here typing. It’s another overcast Sunday, but you can’t keep the raspberries from glowing.

A few minutes amongst these canes and…

There is a big bowl of berries. The dogs wander along at my feet snarffling the lower berries and I pick the ones on top. It works for everyone.

The gooseberries are coming along and will need to be picked soon.

The red currants are ready too. When I was a child, we made red currant and red raspberry jelly, a natural pairing since they ripen at the same time. Nowadays, our raspberries get consumed before the jam or jelly stage, leaving only the red currants for jellymaking. Red Currant jelly makes a lovely colored jelly of the intense red you see here.

It looked like we were going to have a bumper crop of sour cherries, so good for pies. However the birds noticed the bumper crop the same moment we did. I asked the birds to leave us the cherries and also hung little foil pie plates to rattle and shine in the tree, hoping that would keep the birds away.

I should have known it was hopeless when the birds didn’t even leave their snacking on the cherries while I was tying the pie pans in the branches next to them.

Today, I estimate there are maybe twelve cherries left in the tree and a lot of fat and sassy birds nearby.

Twelve cherries do not a pie make. Additionally, I am delighted to know that I have to get the ladder out to take down all the foil pie pans I carefully tied all over the tree.

Having no faith in the birds willingness to leave any of the other fruits for the rest of us, I have wrapped the ripening blueberries in netting. The fabric store only had pink, blue, and purple netting so its quite a colorful as well as color coordinated sight down in the blueberries. One I hope the birds are enjoying.

Birds are not the only creatures intent on eating more than their share. I replanted the beans three time due to voracious slugs. By the third planting I was pretty much planting whatever bean seeds I could lay my hands and what I laid my hands on were pole beans not bush beans as planned.

I only noticed this yesterday when I saw that the beans that had survived the slugs were not behaving like tidy bush beans but were clamoring all over each other with vine like tendrils. I stuck all the poles I could find in with these beans. There weren’t many poles and a lot of the poles were stunted little things. I hope these pole beans turn and climb this motley collection of poles anyways, but I could certainly understand if they refuse to do this. I imagine they would prefer sturdy tripods or corn stalks for their climbing.

I also must have reached for the wrong packet of Zinnia seeds when I planted the Zinnias too. I seem to have only planted ORANGE Zinnias. They do look good against the Red Shiso so I am not so sorry about this goof. Here is a sample row with the Red Shiso in the background.

And here is the Red Shiso making a beautiful start in this lovely spiral formation. Healthy Red Shiso! That makes up for every slug and sassy bird at the farm!