Let me take you to the place
Where membership’s a smiling face
Brush shoulders with the stars
Where strangers take you by the hand
And welcome you to wonderland
From beneath their panamas

Club Tropicana, drinks are free
Fun and sunshine, there’s enough for everyone
All that’s missing is the sea
But don’t worry, you can suntan!

Castaways and Lovers meet
Then kiss in Tropicana’s heat
Watch the waves break on the bay
Soft white sands, a blue lagoon
Cocktail time, a summer’s tune
A whole night’s holiday!

Club Tropicana, drinks are free
Fun and sunshine, there’s enough for everyone
All that’s missing is the sea
But don’t worry, you can suntan!

I am so enjoying my cutting patch!  (That’s not Wham! anymore, this is me now).

I’m really enjoying the distinct patches of colour, like swathes of fabric.

Though the sea of Borage is no more.  The tidal wave broke.  I thought I would just tidy it up a bit when it was falling onto the Cosmos, and before I knew it, I had cut the whole lot down.

Then I had to thin the Nicotiana too, which was good, because I got rid of the hospital-pink Nicotiana.  Now I have iced lilac:

And luscious blackcurrant sorbet:

Which echoes Dahlia ‘Vino’ in the bed behind.

An unexpected pleasure are the beetley-bugs I keep finding.  This one, with the mirrored hearts on her back:

And a cape, shaped like a shell.

The snapdragons have only just come out.  Their faces look like grumpy turtles.

I am seeing lots of bumble bees visiting. Here’s one knocking at the door.

No one’s home, so in he goes.

And he’s in.  He spent quite a lot of time in there.

And then he wiggles and wriggles, and out he comes.  He’s off.

Here are the zinnias from Moon Landings.

But now I have trumped my previous Minibeasts photo attempts.  I was just admiring the delicious Dahlia ‘Walzing Matilda’.  I was trying to capture its wonderful watermelony tones.

There are beautiful striations along the petals, with a contrast between the front and reverse.  Whilst we’re here, just admire the craftmanship of this calyx.  Not only is it beautifully beaten and shaped, it also has a weathered patina of bronze and copper.

Is flower-lust another form of greed?  This dahlia combines watermelon and mango.  It also reminds me of shot-silk.

I was just musing upon the growing pistils at the centre of the flower, when a visitor popped by.

So I got closer.

Closer…  Look at his goggles, like liquid!  And his bronzy back-plate!  And his tiger-stripes!  And his wings!  Glory Be!

Shall I just crop that?  We see so little of what actually exists.  Look at the pollen and the pistils!

I’m just going to calm myself for a moment.

‘Bishop of Canterbury’ has its first flower.  It is really difficult to capture the colour.  I’ve got the colour roughly right, but there were more raspberry hues around the inner petals, and more purple around the edges.

This is another dahlia which is just as beautiful from behind.  The dark foliage really sets it off.

I turned back to ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and there was another house-guest!

Is it a spider?

Don’t panic.  It is the size of a grain of rice.  He’s wearing a lovely tweed coat.  But in this heat, that might get a bit hot.

Club Tropicana, drinks are free
Fun and sunshine, there’s enough for everyone
All that’s missing is the sea
But don’t worry, you can suntan!

Pack your bags
And leave tonight
Don’t take your time
Gotta move your feet, don’t you miss the flight!

My aim on this site is to share the sense of wonder I get from gardening and being outdoors. Some posts are silly, like this one. Some are a bit more thoughtful.

If you would like to join the joy, click on the ‘Follow’ button at the end of this post. You will receive an email each time I post a little pop of wonder.