For three summers my small flower garden has been neglected –– old age began to slow down the outdoor activities and this early summer, the extensive work on the condos took over and I ended up with two bleeding hearts and two other plants. Grass and weeds took over and when I couldn’t stand it any more, I hired just the right worker to put back the small area, adding peat moss and potting soil. It was a good job.

Wendy, who lives in Harwinton, is a good gardener and offered to get plants and help me start over. Several years ago she became acquainted with Lori and Stephen Camp who started a nursery business near the Harwinton Fairgrounds. Wendy had started to experiment with some new varieties of plants, learning as she added to her own gardens. Now I am getting the benefit of this small but very good place to get plants. It isn’t always the best to go to the biggest place! Rather it is wise to learn to get good plant stock from a place where it is grown, cared for, and you can buy advice along with a flat of young plants. Wendy’s own garden is proof of that; it is beautiful.

The weekend my “new” garden arrived was fair but warm. Wendy selected the kinds of things she is fond of and some she knows I especially like. I am still going around saying “what is this” and comparing plants to the plastic name tags that come in each flat. Surprises are fun and I learned from day one that I’d be having flowers I never had before — even after 40 years of backyard gardening.

For the first time I have snapdragons in bloom and a beautiful new red-color tansey. There is a pink butterfly bush and colorful verbana and other things yet to bloom. What a pleasure to see this area outside the sliding glass doors instead of the ugly mess it has been. Susan has promised me some pieces of some of her flowers that have flourished so well, and all in all, I am feeling very wealthy! What a fine gift. Wendy has promised to take me to see where these new things came from and I hope to get a few more.

It was necessary to keep the two hummingbird feeders filled with new syrup every two or three days during that intense heat. They know without tasting it when it has gone stale and just fly away.

It is not unusual to see a “cottontail” bunny having a feast in a big patch of clover in someone’s yard. They are very fond of it and will return again and again to nibble away. But we also have a much larger rabbit, a jack rabbit, which has long legs that send the rabbit jumping along whereas the little bunny just moves cautiously. The other day just before a hard thunderstorm, the jack rabbit went hurrying down the middle of the newly paved road in front. It seemed as if it was trying to get to its den before the rains came.

Summer has sent families to the seashore, area parks, and amusement centers, and there are plenty of reasons to just heat up the grill and have an outdoor meal. It is only about a dozen weeks before we will turning our thoughts toward winter.

Last week the column ended with a few words by Charles D. Warner.

Who said, “Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been”?