One evening I was out in the garden and turned my head just as the fading light of the end of the day came through a hardy begonia leaf.

I was happy to see it and to capture a photo of it.

On the patio, I found these seedlings.

I love that violas are seeding themselves in the cracks between the patio bricks. The other weeds? Not so much. I can usually get them out with the string trimmer, but I’m leaving these violas alone. I’m letting any viola seedlings that show up stay right where they sprout.

I’m happy to see zinnias in flower again.

I was late sowing the zinnia seeds so the fact that they are blooming before August is nice. So far, the Japanese beetles have mostly left them alone. We’ll see how long it takes for them to discover them. In the meantime, I’m enjoying the flowers. They’ll be blooming for a long time, until frost.

One last thing makes me happy today… I finally have a proof copy of my new book, Digging and Delighted: Live Your Best Gardening Life. I should have real copies soon and when I do, I’ll make a big announcement and list them in my online store for those who want signed copies.

If you want to know more about what’s in this new book, my fifth book of humorous, (but helpful!) gardening essays, check out the daily videos I’ve been doing in July. A chapter a day through July 30th and we will have gone through the entire book.

Stay tuned for the official launch in early August!