June..........oh June, you used to be a summer started.

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt

I'm still here, although somewhat stunned, shocked, baffled, disheartened, enraged, and engaged in what it is going on in the country right now. I could fill pages and pages with discourse on the murder of American citizens by Police, unleashing the Army on it's own populace, the rise of a racist and fascist leadership in America, white supremicists patrolling the streets of my own home town with assault rifles and all the hell that is breaking loose coming with it. If you don't know where I stand at this point politically then please thumb back a few pages in this blog and figure it out. If any of my standpoints offend you then I have made sure to do my bit to speak my mind. I recognize how privileged I am to have been able to get an education, find gainful employment doing what I love and even start an independant small business without facing racism and discrimination that could have made all my dreams impossible. Take a minute, no take all the time you need to process your own privilege and then think about how you can be active in making sure other people get the same opportunities we did. If you are reading this there is a chance you have some disposable income to spend on flower bulbs, so that means you likely made the most of the opportunities that were given to you. Lets all start to think about how we can use our privilege to give opportunities to others who have been less fortunate then us. 

There are flowers in the garden, seems almost silly to be talking about them as our country descends into chaos but I had to get a June post in between attending protests and planning the overthrow of the Nazi regime currently seated in the White House. 

The calochortus look great in the rock garden

The rock garden is really starting to come into it's own at illahe

The marks on the ground are the addition to the rock garden at illahe, It's actually done now and we added a succulent bed, with a road punching through to the RV rental campground that we rent out to hiker/bikers/

Some years ago, Rick Lupp donated a bunch of plants to a Norman Singer Endowment funded Sensory Rock garden project at the Oregon School for the blind, I asked Rick if he could put together a collection of Alpines that the blind and visually impaired could "feel" there way through a mountain top. That garden was eventually bulldozed for development and the blind kids kicked out on the street by the State of Oregon. This is a rescued Dianthus from that project, and thank goodness for kind hearted people like Rick who would give to those who have less. For a while at least some kids who may never get a chance to botanize above the treeline got to experience that. Lets make opportunities for those that are less fortunate then us. 

A marguerite daisy in the rock garden at illahe. This was a chance seedling by a local grower who was sowing clear white marguerites but ended up with this lovely pink form. I propagated a bunch of them overwinter and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Maybe I really run a nursery business not to sell flower bulbs but to be able to have a forum where political dissent can be featured. The flowers just make it all possible. 

The weather is wet

Mark