Berry-Go-Round Carnival: July 2011

It's about that time of season. I've got slow-poke blossoms, ever-expanding shoots, swelling fruits and plants gone to seed in my garden. As if that wasn't fixating enough, many of my favourite bloggers from around the globe are experiencing the same phenomena simultaneously. If only there was some way to meld all of these amazing plant happenings in to one post. . .wait. . .isn't it my turn to host Berry-Go-Round, the blog carnival with the most biomass in the blogosphere?  Yes indeed.

First I'd like to mention that although it may seem to most that we are suspended in the thick soupy air of midseason, there are still fresh new beginnings in certain garden corners. Julia at Polka Dot Galoshes illustrates a few of these.

After spying anxiously on buds with Julia, I might direct your attention to some rather rewarding blooms. Annelie at Nature as I See It shared the product of her winter seed scattering when she discovered it early this month. At Growing With Plants,  Matt Mattus exposed some of the mystery behind Peruvian daffodils a few days ago.

If the blooms can't be found under our own care, we can trust Mother Nature to leave us wordless this month, as it did for Karin of Southern Meadows who witnessed the magic of Queen Anne's Lace from behind her camera. A few bloggers (Janet of Planticru Notes and Gayla Trail from You Grow Girl) have stopped to marvel at thistle in particular, a notorious ward of Mother Nature.

Images of summer flowers may be strange and new like Gayla's or age-old like Patricia Tyron's ceaseless stream of fascinating floral art at Picturing Plants. Every selection of botanical art at Patricia's blog has made tremors in history, yet some of the images resonate especially strong in my soul. This month, I need only gaze on the coltzfoot, cosmos, or columbine there to connect with kindred spirits of talented artists who were also fascinated with these midsummer blooms hundreds of years ago. On the other hand,  the likeness of flowers to our favourite historical works of art are sometimes too tempting not to share, as Stacy at Microcosm has skillfully done.

Phil Gates penetrates plants at a level so far  Beyond the Human Eye that even something so familiar as a banana leaf can be lifted to fine art standards.

I can rely on Gary Bandzmer of bandzmer.com to pair images of intimate moments in the lives of plants, such as a roses in ruins, with timely poetry.

Alan at It's Not Work It's Gardening looks beyond prolific flowers this month to highlight some of his favourite foiliage. This raises the question, Why just stop and stare at our most beloved plants this month- why not ask what those plants have done for us lately?

At Restoring the Landscape With Native Plants, it's a given that we benefit from pollinators, who are in turn happy guests of the most bewitching wildflowers of July .

 Phil gates removes  the extra link between flowers and ourselves by showing us on Cabinet of Curiosties how we can dye our fibers with the brightest of the bunch.

The 3 Foragers know how to transform any plant part into delicious meals, and their posts this month on milkweed and sumac meringue are no exception.

Over at Plant Postings,  smoothie recipies follow helpful tips on tracking down the most succulent July berries, and more harvest inquiries are answered on A Way to Garden when Margaret Roach tackles the perfect pickling plant.

 If the quest for  beauty, nourishment and sustenance from this month's botanical specimens has led you far into the wilderness, Andrea Bellamy of Heavy Petal can bring you back to civilization with an homage to a most familiar plant ally in a field of wheat.

This, the beginning of cultivated plants as we know it, seems an appropriate place to halt until next month's edition of Berry-Go-Round carnival. Be sure to tune in again, even put in your own two cents, at Osage and Orange next month.