I've told you before but I'll say it again - I love Iowa! It is such a beautiful state. I actually just read yesterday that the word 'iowa' means beautiful! Supposedly when the 'white men' came they saw our area and said "Iowa! Iowa! Iowa" which translated to "Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful!"
Got off track with the history lesson, sorry!
There are so many beautiful things about our area but one of them I wanted to show you is what I call our Ditch Lillies. They bloom every June in the ditches here. They are a variety of daylily that must be native to our area. I don't know much about them but I don't remember them being in the ditches as a kid, it seems like they just appeared one summer and started filling in areas.
They are all orange. They mix so well with everything around them, from the corn, to Queen Anne's Lace, to any other wild flower growing with them.
They are in the ditches of every country road you drive down, gravel and paved.
Some people have dug them out of the ditch and planted them in their yards, next to their grain bins and barns, under their mailboxes, or next to the culverts going under their driveways.
They are simple and pretty and say "Summer in Iowa" to me. They are very "Iowa (Beautiful)", too!
Another simple and pretty thing that says "Summer in Iowa" to me are the evening skies. Gosh they are beautiful this time of year! The setting sun mixed with some clouds mixed with the humidity in the air -it mixes together and makes the most spectacular sunsets!
If this picture doesn't say "Iowa (Beautiful)" I don't know what does!
It's all so gorgeous. I had no idea just how beautiful it all was until I wasn't there...
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite things to do in the summer is run on the gravel roads and check out all the amazing flowers that bloom in the ditches. Most of the time my "quick" run turns into something much longer than I anticipate because I'm literally stopping every few feet to take pictures of all the flowers that line the roads.
And that sunset... Just perfect. We don't have very pretty sunsets in the summer because we often don't have any clouds. I miss the stunning sunsets so much!
Thank you for sharing home. :)
It really is beautiful there! Those flowers remind me of the tiger lilies that grow in our backyard. We love them!
ReplyDeleteI love this post. I love how Iowa got its name! And the ditch lilies...never noticed until today but they are everywhere here. DRiving down the road this morning, I thought of you immediately.
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