SPOOK, HOOVER, THE GARDEN, AND A SURPRISE AMONG THE FLOWER POTS

SPOOK,  HOOVER, THE GARDEN, AND A SURPRISE AMONG THE FLOWER POTS

 

I wanted to share some of this year’s lilies with you, and, having a nice day for a change (read low humidity) I toddled out with the old trusty Nikon to try to capture the amazing beauty scattered around the place. But, my critters seemed interested in what I was up to (read hungry, as usual) and I got a few interesting shots of them – so, critters and garden first, lilies in the next post.

 

Hoover has found a new sleeping place, in the wiper opening on the van when she is not up on the top in the luggage rack. On top she can see what is going on… as a windshield wiper, she is not noticeable… a surprising hide-away, I guess. Spook had been under the van but came out as he heard the back door open. This is a sad shot of him. His age is showing along with his damaged ear as the hobo cat, as we call him, did a number on him earlier, requiring several stitches… and we chipped him while the ear was being operated on anyway.

 

I am grateful Spook is staying home more and not across the street like he used to. He and Hoover are getting along better (SO GRATEFUL!) and these hot days Spook is usually snoozing under the bushes out front where there is usually a breeze. I found him napping there when I was getting a shot of some of the front yard lilies.

In the back yard, I thought it was interesting that my Christmas poinsettia was still in bloom. See it? Here it is with my 6 foot+ tomato on the left and a bunch of day lilies behind. The house plants seem to like being tucked in next to the pine tree. The 4x4s are there to keep them in place. Here is the 6 foot plus tomato plant.

And the first crop of beans in the Stand-Uppity garden.

Ashley has been helping me in the yard this year for which I am SO grateful, and last Wednesday she dug (I potted) about a dozen baby camellias for her grandmother. But first, I needed to wash out a dozen or so pots… and that was when I spotted one of this year’s newest. See him (her)?

OK, I will go ahead and do the lilies next – they will come up in a couple days. By then I will have been to Sterrett’s to order some more which Ashley and I will plant down along the road at the base of the row of Crape Myrtles. Then we will be able to enjoy the daffodils first, then the azaleas (someone stole one of them – can you believe it?) then lilies and finally the Crape Myrtle. If my body can handle it, I think I will find something to put in around them for fall…the fall azaleas are struggling out there – maybe a few fall camellias? It is hard work, but my flowers bring joy to so many people on their way to work or home… even if I don’t get to see them. My legacy, perhaps?

Come on by, sit for a spell... enjoy my labor of love for all to enjoy.

 

TIME! TIME!

WHERE DOES IT GO?

I have been trying to find time to get on here… even having trouble finding time to read other blogs that I so do enjoy – well, and look at some I don’t, but that is a post for another time. But life has become a big Tempest Fugit. Yes, I know the Latin is Tempus fugit, but a dear departed friend of mine always called it that, and somehow it seems to fit so many occasions if you think about it… Anyway, long story short, life has taken a sad turn here, I have lost my beloved uncle Jesse, among other chaotic events since I last posted on here. So,sorry about that.

I will share a moment from my garden, and get back to work.

St “Fwankie” and the ground level birdbath, coleus and strobilanthus.

THE GARDEN IN MAY - JUNE

THE MOST AMAZING thing about the garden in early June is the fragrance. I won’t bore you with pictures of the honeysuckle, we have all seen more than our share of honeysuckle, I am sure. In the winter, on warmer days, I can spend hours pulling it out of the camellias, off of trees, out of the gardens. It truly grows like a weed here. But, depending on the severity of the winter (northern people – stop laughing, right now!) the world smells so wonderful starting usually the beginning of May with Honey Locust, the Fringe Trees, honeysuckle and magnolias. What a joy it is to step outside on a still cool morning and breathe in the sweetness of the southern air. I realize every morning of my life how blessed I am to not be in a city, not be caged in an apartment, to be free to walk on my small acreage, fill my eyes with the beauty planted there and to even enjoy the weeds – or at least the weeds we call honeysuckle. Better than that, I have the joy of growing my own food and each day I love to go out and see how much bigger this is or that… maybe pick some strawberries, blueberries, or later on, some beans, cukes or tomatoes. It doesn’t get better than that.

This year i decided to indulge myself with some plantings I normally don’t have the time to mess with… i doubt they will winter over in my little greenhouse, but who knows? Every year is a new experiment. Here are a few of my plants and a lot of my weeds.

 

This hosta is so big, a neighbor argued with me and insisted it is an elephant’s ear. That is a yard stick  standing in it… so it is nearly 4 feet tall. Behind it is a blue hosta which is almost as big, but not quite.

Right in front of that hosta are these plants and the new birdbath. i finally found a couple straggly strobilanthes… that’s it behind the pink Astilbe and Heuchera.

In the back yard, flowers grow in and around the veggies. On the left, just below the Adirondacks, are some potato bags. All the way on the right is a 4x4 space with cukes and tomatoes.

potatoes (in the pots) tomatoes, basil, peppers, and pansies. Qwan Yin and geraniums are tucked in the huge English Daisy plant. Who’d believe I cut that better than in half a2 years ago. On the right, potatoes (redskins), miniature roses, violets, iris, pansies and dianthus.

 

From the other side, this shows the clematis. Finished blooming under that is a deep red peony and not blooming yet, phlox. Out in the side yard, a rhododendron is in bloom.

Out front, the window boxes have impatiens that wintered over, geraniums (ditto), new coleus, and a couple new blue things – i can’t think of their names. And a close up of the mountain laurel.

I have a hanging petunia and a hummingbird feeder (being filled) in front of Rusty’s bedroom window to keep him occupied when he isn’t watching puffins or hummers on the computer. Pix of that on the next posting!

Hope you enjoyed my garden, disorganized as it is… but it is fun and something in bloom in every direction. Yes, it is a lot of work for me, but I can’t describe the joy I get from it. The lilies are just starting to bloom!

PLAYING CATCH UP – SPRING GARDEN

OK, OK, I know I have been unbelievably busy… and yes, I must admit, I am slowing down. A lot. SIGH. But I promised several of you pictures from the yard this spring. This has been a very different spring… the winter stretched itself out longer than usual and colder than usual, so that meant camellias that normally bloom in the winter – start in December, actually, were blooming at the same time as the later spring camellias. It made for an exciting spring but a bleak winter. I am used to having fresh flowers on my table just about all winter long. Anyway, here are the plants in the order in which they bloomed. Some of the shots are more to show the size of the bushes than to brag about the beauty of the blooms. And many of the blooms this spring were tinged with just a hint of frost bite – but it took a real close look to notice it.

                         

So there you have it… these were taken one month ago. did I mention I have been busy? OK, next, the azaleas a couple weeks later. Note - PP= Pink Perfection, 2 variations I and II.

A SUMMER SUNDAY MORNING

I find mornings exciting – well, I do now that I don’t have to get in the van and drive 20 miles to spend the day working at a job that mostly goes unappreciated these days. Heck, I can stay home and not get appreciated and have a much better time doing it! But mornings excite me with the cliché of seeing what the new day will bring and the gratitude of being able to see and hear it. I do lots of posts about Gratitude… note the capital letter, for Gratitude is what gets me thru life. I seldom actually post them… writing them, thinking about all i have to be grateful for is all I really need to do at the time. I spent many, many years being bitter, sitting on the pity pot with Poor me, Poor me, and the occasional Pour me… but the bitterness brought me only more bitterness. It did not make the pain go away. It did not help me to walk (or walk without pain). It sure did not bring me any peace. Once I accepted life on life’s terms and figured I’d better “get over it” in some sense of the word, well… it got better. OK, there are those who would argue that it really DIDN’T get better – maybe just some part of me got better. I had to stop looking at the weeds in my garden and notice the flowers.

I have always loved the play of light on and thru objects… especially as the light shines thru leaves and flowers or lights up some distant corner of the garden while the background is still in a bit of darkness. Years ago I had a little girl living with me who thought we should whisper outside in the morning because parts of the garden and woods were still asleep. So, whisper we did. It was fun, actually, as she would tap my side to point out little things she saw from her childhood perspective. She was not afraid of bugs or other critters and they seemed to know this often allowing her to hold them and whisper to them.

She loved my St Fwankie, as she called him, “cuz he wuved all critters and knew they wuz his cousins.” She said the Buddhas were there to tell her to get quiet, calm down, pick a flower, study it. Brilliant child.

 

The sun in the morning hits this Buddha first thing. His whiteness just glows with the shadows behind him. I see him out the kitchen window as I take my first sip of coffee or tea every morning. He reminds me to go sit and get my morning meditation in… but the day often does not cooperate. The phone starts to ring, people arrive, the cat yowls for something different for breakfast or to let me know his dish is empty – how could I not notice such an important thing? I look back out the window, take another sip, swallow my blood pressure medicine (sigh) check the clock, feed the cat, give him his pill, go outside to feed Spook… try not to look around for Punkin – tho I still do.

I notice the phlox around the ground level birdbath are especially beautiful this morning. The hanging planter has come back into bloom. The colors seem to blend in with the mood of the phlox. St Fwankie seems quiet this morning, still in shadow. Perhaps he is still napping! I’d better not wake him. The bench sits alone and empty,  bags of mulch still on the ground. It has just been too hot to work out there, or the mosquitoes too hungry. And any cool moment is spent on the mower or swinging the weed whacker around keeping a clear path to the bean patch.

The yellow wax beans have been picked almost to extinction… when they are finished, I will pull these plants and replant for a fall crop. The Italian flats have been ready and enjoyed by many of us this week. I discover with  great excitement that I have 2 pickles and one almost cucumber but lots of flowers on the only 2 cuke plants to survive the coonie bear rampage of a couple weeks ago. The onions have been harvested, and the potatoes are looking sad and tired. I discovered that means they will soon be ready to harvest. Dumb me, the first year I thought I had lost all my potatoes. LOL! Stupid me, I almost dumped out 5 lbs of redskins from the potato bag that first year.

As I wander around the yard, I notice my favorite day lilies are in bloom. I now have quite a few, but these never bore me. My aunt called them funny faces.

This is one of my first day lilies… the morning sun makes the center glow as it shines thru it.

Thanks for taking a little walk around the garden with me… look at the pictures, be calm, wuv all critters, be kind, and let the beauty that is out there shine thru and into your heart.