juneSCENE IN OUR GARDEN: May 2010

What Gardener Worth His Salt Sits?

Sitting in your garden is a feat to be worked at with unflagging determination and single-mindedness - for what gardener worth his salt sits down. I am deeply committed to sitting in the garden.- Mirabel Osler

Having read that, I feel less embarrassed by the number of seats we have in our yard and garden!
Dare I confess, we have a few more than these?!

He Did - She Did

He did. Hung these shutters on the shed
and rear garage window (in the cool of the evening).

She did earlier (in the cool of the morning)...

Trimmed a couple of TALL bushes and transplanted these hosta and a fern behind the shed.

In the Cool of the Day

...the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day...Genesis 3:8

This bush was full of buds this morning! If you recognize it, I'd sure appreciate knowing what it is! The full bush is to the left on the photo below...

Beardstooth (above and below) is one of my husband's favorite plants.

Other sights around our yard include a pair of these large wrought iron candle holders...the washtub hanging on our cabin, a double-heart wind chime,

these chairs that never seem to weather themselves out...

and a few more miscellaneous items....

I couldn't resist taking yet another picture of the clematis - flowers vying with unopened blossoms for space on their support.

How about this for clutter? This area is beside our garage. It has been too wet to do much here.
Well, that's my excuse anyway. Looks like the Lamb's Ear is about ready to flower.
Now--to the work while it is still cool enough to do it!

What a Difference the HEAT Makes!

I confess I'm a bit of a fair-weather gardener. I don't like to perspire. It has turned quite hot here - 90 degrees accompanied by Indiana humidity. When my husband came in from mowing the lawn today he said this may be as good as our yard will look for awhile. It is starting to show signs of dryness/distress. The cool and wet spring has resulted in quick growth for our perennials. It will be interesting to see how they handle the abrupt heat we've been having the past few days.

The white roses have started to bud and blossom. I have always liked their contrast with the cabin backdrop. When I find my plant tag, I'll identify the flowering ground cover (aha! Lamium maculatum 'White Nancy') in the bottom pictures. It was new last year and I don't remember it flowering. I'm delighted! I was attracted to it because of the variegated leaves...the flowers add to the pleasure. It grows in the bed shown just above the two pictures (to one side of our house).

I'm happy the two Russian sage plants I planted last year are doing so well. I was sorry to lose several plants a couple of years ago when new sidewalks were installed in front of our home. I tried (unsuccessfully) to transplant a few and ended up purchasing the two in the second picture from the top.

What a Difference a Day Makes!

This - the bush that hasn't budded for several years. We were SO close to removing it!

While I Was Away

I've lost the identifying tag for the perennial above. Every year it grows larger. The delicate yellow flowers are delightful! Can you help me with its name?

So many buds opened while I was in Chicago Sunday through Tuesday! It was exciting to come home and stroll our yard and see the scene my husband had described over the phone!

Garden Miscellany

When my husband finished mowing last night, he called me out to the back of our property where we'd planted a small clematis start last fall. Sure enough! Its flowers equaled those I had discovered by our back patio earlier in the day. On the way, I saw the first rose! It, too, was on a transplanted bush. It looks more like ground cover than bush. I wonder how to get it moving UPwards?

Out in the far corner grows this bush. It was ours for the digging several years ago. It looks like it is some sort of "weeper". If you have any idea what kind of bush it is, I'd welcome an identification!

(I guess I COULD thumb through my garden books to see if I could find out myself.) These are probably about 1/10th of books I've purchased at garage sales and thrift stores over the years.

I have a small collection of heart-shaped rocks, too. Last year, some innocent children began tossing them into a rock pile elsewhere on our property. I was only able to retrieve six or seven of them.

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony. William Henry Channing 1810-1884

Irises come in many forms, shapes, colors and sizes and the sword-like foliage is attractive when the plant is not in bloom. The genus Iris is a large genus of bulbous and rhizomatous perennials.

The Iris was named after the goddess of the rainbow because of its many colors.
A flower on the Sphinx is considered to be an Iris, and another appears on a bas-relief of the 18th Egyptian dynasty.
Pliny also knew the Iris and praised its medicinal virtues.
The Iris was also a favourite flower of the Moslems, who took it to Spain after their conquest in the 8th century.

Bought at a local plant sale, Spring of 2009 Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium; syn. Chrysanthemum parthenium (L.) Pers., Pyrethrum parthenium Sm.) is a traditional medicinal herb which is found in many old gardens, and is also occasionally grown for ornament. The plant grows into a small bush up to around 18 inches high, with citrus-scented leaves and is covered by flowers reminiscent of daisies. It spreads rapidly, and they will cover a wide area after a few years. It is also commonly seen in the literature by its synonyms, Chrysanthemum parthenium (L.) Bernh. and Pyrethrum parthenium (L.) Sm.

I'D PICK MORE DAISIES
If I could live my life again
I'd be a little lazy
I'd stop this rushing to and fro
And stop and pick more daisies
Through all the lovely summer months
Though days be clear or hazy
No more to fret over tasks undone,
I'd stop to pick a daisy
Not so important what I did
This fact time now discloses
While running through life's garden green
I'd stop to smell the roses
If I could hold my little ones
The children in my care
I'd scold them less and love them more
With so much love to share
If I could pass this way again
Though folks might think I'm crazy
I'd work and worry less, but I'd
Take time to pick a daisy
The rush of life has passed me by
Now I have leisure hours
But time has taken such a toll
It's too late to pick the flowers.

Mildred F. Rowe

MEASURE YOUR HEALTH...by your sympathy with morning and spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature, if the prospect of an early morning walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you--know that the morning and the spring of your life are past. Thus may you feel your pulse. (Thoreau)

"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on the trees and flowers and clouds and stars." (Martin Luther)

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

The soul of a child is the loveliest flower
That grows in the garden of God
It's climb is from weakness to knowledge and power,
To the sky from the clay to the clod.
To beauty and sweetness it grows under care
Neglected, 'tis ragged and wild.
'Tis a plant that is tender, but wondrously rare,
The sweet wistfull soul of a child.

Be tender, O Gardener, and give it it's share
Of moisture, of warmth and of light,
And let it not lack for th painstaking care
To protect it from frost and from blight.
A glad day will come when it's bloom shall unfold,
It will seem that an angel has smiled,
Reflecting a beauty and sweetness untold
In the sensitive soul of a child.

...Author Unknown

Thy Word is like a garden, Lord,
With flowers bright and fair;
And every one who seeks may pluck
A lovely cluster there.
Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine,
And jewels rich and rare
Are hidden in its mighty depths
For every searcher there.

Thy Word is like a starry host:
A thousand rays of light
Are seen to guard the traveler,
And make his pathway bright.
Thy Word is like an armory,
Where soldiers may repair,
And find, for life's long battle-day,
All needful weapons there.

Oh, may I love Thy precious Word,
May I explore the mine,
May I its fragrant flowers glen,
May light upon me shine!
Oh, may I find my armor there!
Thy Word my trusty sword,
I'll learn to fight with every foe
The battle of the Lord.

(Edwin Hodder, Thy Word Is Like a Garden, Lord)