juneSCENE IN OUR GARDEN: July 2011

Fun in the Shade

While playing croquet in the back yard this afternoon,

I noticed these flowers growing in a ditch.

I dug them up by the root and transplanted them.

Will they come back next year?

I was REALLY happy to notice the single Echinacea (below)

growing in one of our beds.

I THOUGHT I had some last year,

but couldn't remember where!

I also thought we had gotten ride of the moles.

Apparently not.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Wonderland by Night

The fire-fly hunt was the prelude to the light show

that developed as darkness settled in last night.

Happy to see that ALL the solar lights were working!

Scene in a New Light

Our supermarket occasionally runs a "special" - buy 10 for $10/Get the 11th free.

These lights were included. Yesterday I purchased six of them

and five other grocery items.

I have an appointment that will take me past the store this morning.

I think I'll buy 11 more! $.90@ is a great deal...

and they looked SO good when the sun went down last night!

How do you "light" the night at YOUR house?

After a little bit of research, this morning I went out and trimmed the Lamb's Ear (see yesterday's post.) while it was still cool. I only left one flowering stalk. There were quite a few moldy leaves in the undergrowth. I removed them. The plants look so much fuller now. I thought the drainage was pretty good where these are growing, but I may brainstorm about a new location and see what I come up with...

If you have Lamb's Ear, where is it growing?

Do you use it as a border plant or a "stand-alone"?

(One site I goggled said it's a good border plant...)

The Care of Feeding of Lamb's (Ear)

Believe it or not, this ^ is the BETTER looking

patch of my Lamb's Ear!

OK. I admit it. I have paid little attention

to it over the past three or four years since planting it.

Now I see that I should have been encouraging

outward growth by deadheading the flower spikes shortly after they begin to wilt.

Also by trimming the outermost leaves I will encourage the foliage

of each lamb's ear to thicken.

Lamb's Ear is a drought-resistant plant,
doesn't like a lot of watering,

and was once considered a weed!

Speaking of weeds...

Is THIS a weed or should I encourage it?

It grows close to the ground between our stepping stones.

After the Wind

We went outside to view and straighten up the wind-effects

from yesterday and last night.

It didn't take me long to notice

that no matter WHERE they were

THEY looked good

and things AROUND them

looked better, too!

I think

there is

a life lesson here!

I probably should have posted this whole thing

HERE instead of here!
It's more of a "Life Lesson" kind of place.

In Spite of the Heat

I turned around after placing the sprinkler this morning
(thanking God for our well)

and saw the sun playing on our flowers!

What beauty!

In spite of the heat!

Miracles Still Happen!

I won all the above...the door prize at the Van Wert Garden Walk last Saturday.

Was I ever surprised to receive the call yesterday morning!

I took the Harvester part of the prize with me

when I went to help a friend weed her

WONderful vegetable garden early this morning.

(You can see the morning sunbeams.)

It's SO hot and dry. It's a MIRACLE the garden is producing

as well as it is.

Upon completion, Donna gave me some onions and zucchini.

I hope very soon this Harvester bag will overflow

with good things for her and Lynn.

I once heard a song which said,

"You have to plow the fields for miracles to happen".

They have CERTAINLY plowed their field!

The Grand Finale?

In spite of 93 degree temperatures yesterday, we enjoyed the

Van Wert (Ohio) Master Gardeners' Garden Walk immensely.

As usual, my camera gravitated toward garden whimsy--

documenting and adding ideas to my ever-busy brain!

Color, signs, and seating areas always attract my attention.

I really liked this chandelier hanging in this beautiful gazebo.

Can you read the scripted under its eaves below?

(You can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Whether rustic....

colorful...

formal...

or whimsical...

it caught my eye!

I was especially excited to meet a garden blogger (of excellence and renown),

Kylee. See her Little Acre HERE if you haven't already met her.

We've done some serious Garden Walking the past couple of weeks!

This one may be the 2011 Grand Finale for us.

It's probably time to turn our attention to our own.

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)