juneSCENE IN OUR GARDEN: 2014

Merry Christmas

I'm a happy woman.

It's just the right size...

redder than it appears in these photos...

and sitting close to the recliner where I've been hanging out lately.

Merry Christmas.

Always Exaggerate...

"Generosity" in one of our 2014 flowerbeds....

“Cram, cram, cram, every chink and cranny … I like generosity wherever I find it, whether in gardens or elsewhere … Always exaggerate rather than stint. Masses are more effective than mingies.” (Vita Sackville-West, garden writer and creator of Sissinghurst, UK)

After watching our third episode of Love Your Garden (thanks to the tip from FlowerLady), I told my husband I was a little worried about the density of planting employed by A.T. and his cohorts. Though I personally love the look of "generosity", I worried about root-rivalry and eventual plant atrophy.

However, my anxieties have been lifted, and I look forward to creating exaggeration and masses in our flowerbeds - old and new - next spring!

By the way, I got that Sackville-West quote from Jack's book review. I've added Sissinghurst to my winter reading list! Maybe you'll want to, too, after reading about it!

White

Thankful I had nowhere I needed to go early this morning...

I could just sit inside and admire the beauty from my recliner.

Most of the autumn lawn and flower bed cleanup and maintenance are done.

It's a good feeling.

November 17, 2014.

Things Change

“Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.”
― Chad Sugg

Walnuts

This year's walnut crop has kept my husband busy!

I THINK last evening was the third pickup.
Very few remain on the tree.

Last night's haul was nine wheelbarrows full.

Please don't ask me what he's doing with them all!

just the way they are

I exited the doors after my physical therapy session this morning

and found the groundsman hard at work.

The back of his pick up truck was loaded with hydrangea cuttings...

and he was still at work in one of the flower beds.

Timidly I inquired if the hydrangeas were already spoken for.

He seemed a little puzzled by my question

and not unhappy that I helped myself to an armful!

Upon arriving home, I unloaded them onto a rusted chair.

I'm not sure WHAT I'll do with them.

They look quite nice just the way they are.

Venturing No Further Than...

our back porch to try to capture the colors

that are so beautiful to the eye...

Later this morning, we'll travel a few miles to visit my parents.

Along the way--fields of corn and beans in various stages of harvest...

pumpkin stands, and trees.

Gloriously colored trees, taking my breath away with their beauty.

Radically Altered

My activity outside has been radically altered by knee replacement surgery last Tuesday.
I have tried for a little sun-therapy along with my physical therapy each day...

our little back porch providing an easily-accessible spot.

I still rely on the printed copies of exercises here at home
and take advantage of a couple of railings for stability when outside.
Yesterday, the wind wafted the pages from the seat of my walker.
My husband was temporarily off the property,
so rather than foolishly attempting to retrieve them myself,
I threw a few weights on top of them to hold them safely until he returned.

(One gets very creative when faced with such challenges!)

What a beautiful season!

How disappointed I am not to be able to do simple tasks like:

picking up the walnuts falling rapidly from the tree
snipping off the sucker shoots growing from some young trees and bushes
emptying water accumulating in the birdbath
pulling weeds
dead-heading the white roses that stubbornly refuse to quit blooming

What ARE They?

He called me away from my pleasurable read (My Garden, the City and Me: Rooftop Adventures in the Wilds of London, by Helen Babbs) to tell me,"You ought to go look at those plants you brought from Dave's" (my brother who lives in North Carolina).
After marking my place carefully, I did!

They've been slow to take hold in the northeast Indiana spot

in which I casually plunked them a few years ago.

This IS the best I've seen them!

And how I love the variegated leaves and demure lavender flowers!

(Actually, I think I've divided them a couple of times.

Maybe I interfered with their intentions,

but now that I've established a bit of a border,

I think I'll leave them alone to do their thing.)

Can anyone tell me what they are;
...and have I asked that before?????

Another Garden Walk

West Central Neighborhood

Fort Wayne, IN

As wonderful as most of the interiors were....

it is the gardens that I enjoyed most!

Beautiful views -- beautiful day.

Weeds

There's really no getting around THIS part of maintaining one's flower beds...

and he's been hard at it this week!

Another bed....Another day

The results have been gratifying.

As some have said:

Crabgrass can grow on bowling balls in airless rooms, and there is no known way to kill it that does not involve nuclear weapons. ~Dave Barry

I always think of my sins when I weed. They grow apace in the same way and are harder still to get rid of. ~Helena Rutherfurd Ely, A Woman's Hardy Garden, 1903

But make no mistake: the weeds will win; nature bats last. ~Robert M. Pyle

Weeds are nature's graffiti. ~Janice Maeditere

They know, they just know where to grow, how to dupe you, and how to camouflage themselves among the perfectly respectable plants, they just know, and therefore, I've concluded weeds must have brains. ~Dianne Benson, Dirt, 1994

Good and Plenty

~Autumn Joy Sedum~
They're in every flower bed here at Gatescroft!

Currently in the pink and

growing randomly or in order.

Surpassing all expectations of size,

they unselfishly share the space

with garden art - rust and wood.

Silently they speak.

"Abundance," they say. "Good and plenty OF it!"

Free for the Viewing

After Sunday dinner,

a stroll through the County Extension Gardens.

Thanks to all the Master Gardeners who work to keep this garden interesting
in addition to their own.

Several Monarch butterflies and many, many bees

were obviously thankful, too.

It really was a visual treat

which we shared with a couple of friends.

I always enjoy studying the combination of plants

both potted and in the beds.

Whether viewed en masse

or appreciated one by one,

the flowers here are impressive.

And the admission price is right, too!

Annual and perennial beauty --

free for the viewing!

My friend suggested I take & label the last photo

"Beauty and the Beast".

Beauty and the Beast

So I did.

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)