How can I withhold food from a nursing mother?
She was so hungry she came back to snack on the bank at 5:30 in the evening.
This mama is ravenous. Maybe she has twins?
I could see her milk bag as she climbed the bank.
At least she stopped and posed for me before running into the woods.
I guess I’ll just clean house and read the rest of the summer.
FLOWERLESS
I will start this post with a beautiful new flower
that opened for the first time this morning.
It is a ‘Splendens’ Tiger lily, Lilium tigrinums.
It has my two favorite colors peachy/melon orange with plum-colored spots.
I am extra grateful to get to see this bloom this morning.
Hundreds of my other blooms did not have the opportunity to open this morning,
because they were eaten by deer last night.
Have I put my heart in transient treasure?
Twenty-eight years of carefully planning and tending my gardens
to become a high-dollar delicatessen for deer?
My living jewels eaten by marauding mammals.
Is this really how one should invest one’s time, money and energy:
to supply the locals with exotic cuisine, free-of-charge?
I must say the FLOWER is feeling rather foolish.
So today, I will enjoy my treasures that have not been eaten.
I need to love things that are not edible…
like my bunnies.
FOOL
I try not to share sadness. There is too much in this world all ready.
This is a sad date for my family.
A past tragedy has cluttered my thoughts all day.
Then I saw this.
If you are sad. Hang on!
If you are sick. Hang on!
Reaching out with faith.
Held up by a splinter and a tiny tendril.
My vines are teaching me life lessons again.
Bless them.
FLOWER
This crazy bloomer is another “top three” for me.
Montbretia is a perennial bulb. The genus is Crocosmia.
There are also yellow and orange forms, but Lucifer is the superstar.
It is deer resistant and rodent resistant.
It likes full to partial sun. No special water or fertilizer treatment is required.
Support is needed as the hundreds of blooms develop on each stem.
The structure of the whole plant forms a lovely three to four foot fan.
Each stem has alternate arms which hold an array.
It’s easy to miss the beauty of each bright red flower, because of the number of blooms.
Even the buds are works of art.
Easy care plant, deer resistant and beautiful.
Win:Win:WIN!
FLOWER
I wish all my flowers were as easy to please as my Hot Chocolate Callas.
No matter where I plant them, they thrive. They do best in sun and moist soil.
No trimming, no staking, no spraying…
I do have favorite flowers. This is one of my top three. Stay tuned for another top three.
This one is officially Zantedeschia ‘Hot Chocolate’ PP15294.
I left most of them out for the second winter. They all came back.
It’s description says cold hardy to 10 degrees F, so I do bring in a few over the winter.
I wish they were all this easy!
FLOWER
It happened again this morning. A new daylily bloomed with an unusual color.
Its name is South Seas, but that color…
Time to pull out the cheat sheets.
I used to use my colored pencil collection, but this got rather cumbersome…
carrying around a box of pencils…holding each up to the flower…
Now, I whip out my color charts from the internet.
I happen to know that by the time it gets through my printer and the photos and the internet,
there is bound to be some change in tint, tone and hue.
I know someone is going to tell me there is a APP for that. There is an APP for everything.
I can only use “lipstick” so many times (twice) before it gets redundant.
So now you know. The FLOWER is a cheater. (Blushing scarlet.)
I’d like to think of myself as a color-reader over-achiever.
FLOW
P.S. South Seas looks candy with hints of blush and a honey throat. (i.e It’s red and yellow. )
There were numerous be-headings overnight. Oh, the horror!
Mama had a serious hankering for daylilies and hostas.
She especially loves the Whooperee daylilies.
Luckily, I do have one left intact inside the fence to show its juicy, big buds and blooms.
If I were a mama deer, I’d eat it too.
Such succulent flowers…just for show. How wasteful!
There should be a whole row of red here. Hi Ho.
This hosta row under the oak should be green. Hmmmm.
Here on the bank is a group of nine Giant Elegans, up past my knees.
The bottom row was a buffet last night.
There will be some fence laid down at the feet of my favorite juicy morsels,
to prevent future consumption.
Yes, I love my flowers, but that fawn wobbled away with my heart.
Chomp on Mama. Chomp on.
FLOW
I found them clinging to the side of an old maple tree.
The color glowed in the morning sun.
Eating it could give spiritual potency and even immortality.
Such a lovely shine and color.
Shaped like a delicate pastry in a bakery.
Arranged nicely along the trunk like a serving tower.
One little Ling Chih was caught between trees.
Should I just eat some here under the tree?
Would there be enough for me to share with my family?
Should I carry some back to give to my elderly parents?
I really should share my good fortune with others…but how much and with who?
Did I remove the Ganoderma lucidum from the tree?
Did I eat the Ling Chih?
We shall see.
FLOWER
A tiny fawn was discovered in one of my ditches at around 2:00 PM in the hot sun.
I had been in the general area for hours weeding and re-potting plants.
The bunnies had been only feet away since morning.
Mr. Flower discovered it while mowing. (It finally stopped raining.)
What an uncomfortable position! It seemed not to be able to walk.
As we and the neighbors quietly gathered around to discuss what to do,
it struggled to its feet/hooves.
I thought it would just stop under the Cardoon to hide.
No. It stumbled through my garden.
Then got stuck in a fence which was quickly moved.
Then it wobbled up the hill and into the woods.
Where is mama?
FAWNER
floweralley 