I saw this tiny pile of debris trundling along the deck railing.
The trashy pack on its back is made of lichen, leaves and dead bodies.
After it sucks the life-blood out of a victim, it stacks its body parts on its back to use as camouflage.
The messy mass moves along slowly searching for its next meal and fashion accessory.
I have to admit I think they are cute once you get past the extra legs sticking out of its back.
JUNK and FLOW
I planted this beauty in a hurry. I did not have time to pick the right spot. It had been out of the ground too long and was a shriveled, brown clump.
I dug a hole by the steps where I could easily watch it and keep it watered. It was a gift from Rumple-Rowe, so I did not know it was a giant. My only thought was to revive it.
Now it is thriving. Spider-to-Fly is a gorgeous, happy giant. It is so close to the steps that I must trim its leaves to prevent tripping. When I walk past it my mind says “Move it!”.
I woke up sad this morning. As I walked through the foyer and peeked out the door there was a giant daylily full of happy faces looking back at me, bright and big and beautiful.
Spider- to-Fly must stay where it is. I will trim it. I will put in railing on those steps.
It must be close to me so it can help me revive and thrive. That is the power of flowers.
FLOW
I have been here a couple of times before. Being inert and immobile is humbling.
My school room is my garden and there are many places for me to sit and learn.
I move from station to station like they are learning centers in kindergarten. I am learning different lessons from different places in my garden.
I have one chair where I sit and let my thoughts wind down until there is nothing left but my breathing and the bird calls. This could be called meditation or vegetation. Either way I do nothing.
I pout in my glider. I cry and wipe my red nose as I comfort myself with the methodical movements. If there is a fire in the sugar kettle, I throw things in and watch them burn.
My perch chair gives me a long view of the garden. Here I sit with pen and paper and make lists of tasks to be done and needed supplies to be ordered.
The butterfly chair is also the Japanese beetle chair right now. This one is used on cold mornings because it gets warmed by the morning sun. In the evening I sit in its western shade.
My garden chair is what I collapse into between bouts of weeding, watering and harvesting. It has two giant zucchini in it right now. Those sneaky zucchini! Morphing to giants the minute my back is turned.
The chair by the front door is where I sit when it rains or snows. I have trouble staying indoors despite the weather. This chair also gets packages from Santazon. I sit in this seat the most . It is my ESCAPE chair.
My high chair is where I drink sangria or wine on ice, regardless of its color. Sometimes I add some fruit and eat it last with my fingers. I do this after I have finished all my chores and have prepared the evening meal. I sit high up and sip to reward my self with moments of watching the water move.
I am learning as I sip and sit. These lessons are so much better for me than flitting around like a gnat on caffeine. I know it is time to slow down. Fast and furious no longer works for me.
FLOW
The tigers bloom in late June. Mercy, how I love them! The deer, however, do not.
The crazy combo of plum and peach is mesmerizing. How can one not love such a pointy, spotty face?
I have grown many generations of tigers from saving the bulbetes along the stems.
The little clones are identically spledid…thus the name Tiger Splendens.
FLOW
Every step is painful, but I had to visit the new blooms I saw from the window.
I have lost track of some names in this part of the garden.
Since I am in no shape to bend down and dig for a marker, we must enjoy some of the faces without the names.
This last photo is of a solar powered fountain that my sister gave me. It is my new toy. The height of the spray depends on the brightness of the sunshine. When a cloud passes over, it spits little spurts of water. I sit in one of my chairs to watch… Old lady entertainment!
FLOW
I feel a bit guilty keeping all these lovely blooms to myself. I am surrounded by living treasure.
There are flowers everywhere. All the spring rains have produced a riot of color.
The sun has been bright but with scattered clouds to keep the heat down.
I am limiting my walking to necessity only. I am glad I got so much done before my hip quit working.
The daylilies seem to be in competition for the best bloom award. All the fences and lights and sprinkled stench has done the job.
I move from chair to chair and watch the birds, lizards, chipmunks and snakes enjoy the garden. That will be my next post…my chairs and my little friends.
FLOWER
I did something Daddy would have done today.
I patiently detangled a vine that reached for support and found only more struggling vines to cling to. They were hanging down strangling each other.
Instead of lazily chopping the tips off to begin again. I patiently and carefully teased them apart and guided them to the trellis.
This is like parenting you see. When children grow up they reach for things beyond them.
Sometimes they grab onto the wrong things for support, so a parent has to carefully undo their grasp from the wrong thing and attach it to the right thing. That way it can grow in the right direction and be supported.
I was a vine.
Thanks Daddy.
FLOWER
I look forward to these fire-engine-red blooms every June.
Everything about this plant is beautiful, its straight bright green leaves, its yellow and red buds and its red blooms opening in a triangular pattern.
This Crocosmia/ Montbretia/Lucifer is scattered throughout my gardens.
The deer ignore every part of this plant. Oh, happy day! This is the easiest plant in my yard. It may need support as the blooms get heavy.
No matter what is blooming around it, Lucifer steals the attention.
Flower
These are my last Lablab purpureus seeds. These plants have been a long time coming. I searched for them several springs before I ordered seeds off the internet that turned out to be a close cousin to Kudzu. I finally found a package in person at a reputable garden center from a trusted company. The common name is Hyacinth Bean ‘Ruby Moon.’
I am aware that flowers and leaves use the sun’s energy for photosynthesis and heat. I have seen fields of flowers turning their faces as the sun crosses the sky. I have never witnessed such an obvious example of this in seedlings until I witnessed it on this very day on the deck of my own house.
The first seeds went in the ground. Only one germinated. It seems to be waiting for something to happen. It is still a tiny, deformed sprout. I will allow it to continue its struggles.
Next, I soaked some more seeds and started them in small pots. These are now in a big pot climbing their trellis. I fear they will need more space eventually.
These last beans are my shot at getting a stand in the ground. I admit to hovering over this tiny, shallow terra cotta pot. It could dry out within hours. Because of this helicopter parenting, I noticed the leaves in the afternoon were flat like little umbrellas. Then at sunset they were tilted with their surface area facing west.
It amazes me how much information is programmed into a seed’s DNA. There are no mama plants ordering them to face east, stand up straight and bend west as the sun descends.
This is an adaptation called tropism that may have given the Lablabs an advantage over other vines…such as Kudzu perhaps?
FLOW
floweralley 