Month: September 2025

Four Legs of a Zebra

| Flower Roberts

This story is not finished yet. The legs are still disconnected and some stripes are missing. 

That is about to change this week.


The dismantled zebra spent over forty years gathering dust in my Daddy’s shop. When we sold our homeplace on Enwood, we moved the zebra to the mountains.

I hired the neighbor’s children to help me take the zebra outside and brush it off and hose it down.

We carried it back in the basement for me wipe it down and dry it off. Then I carefully rubbed it down with special oil.

My neighbor helped me load the zebra into my car.  I drove it to a special place for rehabilitation. I pondered its sentimental value against the rehabers’ cost estimate. How much is an old zebra worth these days?

I stood by my car looking at those old legs wondering what to do. I thought of its long journey; from Piqua, Ohio to Lenoir, North Carolina then to Charlotte and finally to this place in the mountains.

I had to trust my ancestors who bought the zebra and kept the zebra and dismantled the zebra and moved the zebra. I had to trust my father, the woodworker, who stored the zebra in his shop for decades. Who was I to determine its value?

They will start work on it this week, stripping it down and repairing it. Then we will go examine it and choose the color of  its new coat.

Something about this gives me peace. That I have done my part in this arduous journey and now, at last, the zebra will be whole again.

Maybe that’s all any of us are supposed to do…Our part. Not the beginning, not the ending…just a leg of the journey.

I will share the results when this story ends. For now, we will trust the zebras handlers to do their part and bring the zebra back to life.

FLOW

Color on the Rocks

| Flower Roberts

I am a fan of plants that spread. They soften lines in the garden. I like the look of spilling over rock borders and walls.

This ice plant is growing nicely in its spot along the rock border. I like that it stays low and compact. This one is neater than some I have grown in the past.

Ice plant ‘ Orange Sunset Orange Glow’


This color combo really pops. The yellow center with petals which trsnsition from orange to pink lives up to its name ‘ Orange Sunset Orange Glow.’

Ice plant between stones and sedums


Its tag claims hardiness to -30°F. This is also deer resistant. If it survives several seasons I will be thrilled.



FLOWER on the mountain

On the Book Trail

| Flower Roberts

I read books about things that interest me. Those books refer to other books on the subject that the author used to write their book. I look up those books and read those, too.
I call this ” following the book trail.” That is how I have found some of my favorite books. I have been following the book trail lately as I wait for my next hip surgery.
This book, Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts, is about the lives of two naturalist in the 1700’s who attempted to classify all living things.

I have read about them and even taught about them many times, but I never really knew their stories until now. This book starts at the early lives of Carl Linnaeus and Gorges-Louis Leclerc (de Buffon) and details their development into the important researchers they became.

Their stories involve the struggles of obtaining an education and a proper place in society and science. These two men followed very different paths to get to their goal. Both stories are amazing!

If you love biology, you will enjoy this book on how our present classification system came into existence.

FLOWER  (sitting still and silently reading about science)

Another Survivor of Neglect

| Flower Roberts

I got two of these ‘Daybreak Coreopsis. I placed them as bookends of this small flowerbed.

This area has been neglected all summer. I am grateful that “Lil’ Bang” has thrived through my neglect.

Lil’ Bang Daybreak Coreopsis

It is a perennial so I hope it will survive the cold here on the mountain.

The tag claims hardiness to -20°F. We shall see.


FLOWER

That Little Lantana

| Flower Roberts

This Lantana is a ball of color. I love that its buds, new blooms and mature flowers look like a bouquet.

Hot Blooded Red Lantana

The red could not be redder. No wonder it is named ‘Hot Blooded’ red. It is an annual. I will remember this winner when I look for plants in the spring.

Really red!


I am in Zone 5. I have been learning a new landscape. I picked this plant for its deer resistance.

I save all plant tags to help me find the best performers again.



FLOWER

Memories in the Light

| Flower Roberts

On my deck there are two artifacts together that are highlighted by the sunshine in the mornings. They are sort of like a shrine. The windchime is there to remind me of my cousin, Mark B.. The gazing ball is for remembering my Daddy who loved all things blue.

Memories in evening shade.

It has taken years to remember these two people without the sorrow that comes with loss. My world shifted and I carried on with the emptiness. Then once the pain faded, it has been like they are part of me and my surroundings. There seems to be a new kind of presence in their absence.

Two gazing balls? One is present, one is made with light.


I look at these two forms and see how the glass refracts the sun and metal blocks the sun to make a shadow.

Two windchimes? Only one is truly present. The other is made by an absence of light.


That’s how I feel about what is left. The object’s presence works with light to make the colors and shadows for the perception of second presence. There must be light for this to happen.

One ball, one chime, no light

It’s the light that makes this possible. My love for them and their lives made the missing and memories possible. I still perceive things differently because of my love for them. My reality has been changed. So in a way something of them is still here, because I still love them.

FLOWER

I wrote this for a dear friend and his two sons. Their dear Lisa is suffering no more, but her light is still here, because their love for her is still here.

Keys

| Flower Roberts

I know it makes no sense that I have kept these keys.
We never figured out what most of these were for.

Mystery keys


Some are for cars long gone, some are for houses sold and offices left.
There are even dog tags from past pets.


Daddy had a reason for keeping these.
Maybe one day, something will need unlocking and I will bring out the box and open a lock that needed opening.


I know it makes no sense to keep these keys, but I cannot get rid of them just yet.

FLOWER

Two Twining Together

| Flower Roberts

I love vines and I love purple. I did not plan this combination. Nature planted the morning glories. The Passion Vine is a hybrid called ‘Blue Crown.’ A hybrid is a mix of two different strains.

Passion Vine and purple morning glory.

If you are a follower, you know how I feel about vines. I have learned life lessons from them due to their faith in reaching up and out and their grabbing hold for support when needed. They always strive to go higher. They inspire me.

I had wanted to live my life like a strong and magestic tree, but my fate was to live like a vine. I have struggled to accept my interdependence. Thankfully the vines keep modeling a different path in ascent.

Two ‘Blue Crown’ Passion blooms

I have watched vines grow amazingly high and strong when in the right location.  I have also watched them crawling across the ground searching for support. Like the tomato vine that I had to step over to take these photos.

Wandering tomato vine.

I have had to guide some climbers that lost their way and grew up under structures to be trapped in darkness. Some even ended up enclosed in pots and under stoneshrooms and had to be rescued and rerouted.

Wrong Turns

Sound familiar?

Maybe you are a vine, too. I have some vine friends that I am entwined with. We support each other and end up the better for both of us. Win:win as twins!

Passion on the treehouse.

And about that purple? That color is regal. It does not have the boldness of red nor the dark hue of blue. It is a tween color. The red and blue join to make something beautiful together. 

Wild purple morning glory

Sometimes it takes two different lives to achieve perfection in combination. Do not try to be everything all by yourself.

Great combo!

I no longer wish to be a tall and sturdy tree. I do admire their strength and grandeur. I have accepted my vineness and my purpleness. Others have different fates, but mine is as a vine.

I would be remiss if I left out the down side of entwined vines. Sometimes they reach for the sky and there is no support.

Reaching for the sky.

Then they bend back on themselves or twine so tightly together that they both droop and die.

Dead end, turn back

Sometimes interdependent becomes co- dependent. If you are a vine, you must be selective about what you connect with. Not all partnerships are beneficial for both.

Choking: co-dependence

FLOWER

Plants with Claws

| Flower Roberts

Plants need to protect themslves. They cannot run away from danger. They have to survive where they are. This means some form of defense is needed.

Agave with weapons.


My century plants have claws. I have been scratched and stabbed by these over the years. The new claws are a lovely red, warning color.

I got both of these agaves from a charming plant store on Oakracoke Island years ago. That is where I first saw a Century Plant bloom close up. Wow, they are amazing.

Yes, I am the one posing in the road. Ha

Once in a Lifetime


My two babies are about big enough to put in the ground. I must be careful doing this. I will not worry about hungry enemies with teeth. A claw in the nose will do the trick.

Armed agaves

Then all I have to do is wait sixty years or do for it to bloom!

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FLOWER