Author: Flower Roberts

What’s Up At Wildwood?

| Flower Roberts

I am back at Wildwood this week. I have been moving things and cleaning as usual. I have put out word that many plants are ready for adoption. It’s all I can do.

Mother of Thousands and Mother of Millions in same pot up for adoption.

I have been taking pictures of things I like. I will not share the mess. We burned more of my biology notebooks yesterday. I had the horrible thought this morning.

My career up in smoke.

Where would I be if I had invested all that effort into something besides science and plants? Maybe I took a wrong turn decades ago and got on the wrong path.

I know this kind of thinking is not helpful at age 65, but I am burning records of my career and giving away my botanical collection. It’s hard not to have such questions as I purge my present life of my past.

Jean May camellia

I just don’t want people to envy me or think my life is easy. I do not want to create dissatisfaction by sharing all the good stuff and hiding the struggles, of which there have been many.

Sleeping head-down in the morning sun.

So when you see all this beauty in these pictures, remember the sore back and dirty fingernails that got me here. Every choice involves loss. Don’t be fooled by a pretty photo.

Pink Muhly grass
Light and shadows
Mother-in-law snake plant up for grabs.
My favorite gardening chair. Ha

FLOW

Babies on Babies

| Flower Roberts

I brought my Mother-of-Thousands plants in.

Mother-of-Thousands


I remove plantlets from the yellowing leaves before they drop off onto the floor.

Plantlets


I have found this before, babies on babies.

This plant should be called GRANDMOTHER-OF-THOUSANDS.


WOW!

FLOWER

Time for Witch Hazel

| Flower Roberts

Although I do love the thought of a witch named Hazel, I am referring to a tree. Hamamelis virginiana is in bloom here in North Carolina.

Witch hazel bloom

There is a tree along one of my favorite paths. Its flowers are small with squiggly yellow petals. The leaves are oval with wavy margins.

Witch hazel leaves

The astringent, witch hazel, is made from extracts from the bark, twigs and leaves of the tree.

Wild Witch Hazel

I will dress up like a witch again on Halloween. Maybe I will wear a name tag with ‘HAZEL’ on it.

FLOW

Purloined Fruit to Unwanted Fruit

| Flower Roberts

The purloined Poncirius has made fruit for the first time. I could be pleased, but I am not.

This is a cautionary tale for all you seed stealers out there. Be careful what you wish for. When you get it, it may cause pain.

This is all my fault. I saw the Poncirius trifoliata at an undisclosed plantation. I was fascinated by its long green thorns. It is a plant nobody will mess with.

I carefully picked a small, fuzzy yellow fruit and stored it in an undisclosed location on my person. The fruit was forgotten until bedtime. It rolled across the floor as I was switching into pajamas.

The fruit went home. The seeds were saved, then carefully planted in pots. The plants grew quickly. I planted two in the ground to see if they would survive our winters in zone 7.

The two hardy shrubs are taller than I am. They are lovely with dense foliage. This could be the end, but there is a dark secret. Poncirius trifoliata can be invasive.

Ponciriu/Citrus trifoliata: Flying dragon

I told myself it could not happen here. I was wrong. I know of two giant shrubs of  Poncirius/Citrus trifoliata beside Highway 321 past Lenoir. That is zone 6. I cannot trust these two to stay put. I cannot allow the fruit to get loose.

These shrubs are nicknamed Flying dragons. The fruit is hardy orange or bitter orange. It is deer resistant, but that will not save it.

Poncirius trifoliata with bitter, hardy oranges.

I picked all the fuzzy, little oranges and took them in. There was bleeding involved as usual. This is the meanest plant I have ever had.

I will not sadden you with my plans for the two trees. I must be responsible. This fruit produces a formidible foe that must be contained.

I fell in love with its dangerous thorns, stole its usless fruit, sacrificed my blood while caring for it. I don’t have a lick of sense when it comes to plants.

FLOW

What Needs Burning?

| Flower Roberts

Fire is both beautiful and terrifying.

I spent time this evening watching smoke rise from a neighbor’s fire.


I thought of all the things I would like to burn.

A friend recently asked me to witness
the burning of her wedding dress.
An end of a marriage needs a ceremony
and a witness to untie the knot.

Burning the boxes full of papers from my career was such a relief to me.  No turning back now! Lecture notes reduced to ashes was a catharsis.

Something has got to go!

We burned our parents’ old financial records in a metal can in the garden. We called it ” Playing hobo.” We sat around in a circle and took turns throwing wads into the fire. Then strirred up the ashes with a long stick.

Fire is used in symbolism both to destroy and to purify. Either way it is useful. I am looking forward to cool nights around a fire pit.

What needs cleaning and what needs destroying in your life?

Is it time for you to build a fire?

FLOW

Beads Then String

| Flower Roberts

This has happened before. This pushing the cart over to the horse struggle I do. I envision a whole and ignore the parts. The book has been like that.

This morning I woke up with the thought of beads THEN string. I must gather all the beads then arrange them on the string.

That is what I have been doing. It is slow and scattered. The process is disjointed. There are big beads and little beads.

Finally, this morning I realized that is the disjointed process I always use to move forward.

Bead by bead…bird by bird.

Relief came over me. I have been doing it the right way, but feeling wrong.

Thank you Arlene and John Pearson. These two people helped me see that.

Arlene is in my writing group and told me to get a piece of paper and ” Write that down right now.”

John Pearson is a bead. A relative I have never talked to who saw the train and truck aftermath.

I asked him details of how the family dynamics and the farm changed after Grandpa Pearson was killed by the train.

I sent him some posts, pictures and photos of parts of Mama’s letters. Maybe this will lure him back to that time in his life. He was fourteen then. He is eighty now.

Time is ticking away. I must hurry to collect these beads. The string will have to wait.

FLOW

Wet Webs

| Flower Roberts

I have always been fascinated by spider webs. Nothing makes them stand out better than fog.


I am in a cloud. Sitting on the porch. Listening to last night’s rain dripping from the trees.


Along the porch railing are dozens of glistening spider webs. They are blowing in the breeze, but the drops are clinging to their threads.

This is what peace looks like.


Wet webs on the porch on an October morning.

FLOW

Monarchs on the Mountain

| Flower Roberts

The Monarchs are visiting the mountain this week. We have enjoyed watching them feeding on our neighbors’ butterfly bush.

Monarchs/Danaus plexippus

Monarchs aren’t the only butterflies on the Buddleia bush.

Buckeye/Junonia coenia
Painted Lady/Vanessa cardni

There are Painted Ladies and Buckeyes at the party, too.

There is nothing better than a butterfly…

except a bushful of butterflies.

FLOWER

The Dahlias Downtown

| Flower Roberts

Blowing Rock has a joyful group of dahlias planted on the bank of Main Street right in front of the park. I enjoyed studying their colors and forms this evening.

The garden club plants and tends this gorgeous display. The work takes skill and doing this on a bank makes the results extra impressive.

Here is just a sampling of the Blowing Rock dahlia extravaganza.

DAZZLING!

Not just dahlias.

FLOWER