Uncategorized

Forced to have Fun

| Flower Roberts

It’s hard for me to leave tasks unfinished.

Since I am never finished, I rarely voluntarily stop working.

Sometimes a family intervention is needed.

This weekend I was forced to stop weeding, washing and writing

to travel up river by boat with the kayaks piled onto the front.

We have been wanting to do this for years.

There are side channels of the river that can only be reached by canoes and kayaks.

We anchored the boat and paddled under bridges

IMG_2500

and through leaning trees to explore two of these protected areas.

I was pleased to see that nesting boxes and platforms had been erected for bird habitats.

IMG_2486

The turtles, fish and snake I saw seemed undisturbed by my floating by.

IMG_2496

I felt this was not only a haven for them, but also for me.

Maybe it’s time for FLOWER to get back to biology?

I returned home wet, tired and hungry…but with a new attitude.

Let’s call it water therapy.

IMG_2488
That’s my kayak, but I don’t recognize that old lady in it. Ha!

FLOW

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Evaluations

| Flower Roberts

It is a bit early for the usual fall preparations, but this has not been a usual fall.

In preparing for Hurricane Florence, many potted plants had to be moved for protection.

Vines on trellises had to be trimmed and tied.

Limbs and leaves of the tropical trees had to be preened off to lessen wind resistance.

Now that Florence has passed, I find myself dragging plants in big clay pots back out

just about the time they should be prepared to be moved in for winter.

So this fall, the transition has been complicated.

As the clay pots come out of the shop after Florence, their plants are being popped into a plastic pot of similar size.

Some late acquisitions are being put in the ground.

This is the first fall ever that I have considered tossing my FLOWER status.

It has been one calamity after another in my garden this spring and summer.

I have never worked harder nor had this many failures.

I am carefully considering the future of each plant and my position as their gardener.

Florence brought in the winds of change.

Where will the FLOWER blow off to?

FLOW

Safe and Soggy

| Flower Roberts

Florence has left us.

I feel such gratefulness that we ourselves were spared

the devastation experienced by so many others.

The sunshine is a welcome sight after days of darkness.

I must admit, I did not stay inside during the deluge.

This should not come as a surprise to my readers.

Over and over again I strode into the storm to check plants and ditches,

necessary for my sanity if for no other reason.

I am happy to report

the banana forest is still upright

IMG_2428

the vines are still clinging

IMG_2431

and way up in a tree

a certain nest is still intact.

IMG_2434

Way to go Mama Squirrel!

FLOWER

My Head is a Barometer

| Flower Roberts

I refuse to watch the news.

The hype is exasperating.

I am quietly praying for those in harm’s way.

It is gusty here.

The chimes are singing.  The trees are dancing.

My head knows something is coming.

I know not whether it is inner ear or cerebrospinal fluid.

The tide in my head is shifting.

I wait outside in the wind.

Whatever comes will come.

No technology needed.

I feel it.

FLO

Caterpillars Come Back

| Flower Roberts

Okay.  I know these are not the same caterpillars as last year.

Those are long gone as Fritillary butterflies.

I grow these wild Passion vines just for them.

IMG_2330

I have been inspecting the leaves for weeks.

IMG_2326

I was beginning to get concerned.

IMG_2327

Then they appeared.

IMG_2342

Large and small. Over and under. Here and there.

IMG_2335

Just like always.

IMG_2343

I love them with a Passion.

IMG_2332

FLOWER

 

 

On a Porch.

| Flower Roberts

20180906_143647

I am away from the internet, so this will be brief.

20180906_141448

Mr. Flower was glad to find a beer with a Volkswagen on it.

20180906_141216
I think this is so true.

When my garden is a mess, I feel like a mess, too.

I have been too busy to take care of myself or my garden this summer.

I am glad the weather is getting cooler.

Maybe things will slow down, so I can catch up.

It’s time to get home and garden.

Flower needs to get back to her flowers.

 

Climbing Okra in August

| Flower Roberts

I searched for my old “Climbing okra” seeds to grow some again for one of my readers.

It has many other names such as Chinese okra, Egyptian cucumber and Vietnamese luffa.

Its scientific name is Luffa acutangula.

Yesterday evening, I noticed the blooms.

They do almost glow in the dark.

Bumble bees were busy zooming from bloom to bloom.

They were moving so fast that I could barely get a photo.

There are some tiny fruits, too.

I need to wait outside at dusk and see if the moths come like last time.

Thank you, Curtis Wilkinson,  for prompting me to grow these again.

I am not sure how long these old seeds would have stayed viable.

I mailed out some seeds to other readers. I hope that yours have grown as well.

Hopefully these little okra/luffas will produce some more seeds for me.

Luffa acutangula, climbing okra fruit

FLOWER

A Place with a Presence

| Flower Roberts

Earlier this week, I spent hours walking the streets of Lynchburg, Virginia

and taking hundreds of photographs of historic houses, churches and gardens.

I was stopped in my tracks by this particular house.

What made me pause and put down my camera?

Why did I feel the need to sit down and then circle this property?

Did it remind me of someone’s home in my childhood years?

Was there some architectural aspect that seemed familiar?

Its facade does vaguely resemble the Moses Cone Manor in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Did it remind me of  another mansion or plantation that I have previously photographed?

I tried to recall, but nothing came to me.

Still.  Here I was standing here.  Stalking an empty house in a strange city.

A middle-aged woman in sensible shoes and flowered pants lugging a camera.

(I was trending, not blending.)

This has happened before.  I refer to it as a presence.

The air is thicker, everything slows, there is a peaceful pause in time.

Was it the spirit of one of the Langhornes?

Something pulled me and held me there.

I wanted to stay, but a dog barked and broke the spell.

I moved on to wander and wonder.

FLOW on the GO