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Wednesday Vignette – glory days

| Flower Roberts

This is a beautifully written piece. Please give yourself 2 minutes of peace by reading it.

annamadeit's avatarFlutter & Hum

So, there’s been another attack – in Brussels of all places. Of course, it’s not just any town – it is the administrative center of the European Union. But still… it makes me ponder the relative randomness of it all. You never know where the next one is going to be, and how close you will be to it. The only thing we can pretty much know for sure is that there will be a next one. There always is.

In the air, halfway between Amsterdam and Gothenburg about two months ago, I looked out the window of the plane, and saw this:

What is called a "glory" - an optical phenomenon where light is refracted through drops of water. This is what is called a “glory” – an optical phenomenon where light is refracted through drops of water. Notice how the rings continue through the spectrum twice – even a third time – as it fades outward. I bet it continues beyond that, even though we can’t…

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Spring Queening

| Flower Roberts

Each spring has its own unique crop of weeds. This spring has an unusually high number of different weeds, due to our mild winter. The volume of weeds this March has been overwhelming.

Even though there were many contestants in the Spring Queen Weed contest, there was a clear winner.

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This weed showed a superior ability to grow along side other weeds.

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This one was firmly rooted wherever it took hold. It clearly dominated the field as a go-getter.

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The lovely little purple blooms atop square stems were quickly recognized as a nettle.

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Its hairy leaves with a blush of purple, arranged oppositely with palmate venation was the sign that this was no regular Henbit.

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I’d like to announce the newly crowned “Spring Queen of the Weeds” is…

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Purple Deadnettle/ Lamium purpureum

She is clearly top of the heap for the 2016 spring season.

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Congratulations Nettie!

Do not expect me to end this post with

“Long live the Queen.”

Bunnies out, Bulbs up

| Flower Roberts

I have been telling folks that my bunnies are as big as the neighbors’ beagle. Now I have a photo to prove it. Thankfully, I had my camera with me photographing bulbs when this encounter went down.

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Charlotte standing her ground.
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Barley. To dig or not to dig? That is the question.
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Alberto Costello Starflower
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Anemone blanda

I spent every day last week sliding up and down the hills on cardboard.

No, not for amusement!     I’ve been digging weeds.

Spring is just around the corner in NC.  Wait for it………

Follow the Flower to spring.

Start Your Seeds

| Flower Roberts

It’s time.   Finally.

Here’s what you need to start your seeds.

SEEDS, SOIL and SIGNS.

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SEEDS can be what you’ve collected yourself (See Save the Seeds Post),

or what your friends sent you in their Christmas cards,

or some you bought.

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SOIL must be fine for small seeds in pots .

or loosened and enriched with organic  material, like compost or chopped leaves.

Think of it as plant “baby food”. You wouldn’t give a baby a big chunk to eat. Break it up.

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If you use a Jiffy tray, keep it covered. Do not put this little greenhouse in direct sun or you will cook your babies.

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SIGNS can be anything weather proof. I use colorful plastic knives from the party store.

If these need to be legible for long periods, etch the plant names with a Dremel Tool.

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Six weeks from now these babies will go outside.

NOW…Start your seeds!

Where Do My Words Go?

| Flower Roberts

I send my words out into the world.

I get back  numbers and flags,

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and occasionally comments.

Sometimes I have to Ctrl C and Ctrl V these into a translator.

I love these beautiful languages with their own sounds and rhythms.

Do they read my words, or just look at my photos?

Do they really understand what I am trying to say?

Do they feel what I feel?

All I can do is let my words fly away and hope they land where they are needed.

A smile or a laugh from me,

in a land I will never see,

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to friends I will never meet.

I hope I help you or brighten your day.

Your flags and numbers let me know you are out there,

but your words bring me joy.

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Talk to the Flower.

 

Haunted by the Chimes

| Flower Roberts

I think of him when the wind blows.

I have his chimes.

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I listen to their notes and wonder.

Is he sending me a message.

Is he spelling it out in the musical notes A, C, E, F, B?

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What is he telling me? Is he calling my name?

Or do the notes just bring me back into this moment,

away from my plans for tomorrow, back from my worry of yesterday?

You can’t see the wind. You can only feel it and hear it.

Is it an unseen proof of faith?

I hear it singing. I watch its moving shadows.

He was here.

Now he’s not.

Or is he?

It’s a Rotten World

| Flower Roberts

Thank goodness!

Where would we be without our fungi friends?

They turn all those stumps and sticks into soil.

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The lichens are greenish colors,

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but the fungi may be any color from black to orange.

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Some are slimy,

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while others are brittle.

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Some are ugly,

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but others are really beautiful.

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Some grow solo,

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while others form a “Charlie Foxtrot” (Cluster Fungi)

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There are even groups who go out on a limb to have a Fungi Fiesta.

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Fungi are Fun!

Follow the Flower!

 

A Star that is Blue

| Flower Roberts

This fern has many features that I love.

Its trade name is Blue Star Fern. One of its scientific names is Phlebodium aureum.

 

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Loved feature #1.   It is blue.   Blue is my daddy’s favorite color, because he loves bluebirds.

 

My last post featured a plant that was also”peacock” blue, you may recall.

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Loved feature # 2.  This fern also has interesting leaf/frond shapes. Not just one shape, but many.

I wonder how the plant decides which frond gets to be a glove and which is a mitten.

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Loved feature # 3 is this marvelous venation pattern. Lower plants have to use structural support that relies more on tinsel strength than bulk.

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And last but not least, Loved feature # 4 is its cute little hairy feet.

Not as cute as a rabbit’s foot of course, but still cute. This root actually looks like Barley.

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Follow the Fern… I mean Flower.