Delicate beauty and lovely scents of thousands of roses. Every color imaginable, except blue.
Follow the Flower!
International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon
Uncategorized
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: July 15, 2015
Many garden bloggers send photos of their gardens to http://www.maydreamsgardens.com MayDreamsGardens to be posted as a group.
I had to rush home yesterday and figure out how to do this.
I have my first widget with my face on it!
So, here are the photos that I took of our garden yesterday.
The first photo is one of many lizards around our stone parking area. I call him “The King” because he likes to climb on the stoneshrooms and sun himself while he stands watch over the garden.
I am working on a future post about ferns, so I took photos of the spores on the underside of the frond.
My daughter has a lily and rose garden. This is her newest stargazer, Playtime.
This is my favorite plant. Eucomis/Pineapple lily.
GO visit some gardens around the country at http://www.maydreamsgardens.com Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day
Follow the Flower!
Wordless Wednesday (The lizard can speak for himself.)
Wagon Tales
The kids are grown now. No grandkids in sight. No use keeping this rusty, little Radio Flyer wagon. It’s too small to haul things in. It’s got that big dent in the side. The paint’s half off and it’s rusting away.
It’s one of the racing wagons. My boy and girl used to pull those up to the top of our hill and race down toward the lake, banging into each other as they went. It made me nervous, to see them flying at top speeds toward open water. Just in time, they would whip them aside for one final wreck. I should have put a stop to it, but the screams of joy were worth risk of bumps and bruises.
Once Mermaid Barbie rode shotgun with the girl during a particularly fierce downhill battle. When it was over, the girl realized that Barbie had lost her head. We looked high and low for it. Finally, I bent down and looked under that little wagon. There was Barbie’s head, dangling up under the axle by that long blonde mane. Her head was removed with the help of scissors. It had to be screwed back on, literally.
Babs back on the wagon.
Here are the steps I took in preserving and re-purposing the little Radio Flyer wagon. I did not want to repaint it.
1. Use a wire brush to remove rust.
2. Scrub off rust dust and debris with a scrub brush. Then wash and dry.
3. Drill 12-15 holes in the bottom using a drill bit for metals.(They are black.)
4. Seal the entire wagon with an acrylic sealant appropriate for metals.
5. Place tiles in the bottom for better drainage of planters.
I just had to hold on to that little wagon, since it held so many memories for me.
Serendipitous Surprises
I am working on a “Weeds” post, so I have been taking pictures of all my weeds.
You will love this when it’s done. It has song lyrics.
While I was out lamenting the success of all the pesky weeds,
I also took pictures of lovely plants that I did not plant. At least not on purpose.
Here are some serendipitous surprises.
Safe Soil
They have come from a land of shifting sand.
Where people flee across borders to live in tents,
Where battles are fought and drones are flown,
There is no safety or certainty.
The man came first to earn and learn on this safe soil.
He studied the language,
he worked long days,
he filled out forms.
Two years went by. The boy grew older.
Now FINALLY his family is here.
We must celebrate their arrival.
We will have a cook-out,
with cookies and watermelon.
We will make some Jazar Halwa
with ingredients familiar to them, though strange to us
.
Will the flash and bang of our fireworks scare them?
Or will they delight in the sparkling colors
of red, white and blue
On this safe soil.
Happy July 4th
CELEBRATE YOUR FREEDOM.
Follow the Flower!
In Lieu of Flowers
Let the flowers come to the funeral.
We mourners need to see their up-turned, shining faces.
While our heads are bowed out of respect and sadness.
We need them to brighten this darkness.
We need their ribbons and tags.
So that we can read the names of the people moved by his passing.
We need roses and mums, lilies and glads
to add scent to the hushed air.
Let them line up at the altar and surround the tent.
In lieu of chicken and biscuits,
In lieu of casseroles and pound cakes,
In lieu of a check to the church,
SEND IN THE FLOWERS.
To stand like sentries over the plot after the mourners leave,
Making the grave look like a garden.
In memory of my precious cousin Mark Bayzik, who died yesterday.
Zazzle
Nosy Neighbor
I went into my neighbors houses while they were away and took pictures. I knocked at the door and if no one answered, I went in with my camera to check out their housekeeping and furnishings.
At one house, some babies were home alone. I took their pictures while they were sleeping.
Once the lady of the house ignored my knocking and was inside when I opened her door. It was quite a shock for us both, but she let me take her picture without a fuss.
Here is Mrs. Chickadee stuck at home incubating those eggs.
She was probably glad for my company.
That fluffy stuff is fur from my New Zealand rabbit named Barley. How cozy? I love her colors.
Here are the babies that were left home alone.
I don’t get this free-range parenting.
I’m a helicopter mom, like my mother before me.
I saw Mrs. Wren leave, so I took the opportunity to check out her decor.
Then I dropped by the Bluebirds’ house and…
What’s this? Darn cowbird. You brood parasite! You need to mooooove on.
Kidding aside, let’s compare these three nests of three different species.
All three nests were in birdhouses connected to the deck on my home. They are the standard bluebird type houses.
The Carolina Chickadee lays 6-8 lightly speckled white eggs in a flat, soft nest with fewer twigs.
The Carolina Wren usually lays 5 brown-spotted, whitish eggs in a domed nest. It looks like a bassinet made of twigs and grass.
The Eastern Bluebird lays 4-6 light blue eggs in a loose, cup-like nest. All three nests included pine needles and moss.
The Brown-headed Cowbird (not really pictured)lays one white speckled egg at a time in the nests of other, usually smaller songbirds. The foster chick grows more quickly than the biological offspring of the nest owner. The cowbird chick out-competes the smaller chicks for food and sometimes pushes his “siblings” out of the nest.
If you hear a squeaky, rattling gurgle-like sound, look around. If you see two strangers and one is in all black with a brown hood, alert your neighbors to the possibility of an impending invasion.
NO, not me with my camera. I was referring to the cowbirds.
Follow the Flower!
floweralley 