This is my daughter’s garden.
She chooses what grows in it.
She selects the plants and how many.
She takes care of those plants.
If weeds intrude, they are removed.
It is her garden. She decides.
Furious FLOW
My Daughter’s Garden
The Purpose of Flowers
The purpose of flowers is to attract a pollinator.
The prettiest and brightest get the most visits.
Some flowers also use aromas to attract a suitor.
So the eye-and-nose-candy flowers get bombarded by
creatures carrying pollen.
Then the pollen eats its way down the pistil to fertilize the eggs at the base.
The ovary ripens and enlarges.
The flower fades.
Its petals fall off. Its stem droops under the weight of the heavy ovary.
It will never be a flower again.
Now it is a big heavy fruit.
Ready for some predators to eat and hopefully poop out the seeds in a good spot.
So they can germinate and grow into little flowers.
To be pretty for a while.
Until some pollen comes and changes everything.
I may have to change my name.
I am done with the damn pollen.
FLOW
Mama on the Nest
Sis and I thought we were taking a pic if eggs in a nest.
She held open the lid of the house and moved the feathers aside with a stick.
When we looked at the photos, lo and behold, mama Swallow was in there.
We were embarrassed by our bold intrusion.
We did knock first.FLOWER is a nest pest.
My Wild Friends
There is action 24/7 here at Flower’s garden.
It’s hard to get any rest.
The frogs and toads are raising a ruckus out front to all hours.
Just when they get done with their revelry,
my blue friend starts pecking the window out back
It’s hard for me to be nice with so little sleep.
I guess that’s why Ricky ran away when I tried to pet him.
Flow is too old for her wild friends.
I may go take a nap, while its quiet.
Flower
Snake on the Glass
There is no privacy at our house.
The bunnies had to stay in during Saturday’s storm.
Their friend came to look in on them.
I felt bad not letting this cute little guy in out of the rain.
He left after his quick check on his two furry friends.
We have such nosy neighbors.
I may have to put up some curtains.
Flow
Iris Identification
I try really hard to keep good records of which plants are where in the garden.
Sometimes the flowers move on me and I have to figure out who moved where.
So we are piecing together the history of a mystery iris.
I thought I got it from my dad.
I thought it had one name, he gave me another from his records.
Neither name matches this beauty.
Its features match an iris I got from Cooley’s Gardens decades ago. I thought it had disappeared.
After much discussion and comparison to photos on the American Iris Society website.
I am declaring this beauty ‘Jelly Roll.’
Welcome back Jelly Roll!
Flower
One Clematis, Different Flowers
This Jackman Clematis should have five petals.
Petal numbers mean things in botany.
So when my clematis pulls the old switcheroo, I get a bit miffed.
Many blooms have four petals.
Some even have six petals.
I guess the Flower is going to have to go with the flow when it comes to this vine.
It’s beautiful, no matter the number.
Flow
The Night Sky
I marvel at the coloration of this petunia.
It is ‘Night Sky’ by Selecta.
It is trademarked which means that it cannot be propagated.
Its color pattern does look like the night sky.
No two blooms are the same.
I think this Night Sky is amazing.
Flower
Poppies and People
I have strong feelings about these flowers.
The seeds were a gift from an artist friend decades ago.
Bill Troutman is no longer alive, but his poppies bloom each May to remind me of this wonderful man.
The blooms remind me of Bill, but the pods remind me of how people ruin things.
Opium can now be produced synthetically, by-passing the poppy.
Some places still use this plant’s sap to produce the drug.
Humans make the drug. Poppies are just plants.
They do what plants are supposed to do. Make flowers and seeds.
I love these poppies.
Poppies don’t make opium, people do.
Flower
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