A Message from the Fairies

| Flower Roberts

I have been ignoring the fairies.

My mind has been on the pandemic, politics and bereavement.

To tell the truth, I was thinking all good magic had left the Earth.

As one of my friends puts it, “The Force has been disturbed.”

So I was pleased to find this purple mushroom

strategically placed by our trail in the mountains

where we would be sure to see it as we passed.

I have never seen the purple mushroom, ‘Viscid Violet Cort’,

so I knew immediately that it was from the fairies.

They have houses here in the mountains also, made of moss and stone.

They were letting me know all is not lost.

I was not sure if I was supposed to eat this message after seeing it,

so I left it to spread its spores.

Maybe next fall I will find a family of purple Cortinarius indes among the detritus of this terrible 2020.

My heart goes out to the fairies.

Take heart folks. There is still some good magic amongst us.

FLOWER

 

Cute Button

| Flower Roberts

This darling little button looks good enough to eat.

Not a good idea though.

It’s an Amanita muscaria, Fly Agaric  mushroom button.

In the past, it was mixed with milk to drug houseflies.

Don’t count on our North American species to produce visions.

Eating this will produce sweating and dilirium.

Eye candy only.  It’s poisonous.

FLOW

 

Garden TuTu

| Flower Roberts

There is a pink tutu dancing in my garden.

Be not afraid. I am not gardening in tulle.

It’s my Pink Muhly Grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris.

The wind is blowing and it is putting on a show.

The sun makes it sparkle.

Just when most perennials are headed off stage, here comes ‘Miss Muhly’ dancing in her pink tutu.

What a great show in the garden.  Bravo!

FLOW

Cool Dahlias

| Flower Roberts

Dahlias need four things to thrive.

First, they need rich soil. I enrich mine with homemade compost and mushroom compost.

Second, they need a lot of water to grow. Mine are at the bottom of a hill with a berm.

Third, they must be supported. I have been negligent in this so excuse the messy stake job.

The fourth thing that MUST happen is cool weather. Dahlias struggle until it cools down.

Then they show off with giant, heavy blooms.

These are my three favorites, Thomas A Edison, Snow Country and Firepot.

Thomas A. Edison Dahlia
Snow Country Dahlia
Firepot Dahlia

I love the cool weather, also.  I have wilted and withered all summer. Hooray fall!

FLOW

Two Brackets

| Flower Roberts

During my wanderings, two brackets were discovered.

One up a tree 

and one on an old stump.

Both on wood, one wood living

the other dead.

The white on was high up in a tree. 

The brown one was low to the ground hidden by weeds.

The white one looked new, clean and pristine.

The brown  bracket looked old, dirty, and weather worn.

One seemed heavenly,

the other earthly.

FLOW

A Bad Fit

| Flower Roberts

Sometimes we end up in the wrong place.

A place where we do not fit.

A place that won’t allow us to grow.

When this happens, it’s best to realize it earlier rather than later.

Sometimes this “place” is a job or a town or a relationship.

Others see that your circumstances are not a good fit, but you stick it out.

Until the obvious cannot be ignored.

Do you know this tomato?

Flow

 

Alligator Flag

| Flower Roberts

Sometimes I wonder about the origins of common names for plants.

This is an aquatic plant Thalia dealbata. It grows about three feet tall in a pot in our small pond.

One of it’s nicknames is Powdery Alligator Flag.

I envision an alligator trying to sneak through the marsh without being detected.

The alligator brushing by these stalks as it snakes by and making the flowers wave like a flag.

There are no alligators in our little pond, but a tiny green frog seems to like the Thalia dealbata leaves.

Flow at the Pond