We have had many bouts of rain these past two weeks. My gardens have been watered.
I enjoy having the extra bit of time to mushroom hunt.
All these mushrooms are in my yard today.
I wish I knew all their names.
I love the various shapes and colors.
Notice that some have been nibbled on.
Enjoy the mosaic. Click on any you want to enlarge.
It takes lots of time to train a good vine.
It grabs what it touches and begins to climb and twine.
It must to be untangled when it grows in a knot.
A vine must be tended carefully and constantly as it grows.
This is this years’ new vine, Exotic Love Vine/ Ipomoea lobata.
Its blooms are of lovely form and multiple colors.
The leaves have a fleur-de-lis shape.
I am pleased with this unusual annual.
FLOW
I hate to admit that it has taken me this long to select a suitable site and plant the three Devil’s Tongue plants that were gifted to me by my friends, the Popes.
I have moved them around in their pots to try out various locations. They seemed the most at home under the fig and beside a clump of Japanese Sacred Lilies.
I hope they will thrive in their new home.
Are wondering what configuration they are planted in? I bet you could guess. A triangle of course!
FLOW
The sun flowers are brightening the skies no matter the weather.
These Mammoths are over seven feet tall.
Their faces stay covered with buzzing bees.
I planted these in the corner of my vegetable garden with butternut squash below.
Seeing a peeking sun is a good sign.
FLOWER
We have had several good rains these past few days. The storm two nights ago was particularly long and drenching. It was also loud. No not the thunder…the local frogs and toads.
The cacophony of mating calls was constant and deafening. At one point an amphibian attached itself to the screen of my bedroom window(closed of course) which magnified his vocals. I laughed out loud.
Last night the chorus was totally silent. I guess the party had petered out. They did leave evidence of their activity in the koi pond.
I try to keep the fish well fed, so maybe a few eggs will be spared.
Some of the eggs have started to elongate.
A restless night is worth it to watch these develop into tadpoles…hopefully.
Amphibians love the rainy nights, but Mr. Flower does not.
FLOW
When flyer meets flower
they both get a treat.
The flower makes some seeds
and the flyer gets to eat.
FLOW
Fluted Bird’s Nest fungi look like the nests of teeny tiny birds, but these ‘eggs’ are really spore cases called periodoles. The ‘nests’ are actually splash cups called a sporocarps.
The scientific name for these tiny, wondrous fungi is Cyathus striatus.
The immature nests are a lighter color and have a thin skin on top, so that the ‘eggs’ will not get launched out by a raindrop before they are ready.
The mature nests are darker brown with gray ‘eggs’ ready for takeoff during the next rain.
This last shot shows a mix of mature and immature nests. Nature is beautiful and magical.
FLOW on Fungi
I must move carefully in the garden. There are friends underfoot everywhere.
One of my most vivid memories as a young child is the murdering of a toad found in the sandbox at Mrs. Blythe’s nursery school. An older boy found the toad, tortured it and smashed it with a rock. He should have been sent straight to Jackson’s Training School or jail.
My sister and I took toad deaths very seriously. We had a graveyard in the woods where we buried the smashed flat, dried toads we found in the road. We would hold solemn funerals for the deceased. We also gave guided tours of our facilities to the neighbors, who I am sure were thoroughly amused.
So with this bit of childhood baggage, I fear the accidental death of one of my amphibious friends.
They are in every hole and hopping across every walkway.
When I burned weeds with my torch last night, I was on the lookout so as not to bar-b-que a little neighbor.
It’s hard to walk and work without worry when you have little friends underfoot.
FLOW
I cut an advertisement out of a magazine for Burpee’s Southern Charm Verbascum in 1995. It has been in my files since then. I finally found one in 2020. This Flower plays the long game.
This Verbascum/Mullein has not been happy here. I have moved it… I thought. Now a struggling plant is in the old spot and another in the new location. I will keep moving it until it is happy.
In the mean time, I will enjoy its scraggly spikes with the color combo that I love and the tiny bees that fascinate me.
The anatomy of this bloom is not the usual centered symmetry of stamen and pistil. The stamen look like purple pipe cleaners.
It struggles along but survives. I know how it feels.
Grow(and bloom)where you are planted.
FLOW
floweralley 