Category Archives: Gardening

August 11, 2019 · 9:12 pm

DOG DAYS ARRANGING

Since I garden in the southern great plains

There are things I’ve come to expect

In late summer.

Grasshoppers come to mind.

Photo credit Debra Mitchell

Humidity is definitely a factor.

And it is often accompanied

By heat.

As I look out onto my garden.

I almost feel like I need to apologize

To the brave plants

Basking in the heat of the day.

Yet, some plants seem to not just survive

But thrive.

I can’t take credit for too much planning

But I do know I want cutting flowers

All through the growing season.

So there is some intentionality

To my methods.

And as a result.

When I went to cut for my Sunday church bouquets

I was pleased to find plenty to pick.

So how does this work?

If there’s a star in my garden

All season long

It has to be Annabelle Hydrangea.

I have a hedge of five planted at the east end.

They have bloomed since late May.

Starting with fluffy white blooms

And maturing to the lime green that I love

Since it goes so well with many other flowers.

I’ve cut them all season

And they still have lots to give.

That’s why I’ve added them to the corners of my garden house.

And last fall in a front bed.

I even wanted a hedge of them in front of our new fence

But lost out to John’s desire for more Crepe Myrtle.

The next jewel of late summer arrangements

Is tall garden phlox.

If you cut it back in the spring

The blooms will be delayed until early July here

And they will still be going strong in August.

These two flowers alone

With their big blousey blooms

Are a great foundation for arrangements

Large and small.

Cleome is another gift this time of year.

It’s a funky flower that brings interest to both the garden

And arrangements.

CLEOME OR SPIDER FLOWER - FULL SUN - 3 ' - 4' - SELF SEEDING ANNUAL

Cockscomb is just beginning to come into it’s own.

So start cutting and don’t stop

Or you’ll have a cockscomb only garden before you know it!

Now fill in with some blues and purples in the Veronica family

Add Zinnias

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Maxmillion Sunflowers

And Dahias.

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And you have a “Dog Days” arrangement

That will make you smile each time you pass by.

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Like much in life

I can’t change the heat of August

But I can find joy in the blossoms

It produces.

Take care,

Gail

6 Comments

Filed under Bouquets, cleome, cockscomb, Dahlias, Flower Arrangements, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Hydrangea, late summer garden, Maximillian Sunflower, Tall Garden Phlox, Uncategorized, Veronica Spicata, Zinnia

May 2, 2019 · 7:14 pm

GOOD NEWS EASTER EGG HUNT v.7

It’s become a sort of tradition

The Good News Easter Egg Hunt.

Happening on the Saturday between

Good Friday

And Easter Sunday.

John and I are the official host

But it’s actually put together by the Nurture Committee at our church.

Nurture.

I really like that word.

It is defined as

“To care for and encourage the growth or development of someone or something.”

And that is what we do

As a church

As a committee

And as individuals.

Encourage one another.

What better place to nurture someone

Than in a garden

A happy garden is one that is not necessarily

Well tended.

But well nurtured.

The difference to me is that a well nurtured garden

Is done so willingly – lovingly.

Often people walk into my garden

And remark how much work it must be.

The truth is it is not work at all

To me

It’s the place I go

To think

To sing

To ponder.

I love sharing it

With the children

And families who come every year.

There are many ways to nurture a child.

Inviting them into your garden

To romp and play

To explore and discover

To create

Is, to me, the very definition of nurturing.

Gail

Thank you to Abbey, Andrew, Beth, Eddie Lou, Katie, Kay, Keith, Mary, Megann & Tashanna

4 Comments

Filed under Easter Egg Hunt, Gardening, Gardening Friends, Generations, Grandchildren, Uncategorized

July 22, 2018 · 6:41 pm

IT’S BUGGY OUT THERE

There’s a wonderful benefit

When the heat of summer hits.

And last week

The heat hit crazy hard.

Fortunately so did the bugs.

I love watching bugs in my garden

But I think of that as a late summer

Or fall activity.

This year

They seem to have come early.

Starting a few weeks back

I’ve been seeing

Baby Orb spiders.

Caterpillars

And baby praying mantis

Everywhere.

I don’t know

If their early arrival

Is a good thing

Or a bad thing.

I do know it’s

It fun.

It also means

As I continue to weed and deadhead

That I have to make sure

I’m not composting

Any baby bugs.

Yikes!

Wouldn’t want to do that.

So I’ve been careful to relocate

Anything I might displace.

This morning I was treated

To “nectar harvest”

Among the Phlox.

I grabbed my nifty

Iphone telephoto add-on lens

And stood patiently

On the edge of a patch of Phlox.

I was rewarded with a visit

From this butterfly

Flitting around the Phlox

And then it’s friend

The Hummingbird Moth

Joined in the feast.

I was reminded of the many things

I’ve learned from my garden

And not just about gardening.

Patience

The power of observation.

The value of diversity.

It’s all there

Just waiting to be

Discovered.

Gail

2 Comments

Filed under Bugs, Bumble Bee, Butterflies, Compost, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Hummingbird Moth, late summer garden, Nature, Praying Mantis, Tall Garden Phlox, Uncategorized

July 15, 2018 · 3:31 pm

CALLA LILIES

Calla Lilies have long been a favorite of mine.

There is something about their simple elegance

That draws me in.

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They remind me somehow of Audrey Hepburn

Elegant

Graceful

Spunky.

I didn’t even try them in my garden

For the longest time.

The catalogs said they weren’t hardy

In my zone.

And I steer away from anything

That has to be dug in the fall.

It’s all I can do to get everything buried

Come fall

Let alone start digging things up.

But several years ago I decided

To give it a try.

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After all in my gardening lifetime

I’ve gone from a zone 6

To 6b

And now we are Zone 7.

Not good news for the planet for sure.

But it has meant that I can leave more things

In the ground come time for a freeze

Amaryllis

Dahlias

And now Calla Lilies

Seem to survive our winters.

The first few years

Were mostly foliage.

Which is fun

Since their foliage

Is speckled

Like a child’s freckled nose.

Then I began to get a few flowers.

Which I have loved

But seldom cut.

Cut flowers don’t last as long

As when they are still connected

To their mother plant.

So I’ve just loved them in the garden

Rather than in a vase.

Then came this year.

All the patches of Callas I’ve spread

Throughout the shady parts of my garden

Over the years

Have bloomed.

One plant has bloomed out of it’s mind

NINE blooms so far.

I’m still not cutting any.

I just like them in their natural state.

Some things simply like to be

Left alone.

I have days like that!

Gail

I’m an introvert… I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.

Audrey Hepburn

4 Comments

Filed under Calla Lily, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Uncategorized

July 8, 2018 · 9:43 pm

FIREWORKS

There are some plants

That simply light up my garden.

Spring brings us soft pastels

While falls favors

Rich jewel tones.

But summer has different ideas.

Hot days bring hot colors.

They need to be bright

To show up in all this sunshine.

Phlox is shining this week.

We were gone last week

Returning last night

To the bright light patches

Of tall garden phlox.

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It’s an old garden plant

That I love.

The bees love it too.

With its open face

It provides nectar

For all kinds of buzzing things.

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It’s also a wonderful cutting flower

Just a few blooms

Fill in any arrangement.

It does spread

But not too fast.

I’ve dug quite a bit this year

Sharing it with friends

And transporting some

To that Rocky Mountain garden.

But there is still plenty here.

Another of its fine qualities

Is that it tolerates sun

And partial shade.

And it plays well with others.

In my book

It’s a keeper!

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Bees, Bouquets, Flower Arrangements, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Tall Garden Phlox, Uncategorized

June 24, 2018 · 1:35 pm

HOLLYHOCK HOTEL

Saturday morning was

Cool, crisp and cloudy.

A very lovely way

To begin summer.

We got 3/4″ of rain last night.

What a blessing!

As I headed into the garden

I saw that last night’s rain

Had knocked down

That crazy pink Hollyhock

That’s insists on living

At the front of the garden.

When I started righting it

I noticed that almost every bloom

Had a sleeping bumble bee inside.

They were all sleeping in

Which allowed me the chance

To whip out my cell phone

Plus my handy little macro lens

And seriously invade their privacy.

The only way I would get this close

Is if the bees are sleeping.

In other words

You may not want to try this at home!

I could even see one breathing

So I’ve included a short video

Of a breathing bee

With birds providing the background music.

Such fun.

When the clouds cleared

And the sun began to shine

The bees began to stretch and yawn

And eventually fly on to

Pick up breakfast.

I headed on for a day of weeding.

We were both happy.

Looking forward

To a productive Saturday

In my garden.

With the sun going down

Behind the garden house

I walked by the hollyhock.

Looks like everyone’s tucked in

For the night.

Gail

P.S. Thank you to all who responded to my blog post about my depression. Many of you openly told your own story. Those ripples in the pond will help countless people. Please keep talking about your experience and listening to those who are hurting now.

2 Comments

Filed under Bees, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, hollyhocks, Uncategorized

June 3, 2018 · 2:17 pm

ROOTS & WINGS

In my core I am a flat lander.

A fourth generation flat lander.

As a kid I was taught by example

To be in awe of sunsets.

My father loved them.

A get everyone up from the dinner table

To admire them

Kind of loved sunsets.

He traveled the world

Met fascinating people

But was never happier

Than when standing in his own front yard

Taking in the full 180 degree sunset

In the evening sky.

We do have some pretty spectacular sunsets.

And thunderstorms.

My friend Mike Klemme has captured many of them.

I know this place.

With it’s long growing season.

I know that sometime in late January

I can start looking for buds on the Hellebores

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And by Valentine’s I’ll see the first nose of a daffodil.

If not an out and out bloom.

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I know that each fall when I spread the summer’s compost

Around my garden

I can expect a spring crop of worms

The size of small snakes.

Happily digging their way through

The rich soil they helped to create.

But for the past few years

I’ve been cheating on my garden.

I’ve taken up gardening

In another place.

A place that couldn’t be more different

From home.

Where here there is a generous 9 – 10 month growing season.

There the last freeze date isn’t until June 15th

And the first freeze date can happen anytime after Labor Day.

Really….three months.

How do people live like that.

For me it’s because of my grandchildren.

So I’m learning to garden again.

In a new place.

Now don’t get me wrong.

Home is still home.

But I now have the opportunity

To grow things

That absolutely hate it here on the plains.

I’m trying my hand at

Lupines

And Delphinium.

Oriental Poppies

And even Foxglove

Which I have no luck with

No matter where I try.

I’m learning how to out wit

These guys.

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Though they seemed to have eaten

Most of said Poppy buds.

Most challenging of all is the soil.

They don’t call them the Rocky Mountains

For their light airy loam.

Even staking up a delphinium bloom

(to make it more accessible to the deer)

Is an excavation project.

But the mountain air

Does make for glorious color

In all that grows there.

So, I’m literally putting down part time roots

In a new place.

In order to give the next generation

Wings.

Gail

2 Comments

Filed under Daffodils, Delphinium, Digitalis, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Grandchildren, Grandchldren Generations, Hellebores, Lupine, Poppy, Uncategorized

May 13, 2018 · 9:27 pm

“RRANGEMENTS”

I bought these little enameled vases

Years ago

At “Crazy Days”

And only remember using them once.

Until Harper and Henry discovered them

One Easter.

They spent most of that Friday

Snapping off tulips

To make “rrangements”.

So, of course, I had to send some home with them.

Later that year when I visited.

I noticed these little vases all over their house

They were constantly changing the flowers

Kids love to pick flowers

And they seldom leave enough stem

To actually put in a vase.

So these tiny renditions

Were just the ticket.

Kids also learn by watching.

And they have a splendid example

Of arranging in their mother.

In all the years of their marriage

There are always flower arrangements around

When we visit.

In the guest room

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On the fireplace mantel

And kitchen window sill

Along with the dining table.

The kids have picked up on this

Often having flowers in their room.

Luckily, Elliott is good at growing flowers

Supplying dahlias and roses and hydrangeas

All season long.

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It’s the simple things

That we often remember about our childhoods.

The smell of my mother’s pies in the oven.

The warmth of the fire that my father

Built each winter day.

Standing over my grandmother’s floor furnace

Making my night gown into a warm balloon.

The roses at her front door.

I’m thankful for the memories

That Kristina and Elliott are creating

For their family.

And happy that flowers are part of those memories.

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Happy Mother’s Day

Gail

7 Comments

Filed under Children in the Garden, Dahlias, Flower Arrangements, Gardening, Grandchildren, Gratitude, Hydrangea, roses, Uncategorized, Vases

April 29, 2018 · 3:22 pm

RAIN, BLESSED RAIN

Most of the country has experienced

What seems to be the longest winter

In recent memory.

Our winter has been

In and out.

Bitter cold days

Sprinkled into sunny winter glory.

But it simply has not rained.

Fires 100 miles to our west

Attest to our dry fall and winter.

Thankfully it starting raining on a recent Friday night

And continued through Saturday.

Bringing hope to my garden

With each drop.

The Japanese Maple trees

Are sighing with relief.

They leafed out on schedule

Only to be frozen a couple of times.

Creating the saddest looking tree

I’ve seen in a long time.

Now, with this moisture

They have begun the process of

Putting on new leaves.

And things are budding out.

Iris

Allium

Peonies

With their attending ants.

And those stunning Japanese Tree Peonies.

They don’t last long

A few days of bloom and they are gone.

Yet, they are so worth growing.

With these buds

Comes hope

And so it is with gardeners.

Whose spirits have frozen

And thawed

And frozen

And thawed

More times than we can count.

But with the rain comes

Hope.

And gardeners thrive on

Hope.

Gail

WIND AND OTHER LUXURIES?

Wind.

Growing up on the plains

It has just been a part of my life.

My father always said that his mother,

A woman who kept house during the dust bowl

Putting wet towels around doors and windows,

Understood that wind was important to staying cool

In the summer.

And she never cursed it.

Rogers and Hammerstein even wrote it into

What would become our state song.

You know

“Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.”

I’ve always tried not to complain about the wind.

But these past few days have really tried my resolve.

The wind has been howling off and on.

One day it’s an unusually hot wind out of the south.

Then it turns on a dime and gives us a mid-April frigid north blast

Leveling my tulips for the third time.

With wind in the forecast for last Friday

I was fearful we might have to cancel a long planned fun morning

Of Debra and her camera in my garden.

But on Thursday she called to say she was coming.

Period.

Luckily my garden is somewhat protected

With old trees and a two story house

Covering it from the south and north.

It was still pretty

Shall we say breezy

When Debra arrived Friday morning.

For the photographer in Debra

My backyard is something akin

To a village of bouncy houses

For a three year old.

She just doesn’t know what to jump on first.

The parrot tulips in the pots on the patio

Drew her in

And the clicking began.

But the wind was wanting to play as well.

Some of the pictures were clear

Others blurred

And some take your breath away.

It did not detour her

Finally declaring she would just wait

“The wind will die down…it always does.?

She moved from parrot tulips

To the more protected Hellebores

To the tulip lined path

leading to the garden house.

The light and the wind

Dancing around.

Creating opportunities

And problems.

All of which were joyfully accepted.

Her patience paid off.

As you can see by the results

I’m sharing here.

This reminded me of my grandmother.

Accepting what she couldn’t change.

Finding the good in what some would consider bad.

And just simply making the best of what you are given.

Some might call it Pollyannish.

Others perseverance

I call it grace.

Gail

10 Comments

Filed under Garden House, Garden Photography, Gardening, Gardening Friends, Hellebores, Parrot Tulips, Pettit Basset Griffon Vendeen, Shade Garden, tulips, Uncategorized

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