In My Garden

September 22, 2013 · 10:59 pm

PEG

I have been blessed

With two wonderful garden dogs.

The first was a West Highland Terrier

Named Popcorn.

She ruled over my last garden.

But it is Peg who has been my buddy

My assistant, my companion

All the days I have gardened here.

Peg loved my garden.

When we first created it

We had a pretty healthy bunny population.

Each spring she would spend hours searching

For bunnies.

You could tell how hot her trail was

By the speed of her wagging tail.

After Peg caught a couple of baby bunnies

They found other places to play.

Bugs on the other hand

Are prolific in a garden.

Each evening with the cooler summer air

Peg would spend hours on end “Buggin”.

Hopping and bouncing hoping to catch

One more cricket.

There would be nights when she was so deep into the blackness

That I simply had to patiently wait for her to finish

Before I could entice her in.

Now if you are thinking of Peg as a typical dog.

You would be right in some regards.

But, Peg was after all a Scottish Terrier.

And Scottish Terriers are very independent by nature.

Peg got a double dose!

Curious and friendly

Those who met her instantly connected with her sweet nature.

But a few minutes in Peg was done.

No need for all that oohing and awing.

Not being an “in your face dog”

Peg would park herself on the opposite

End of the couch.

Close, but not actually touching.

And so it was in the garden

She was always with me

But rarely in the way.

She did love to eat

Basically anything that hit the floor.

Especially crispy veggies.

One spring she not only ate the snap peas

She also helped herself to the tasty vines.

She loved watching the

Westminster Kennel Show.

A few weeks ago

After her summer vacation in Colorado

Peg got sick.

Though she tried

She simply couldn’t recover.

It was a grueling decision for John and me.

But it was time to let her go.

A kindly local vet offers cremation services

Which seemed right for Peg.

Recently John and I spread her ashes

In her favorite place

The garden.

John wrote a poem for the occasion.

Reminding us of her nature

True to herself to the end.

Goodbye, sweet Peg,

Thanks for the days of companionship

In my garden.

Gail

LOOK BUT DON’T TOUCH

Regal and royal,

For nothing I beg.

Not feline but canine.

I am the “Peg”.

Aloof to all others,

A Scottie by breed.

Ignoring your voice,

Neglecting your heed.

A lick or a nuzzle,

For you is unsure.

My bloodline prevents it,

What’s yours? Is it pure?

Praise for my plumage,

On a neighborhood walk.

My head held high,

No time to talk.

Drawn to the garden,

Stalking crickets galore.

Bright flowers bow to me,

It is “Peg” they adore.

A pat or a scratch,

I quickly discard.

One shake and it falls of,

No thanks or regard.

As my nature demands it,

Engrained daily or such.

I say it quite firmly,

Look but don’t touch.

Goodbye Queen Peg

John

20 Comments

Filed under Gardening Friends, Scottish Terrier, Uncategorized

September 16, 2013 · 1:47 am

INSPIRATION

Every garden is a constantly changing organism.

Some times it just takes on a life of its own

Other times the human in charge

Has a moment of inspiration

And makes intentional “improvements”.

Last spring while visiting the Dallas Botanical Garden

John and I had one of those

“Inspired moments”.

But let’s back up a bit.

When we bought this house

Every conceivable area

Was lined with monkey grass.

Now you need to know that I

Well….OK…I hate monkey grass.

It is aggressive – moving not inches

But feet into a flower bed.

And no matter what you edge the bed with

Bermuda will grow up and over

and into the monkey grass.

Then there’s the nut grass

That initially looks like monkey grass

Until it shoots up over night

And is a foot taller.

I know people love this stuff

But I have been on a decade long campaign

To murder as much as possible.

The edge of our front landing

Has been lined with monkey grass

Which was invaded with Bermuda grass

And then variegated Vinca major.

Quite simply it’s a mess.

Then came the inspiration.

The boxwood backed beds

With glorious tulips in the front

Underplanted with violas.

Aha…we could do that on the landing.

It’s taken a few months

To locate enough of the right sized (small) boxwood.

Negotiate the location of the boxwood with John.

And find brave souls to dig out the perpetrator.

Thank you Alex and David.

This week John planted the baby boxwood.

And gave them their first haircut.

Now for my fun.

I’ve ordered lots

Actually probably too many

Of a new variety of tulips.

Something called “French Blend”

From a new company “Colorblends”

Who’s catalog just appeared in my mailbox.

It’s described as “an all-color blend of long-stemmed tulips

Bright as lantern globes.”

Garden porn if ever I’ve heard it.

The Colorblends catalogue is interesting in itself

In that it does the mixing for you.

Offering dozens of tested combinations

of glorious tulips.

Tempting very tempting.

Now, I’m also repeating last years

Glorious tulip mixture

On the path to the garden house.

A mixture of Darwin Hybrid tulips

Golden Apeldoorn

Ivory Floradale

Jaap Groot

Ollioules

Salmon Impression

Silver Stream

World Peace

And the best tulip ever

Pink Impression

Will be mixed and thickly planted

Along the brick path.

All from my long standing supplier K Van Bourgandien.

I think I may have lost it!

I’ve doubled my tulip order

The very year

That Megan, my bulb planting friend

Married and moved to Florida.

Surely someone will take pity on me

And come some glorious fall afternoon

To dig trenches

And plant

This inspiration.

Gail

6 Comments

Filed under Boxwood, tulips, Uncategorized

September 9, 2013 · 1:51 am

Arranging With A Purpose

You may not know but…

This is Rally Weekend

At least it is at my church.

That first weekend after Labor Day.

When people return to the pew.

It’s an unofficial new beginning

In many churches.

This year we also were re-dedicating

A room that has recently undergone a remodeling.

All of this required flowers

Lots and lots of flowers.

So I spent Saturday morning

Arranging flowers

Something I love to do.

It all actually started on Friday night.

If you have the time

And remember

It’s best to cut flowers in the cool of the day.

Morning is the best

Evening will do.

Cut what you think you will need

And let them sit over night

In buckets of water.

Soaking up moisture from end to tip.

If the stems are thick

Or woody

Make a slit in the bottom of the stem

To ensure they get a good drink.

Brunch was being served in the breezeway.

Which is basically a large open space.

That means a large arrangement is called for.

Luckily I have a big white vase

Just right for this space.

Big surprise!

I also happen to have

Several other white vases

Two tall and narrow

And two low.

All of which will do nicely.

Now I must confess that there is one flower

I have little to no luck growing.

Sunflowers

Imagine that

I live on the prairie

Where they grow wild everywhere

But I can not get them to grow

In my own backyard.

So…because they are so wonderful

And absolutely say

Look at me

It’s fall.

I had to buy a few

To add to my own

Cockscomb

Dahlias

Phlox

Roses

Veronica

And Zinnias

Suddenly you have 8 fun fall arrangements.

Getting them to the church

Required the help of my friend Mary

Sitting in the back seat holding on.

And a second trip where

The flowered filled brass vases from the sanctuary

Were buckled into the backseat.

Transportation is always interesting

And often truly comical.

I love doing this.

You never really know when you start

What you are creating.

It seems that each time I make arrangements

They turn out differently.

But isn’t that what gardening is all about.

Enjoying the journey

Trusting the process

Having faith that it will be OK

That there is enough.

An abundance mentality.

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Bouquets, cockscomb, Fall, Flower Arrangements, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, late summer garden, Perennials, roses, Sunflowers, Tall Garden Phlox, Veronica Spicata, Zinnia

September 2, 2013 · 2:34 am

Holiday Blog Break

It’s a holiday weekend.

Cooler than usual

For Labor Day.

So I think instead of taking time

Out of the garden

To write.

I’ll just take a short

Blog break.

Be back soon.

Happy gardening.

Gail

1 Comment

Filed under Dahlias

August 26, 2013 · 12:23 am

MAXINE’S VASE

If you are going to grow flowers

You’ll eventually need a vase

Or two………….dozen.

Somewhere over the last few decades

I developed the habit

Of finding old vases

At garage sales

And estate sales.

At first I wanted crystal vases.

That’s what my mother had

And now her vases grace my dining room china cabinet.

Mother loved crystal.

And so do I.

Then early in our marriage

John & I ventured to Europe.

Where we discovered pottery

In Florence

And Barcelona

And lugged a bit of it home.

But my vase collecting

Really kicked in after we settled in here

And began to make connections with people

Of all ages.

Many of these were women I knew from church.

It seems when you’re a Presbyterian in these parts.

You have a long

And interesting life.

So as these and other ladies around town died

I would go to their estate sale

And find a single thing

That would remind me of them.

The first was this vase

From Gladys.

Gone now probably 30 years

I still remember her spunky nature.

Eventually I focused my purchases

On painted pottery from the 40’s and 50’s

McCoy is the best known brand

Thus you can find many knock offs

Of their soft color palette.

I’m partial to white, yellow, soft blue and lime green.

My mother in law’s blue pitcher is a favorite

Along with a yellow vase my friend Marilyn

Brought from her mother’s home in Louisiana.

Then there is this terrific lime green Claire Lerner

That I found at a neighbor’s garage sale

At a cost of $1.25!

I have two rules.

Don’t go crazy on price $10. – $15.

Is usually my max.

And you have to know where you are going to store it

Before you bring it home.

The second rule has forced me to slow down a bit

Since my garden house cupboards are filling up.

So it was this history

That followed me to the estate sale of

My friend, my neighbor, my fellow Presbyterian

And wise women extraordinaire

Maxine Sanford Austin.

Maxine died this year at the age of 102.

Her life

And her home

Were filled with treasures.

She was a poet

A teller of tales

A loyal friend

And fiercely opinionated.

I just loved her.

When she married in 1933

Her mother made her wedding veil.

Long and trailing

With lace flowers embroidered on it.

Her daughter Ann wore it in 1961

And Maxine wore it when she married again in 1993…

At the age of 80 something!

She was both traditional

And non traditional

All rolled into one.

It took me three trips of wondering through her home

To find my memory memento of Maxine.

I can’t tell you anything about this particular vase

I’m guessing it was from her mother’s travels.

She told me once that after her father died

Her mother began traveling around the world.

It’s very different from any other vase I own.

Doesn’t fit the mold.

Won’t have a shelf of similar stuff to join.

It’s unique.

It’s Maxine.

AWARENESS

by Maxine Sanford Austin

In every day we have, dear Lord,

Let us truly see

The things we should:

The flight of bee.

The flash of bird,

Sun on a brilliant flower,

Then thunder heard

Before a sudden shower.

In all things, dear Lord,

Let us truly know

That this is Thy World

And in our actions show

That we truly know.

Thanks Maxine,

Gail

2 Comments

Filed under Flower Arrangements, Garden House, Gardening Friends, Gardening Mentors, Hydrangea, Uncategorized, Vases

August 18, 2013 · 7:11 pm

CLEANING HOUSE

Every gardener needs an unkept place.

A place to park your wheelbarrow,

And the city composting bins

And the stack of bricks

Leftover from the patio remodel.

And my compost tumbler

And the old potting bench

Lovingly built by John

Years ago at my first big garden.

And miscellaneous clay and plastic pots.

For me it’s the area behind my garden house.

And it really needed a good cleaning.

So this was the weekend.

It’s actually driven by the fact that

My garden house floor is littered with

Larkspur, Poppy and Hollyhock stems

That have been drying out for several weeks.

You see if you compost them when you first cut them back

You’ll be very sorry.

Seeds don’t actually break down in my compost

It just never gets hot enough.

So I dry out the stems and thus the seed pods.

Shake them out good

And save the seeds.

Only then is it safe to compost the stems.

If you do this too early

You’ll have compost full of seeds

Which will be like seeding your garden to Larkspur

Or Poppies or Cockscomb come fall.

When your garden is new

That’s not such a bad thing.

But if you keep doing that

Year after year.

Oh my

So the garden version of Dominoes began

On Saturday morning.

In order to make room in this area

For all this dried stuff.

It went like this.

Load up and haul away 2 years of plastic flats and little pots.

Luckily my favorite green house – the Garden House

Reuses these so I don’t have to add to the land fill.

Take bags of last spring’s leaves

To Loaves & Fishes for their new garden beds.

Thankfully John has learned never to put leaves on the curb.

They will find their composting home sooner or later.

Then dig up compost and take it to where I’ll be testing out

A fall vegetable garden spot.

Plant lettuce in the empty spaces

Along the edge of the garden.

Move some of those leftover brick to finally finish out my path.

How excited will the kids be next Easter

When they discover they can walk the path

Through the garden – end to end.

I haven’t had a day this productive

In months.

Tired hands.

Tired body.

Now this kind of work

Doesn’t really make for pretty garden pictures.

So I’ll just dot in a few

Without any real connection.

But as always

There seems to be a lesson here.

The beauty of a garden begins

Deep within the soil

Waiting for someone to come along

To care for it.

To nurture it.

To bless it.

Just like people.

Gail

Dahlia in Elliott & Kristina’s Garden

4 Comments

Filed under cockscomb, Compost, Dahlias, Dead Heading, Fall Vegetables, Garden House, Gloriosa Daisy, hollyhocks, Larkspur, late summer garden, Lettuce, Poppy, Seeds, Uncategorized

August 11, 2013 · 2:17 am

We moved into this house 9 years ago this summer.

It was a very busy summer.

It began with my father’s Memorial Day visit to the emergency room

Followed by his quadruple bypass surgery the next week.

Daddy and his grandsons on his 85th birthday

Two weeks later Elliott and Kristina were married.

Two weeks after that we moved here.

By August I was unpacked

But far from settled.

My memory is it was a cool August.

Much like this year.

I had moved my house

And since I work at home

My office had come along.

The only thing left behind

Was my garden.

Kind of.

Earlier that spring

Before we put our old house on the market.

I had dug up about 1/2 of my garden

And planted it in a borrowed bed.

My old friend and new next door neighbor Patti

Was graciously loaning me a flower bed

At her house.

It was packed with plants

I was anxious to put in their permanent home.

But it was after all August.

And our “new old” house

Didn’t have a single flower bed.

The back yard was a blank slate.

We had big plans to add beds

But not until the next spring.

So it was my first summer in decades

Without a garden.

A slight depression began to set in.

I was understandably tired

With no place to contemplate it all.

Nothing to lose myself in.

No garden for my quiet conversations with God.

Then one day hope arrived.

I stepped out the back door

Rounded the corner of the house

There they were

With no warning

Right in the middle of the yard.

Surprise Lilies

Alias Naked Ladies.

I’d seen them around town

But never had planted any.

What a gift.

Though I’m sure the saying

“Hope springs eternal” is true.

In my case it’s more like

“Hope sprouts eternal”

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Gardening, Gardening Friends, Gardening;Perennials, late summer garden, Surprise Lilies, Uncategorized

August 4, 2013 · 10:24 pm

SHARING SEASON

Gardeners are known for sharing.

They love to share

Information

Plants

Flowers

Seeds

Cuttings

And, of course, the bounty of their gardens.

Zucchini comes to mind.

For me it’s all of the above

But mostly flowers.

I have long contended that flowers

“Are food for the soul”.

That we need flowers

Just like we need food.

I think this goes back to college

And John.

When we first began dating

He brought me flowers several times a week

For months on end.

The most spectacular was that first spring.

He brought me an enormous bouquet

Of Iris.

Years later I realized that florists don’t sell that kind of Iris.

You know them – German Bearded Iris.

The kind that grow in little old ladies gardens

In college towns.

I’m not sure she intended to share!

His choice of vases was most unique.

A plastic pumpkin

Left from Halloween.

Simply had to marry the guy after that!

And so in the ensuing 40+ years

I’ve made it a point to make bouquets

And spread them around.

I’m pleased to say that Elliott and Kristina

Are carrying on the same tradition.

Kristina rarely leaves home for an evening with friends.

Without a bouquet in tow.

And she always has fresh flowers throughout their home

When we come to visit.

I must confess here that this year my bouquets are going

Not to individuals so much

As to places.

On Saturday I pluck whatever is happy

For church on Sunday.

Then during the week

Loaves & Fishes gets a bouquet.

A cheerful greeting for the volunteers

And clients who come in need of help feeding their families.

Now all of this is well and good.

Lovely really

But it doesn’t hold a candle to the real pros

When it comes to sharing from your garden.

Those of you who focus on vegetables

Leave the rest of us in the shade.

Just this week

Kelly came by with a basket of green beans.

Yum!

Earlier in the week the Koehns

Brought tons of cucumbers and squash of all sorts

To Loaves & Fishes.

Mitch brought squash, too

Ann gave her weekly supply of basil

And assorted veggies.

Then yesterday the fun and lively members of the Freed family

Called at the end of the Farmers Market

To donate what was left to Loaves & Fishes

I met them there.

Their 4 sons, daughter and her friend

Unloaded hundreds of pounds of freshly picked produce

Watermelon

Cantaloupe

Peppers

Eggplant

Squash

After working at their produce stand all morning.

They loved the cooler.

What a great family

Working together

Laughing

Sharing

Those are lucky kids.

I know

I come from the same kind of family

And it has painted my life

With sharing.

Gail

Early 1950’s

1 Comment

Filed under Basil, Bouquets, Farmer's Market, Flower Arrangements, Gardening Friends, Herbs, Iris, Uncategorized, Vegetables

July 29, 2013 · 2:15 am

If you count the days between
The last freeze of winter
And the first freeze of fall
You will find that we are at half time
Of the gardening year
Here in zone 7
So is the season half over?
Do we just maintain from here on in?
Cup half empty.
Or do we revel in the days to come?
Cup half full.
If you look closely
You’ll find that some things
Are just beginning
Or beginning again.
For instance.
I don’t plant my Zinnias
Until the Larkspur and Poppies
Have died and made room for them
So they are just beginning to bud out.

The Arugula on the other hand.
Has gone to seed
Giving me a second crop.

Which is great
Since I’m a fan of Arugula
Tomatoes are ripening on the vine
Except for the ones my nighttime visitors
Have dined on.
But volunteer tomatoes
Are just beginning to bloom and set fruit.
And because we are having a great summer
Eight inches of rain in July!
The roses are budding and blooming.

Dahlias are equally happy

And Cleome has re-seeded itself

After those dastardly harlequin shield bugs a few years back.
Earlier in the spring I cut the tall garden phlox back
And it has paid me back with lush blooms.

They came a little later
But it was worth the wait.
And of course the Cockscomb
Is beginning its takeover of the garden.

And Peg spends endless hours in the garden

Doing what we have dubbed

“Bugging”

She loves the hunt.

So here we are at half time
Enjoying the view.
Yes, there is much that can be done.
Much that actually needs to be done.
But for now I’m just taking it in
Knowing that there is much more to come
Much more to give.
Gail

PS. If you have extra garden produce please drop it by Loaves & Fishes Monday, Wednesday or Friday 9 – 12 or call for special drop off times. With kids out of school we are seeing more and more people in need of food. And what’s better than fresh garden produce shared.

MARY, MARTHA & BUMBLEBEES

It’s been a glorious week here for gardening.

Imagine.

Mid-July

Three days of rain.

Slow soaking

Drenching

RAIN

Cool crisp mornings

And bike riding evenings.

Which, of course, leads to weeding.

The ground is soft and willing

To let the weeds go.

What joy.

All of this means that I’ve spent the week

Crawling around my garden

Pulling weeds.

It’s amazing the difference a week can make in a garden.

And I only spent a few evenings

And Saturday there.

From my ground level vantage point

I’ve noticed that this year

It seems that lots of Bumblebees

Have decided to call my space home.

During this morning’s sermon on Martha and Mary

It occurred to me that Bumblebees are the blend

Of these two sisters

That Andrew, our minister, was encouraging us to strive for.

They are known for their Martha like busyness.

Buzzing about all day.

Even major pieces of music have been composed

And played and played

About the busyness of the Bumblebee.

They have work to do

And they do it.

Constantly.

Or maybe not.

I’ve noticed this week

That they also rest.

I have found them during the middle of the day

Being Mary

Nestled into an east facing Hollyhock blossom.

Sheltered from the afternoon sun.

I imagine that they sleep there as well.

But the place I most often find them

Is fast asleep in the spent blooms

Of the Disco Belle Hibiscus.

I have a habit of walking through my garden

First thing in the morning.

As I walk I often deadhead a bit.

Popping off spent blooms here and there.

But I’ve learned that morning is not the time

To deadhead these perennial Hibiscus.

Here they start blooming around the 4th of July.

And if you deadhead consistently and properly

You’ll have some blooms through Labor Day.

And these are BLOOMS.

The size of dinner plates.

But they only last one day.

And as they close their petals

At the end of their single day of glory

They create a soft cocoon.

That Bumblebees consider

A perfect bed and breakfast.

They seems to have struck

A balance in their life.

Doing the work that God created them to do.

And just “beeing”.

Enjoy the week in your garden.

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Bugs, Bumblebee, cleome, Dahlias, Dead Heading, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Hardy Hibiscus, hollyhocks, Larkspur, Uncategorized

In My Garden

PEG

INSPIRATION

Arranging With A Purpose

Holiday Blog Break

MAXINE’S VASE

CLEANING HOUSE

SHARING SEASON

HALF TIME

MARY, MARTHA & BUMBLEBEES

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