Tag Archives: garden

June 18th

The word for yesterday was “minute.” I’m not sure if that is supposed to be the small segment of an hour, or a descriptor of a very small thing. Words out of context, as we well know, are open for wild interpretation.

Doesn’t matter much because yesterday I spent the afternoon working in plants instead of paints.

Several minutes were spent working on two minute gardens when considering the whole of the planet.

Forgot to get a “before” picture, but this will do. Taken from the public sidewalk side of the garden.

When I moved into my home, the gardens were all up next to the house. The front yard consisted of two large slabs of lawn with a tree on the north side. Not terrible, but not particularly wonderful either. I prefer not to use chemicals on my lawn—my pets eat grass, and I’m partial to dandelion greens, plantain, and purslane.

This little band of a garden went from holding 4 varieties of grass and weeds to 8 varieties of plants. I’m quite sure some of the weeds (and probably grass) I pulled out will return as well. I have no real objection as long as they play nicely with the others. This small patch could potentially hold 12 varieties of plants—biodiversity. Some will flourish and some will perish.

The squirrels will look at my work, and collaboratively edit my choices. When the weather is dry, birds will take dust baths next to the post edge.

When the plants have filled out, the possum in the neighborhood will have a new lookout. The bunny living under my neighbor’s porch will have new snacks and shelter.

In the fall, the leaves that fall there will be held by the plants, protecting the roots from the bitter cold of winter and feeding the soil for the next year’s growth.

In the spring, the emergence of the new growth will bring delight.

In the summer I’ll bury my toes in the warm earth and know my home. I’ll look into the garden and enjoy the accomplishment of establishing a space that nurtures.

Lysimachia

Calibrachoa

Spike plant

Red daylilly

Rose of sharon – will come to dominate this bed but provide summer blooms in the front yard where I have a preponderance of spring and fall-blooming plants. The other plants growing it it’s shadow will be moved to other beds, sold in the FSGC plant sale, or given to friends.

Yellow spurge

White lace plant

Sun drops

How did the pot become a birdbath?

The pot was covering a sewer clean out, and when I leaned on it to plant the calibrachoa and spike plant, the base disintegrated. I tried to pick up the pot by its rim to move it out of the way and the rim came off in my hands. I’m afraid it is well on its way to becoming micro plastics—anyone collecting those yet? Apparently, there’s a lot of raw material to work with.

Anyhoo, the previous owners of the home left the birdbath behind. It used to live up near the house, but I moved it when I planted that garden bed. It has spent several years under the oak in the hosta garden.

Now it has an opportunity to shine. However, it has a mortal crack in the bowl which prevents it from performing its primary function. I patched it once, and I’ll try again. Or maybe I’ll put a plant tray in the bottom of it to hold some water and pile it with stones for a butterfly/bee watering station. Project for another day.

Happy Father’s Day and fatherly day to all the gentlemen out there!

Morning Light

My rose garden is blooming more than it ever has. This morning I filled a vase with roses, and my rose garden is still flush with buds and blooms.

I set this on the table on the front porch…where I enjoy the morning light with a cup of coffee and the pets and singing birds. Quiet time. Time to set aside concerns and just exist.

June 11th

Saturday was the Four Seasons Garden Club field trip to Al’s Auto Body and Arboretum in Walworth, WI.

What a beautiful place, and Al gave us a tour! I was not expecting that at all, but his knowledge of all things hosta is encyclopedic.

Our host and tour guide, Al.

And the members of the garden club meeting up before the tour for a short business meeting.

I took the first group shot.
Then our newest member traded places with me, so I could smile for my own camera. Not all of our members could attend, but we had a good group.

After the tour and meeting we all went our separate ways. My car (with three other club members) headed to Northwinds Perennial Farm. We saw Roy Diblic in action…well, saying hello to other tourists/customers. If you visit Northwinds, give yourself a couple of hours to explore everything properly. There are lovely garden paths with sweet surprises around corners, a barn and various outbuildings to explore, and of course, plants to shop for…lots of plants.

While touring and exploring, I sat with my sketchbook a couple of times and started a drawing. Couldn’t finish either, but I have ideas for these.

The word for the day was “mistake,” and we didn’t make any. Well, there were a few missed turns, but those were easily remedied by u-turns. Zero errors, just happiness and green things.

Weekends are my favorite part of life. Can we just arrange the calendar in all weekends? We could possibly keep Thursday and Friday in order to have time to prepare for Saturday and Sunday. Just tossing that out there….

Weather Worn Patina

Freshly painted in June of 2016.
Weather worn in 2022.

I painted this years ago, and even though I see it on a nearly daily basis, it stopped mentally registering its presence at some point. It was just there and part of what is—taken for granted, and no longer the thrill it was when I first painted it. The excitement was diminished with time.

Over the weekend, I took a moment to look more closely at it once again and discovered that the world has been remaking my art—adding a delicious patina achieved only through the passage of time. I worked on it for one day, the world has been working on it ever since. It has been a collaboration with Mother Nature, and she’s invested far more effort than I have.

Six years have passed during which so much life has been lived, and so many planned and unplanned events have happened.

I’ll have to take a look in another six years. I wonder if it will be there?

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