The Fat Lady Sings

Some Pics from the garden

                          

 

It's kinda neat how each year this watergarden is a little different. This year while I was setting up the house plants on the deck, I had this old spider plant to deal with. It is at least 15 years old, it was potbound and abandoned on the patio of a condo I moved into ten years ago. I potted up all the babies, made two planters, and used the hanging pot that the mother plant was in for something else. I was left with a mass of spider plant that I couldn't separate, and which was too big for any pot I had on hand. I stuck it into the basin that the waterfall pours out into, thinking that I'd pick up a bigger pot at the store soon. Of course, I forgot, and this plant has gone wild filtering the fish water.

*click on any pic for a larger view

Closeup of the frog in the pic above. He just hung out as I went all about snapping off pics. I was kneeling right on the same stone that he was sitting on, trying to get a different little frog, and he just sat still as you please...

Water hyacinth in the stream. The only thing that cleans the fish water (and the pond is pretty over stocked right now) is the stream. All the plants in the stream, as well as sunshine and aeration, keep the water crystal clear and fresh.

I thought this pic was striking because of the many layers - sky, plants, water surface; and silent, shadowed fish beneath. The slashing shadows of the plants contain the submerged fishy world. Multiple gateways, and nets.

Bounty from the Garden!

Here are some more pics of my garden, and some of the flowers I've gathered.  I will be out again this weekend - despite predicted temps in the upper 90's.  You know - I wouldn't mind the heat, if there wasn't humidity to go with it.  I grew up in Northern California - we'd get 105 degree summers - but it was a dry heat.  Even down by the ocean, you'd get moist sea winds - but no crushing humidity.  Here - mold grows on the mold it's so humid!  Anyway - here are the pictures.  As always - clicking on each image will open it up.

   

Here we have a bouquet of monarda and verbena.  Neither plant did what the seed packet said it would.  The monarda was not supposed to exceed 2 feet, and the verbena was supposed to be a ground cover about 6 inches high.  Well - in reality - the monarda exceeds 6 feet, and the verbena's close behind.  So much for truth in advertising!  But they are beautiful flowers, and look super together in a vase!

   

I set up a series of vases on my mantle.  Frankly - I am at a loss as to where to put my flowers.  You see, my cat Weasel has a taste for them - everything except peonies (go figure!).  So they have to be put up somewhere he can't go.  My mantle is the only area I've found that fits that bill.

   

Here are some close-ups of the monarda.  I love how each flower resembles a crown!  And do the butterflies and hummingbirds love them!  As do the bees, as a matter of fact.

   

Now we move outside.  The first pic is looking up from my perennial bed.  The clouds were spectacular that day.  The second is of one of the lilies in our pond. 

    

Finally - we have a particularly cool looking web spinner that lives on the side of our house.  This fella can spin webs large enough to catch birds in.  I think he's harmless - but I don't get too near him just in case.  The second picture is the view off of my back deck.  On the 4th of July - there are fireworks sent up from behind those trees.  The people who own that land also bring in a band that can be heard for miles.  The music's not bad - if you can handle listening to 'Free Bird' over and over again until they all get too high for their fingers to find the guitar strings.  And there we have it.  Life in the boonies.  You all have yourselves a wonderful weekend!

Just For Fun

Flowers And Their Meanings

      (Got this emailed from a friend - thought it was interesting.  Now you'll know what your next garden purchase means!)

Acacia: Concealed Love or Beauty in Retirement
Ambrosia: Reciprocated Love
Arbutus: Thee Only do I Love  - Symbol of Womanhood or Temperance
Aster: Symbol of Love
Bells of Ireland: Good luck
Bittersweet: Truth
Bluebell: Humility
Cactus: Endurance
Calla Lily: Beauty
Camellia (Pink): I’m Longing for You
Camellia (Red): You're a Flame in My Heart
Camellia (White): You're Adorable
Carnation (Pink): I'll Never Forget You
Carnation (Red): My Heart Aches for You or Admiration
Carnation (Striped): Sorry I Can't Be With You
Carnation (White): Sweet & Lovely or Innocence & Pure Love
Casablanca Lily: Purity
White Chrysanthemum: Truth
Crocus: Cheerfulness
Daffodil: You're the Only One for Me
Daisy: Innocence & Loyalty - Love or Purity
Forget-Me-Not: Memory
Gardenia: Secret love
Lily of the Valley: You Have Made my Life Complete
Orchid: Fertility or Beauty & Love
Peony: Happy Marriage
Rose (White): Purity
Rose (Pink): Perfect Happiness
Rose (Red): I Love You
Rose (Tea): I'll Remember Always
Rose (Thorn-less): Love at First Sight
Rosebud: Beauty and Youth
Stephanotis: Happiness in Marriage
Tulip (Red): Believe Me
Tulip (Yellow): There's Sunshine in Your Smile
Violet: Modesty
Viscaria: Will you Dance With Me
White Heather: Your Wishes Will Come True
Zinnia: Lasting Affection

Something Cool!

 

You all have to check out this cover!  The company is called Plant Delights - and I absolutely adore it.  Not just for the marvelous artwork, mind (a fixture, by the way) - nor even the inspired writing you will find within their delightful catalog's covers; no - if you garden, this place will rock your socks off.  Buy it from them and it will grow (unless you like, have thumbs made of asphalt!).  I look forward to their catalog every year.  The moment I get it, its like my Heirloom Roses catalog, or the newest edition of Vogue - I rip through that puppy whilst sipping my way through a fragrant pot of sweet green tea.  I look at the newest plants, I think about spring plantings, and I get a much needed infusion of warmth and color.  That's why they send these catalogs out in the middle of winter, you know - to tease us into drooling after some feathery, purplish Audrey II look-alike that only grows in whatever zone it is we're not.

So - don't just go online here - take the plunge and have them send you a real catalog.  The suckers free, and even if you hate anything green, you will appreciate the humor and damn fine writing that is evident on every page.  I mean - this place likens one of its resident kitty-cats to the Unibomber - ya just gotta love that.  Besides - it's cheaper than a trip to your nearest botanical gardens, and a whole hell of a lot more fun!