A midnight observation:
Madgardener
wonders were all around me. The sounds and the smells assault you the
first thing. The sounds are the musky churkkk churkkk notes of the
cicada's, beetles, and other night creatures out in a dampish mountain
evening in peak habitat. then the smells of the 4 o'clocks, the massive
heads of the glory bower, and the honey suckle, phlox, and damp smells
of a hillside in early August meets me as I stroll outside for a brief
moment. I have to be particularly careful because this is the time of
year that the red spiders who spin their industrious webs of gradure are
out in force, conquering the masteries of intricate silk threads into a
pattern of awesome purportions and if you spray just a little bit of
fine mist onto them, you are captivated by their jewel like qualities.
Of course, bending to smell the pink eyed phlox gets you a hair covering
of the spider and her web, if you forget yourself. I walked outside and
the four o'clocks greeted me with their happy fragrances. Then I caught
a shining mass of little suns out of the corner of my eye in the soft
porch light of my front porch. It is the open sunny disks of the
hellenium, or Helen's flower, these are the Kugglesonne, king of suns,
and it's fitting, here it is, after 12 p.m. and the soft night light
illuminates the yellow circles that gaze up at me. The soft shades of
the leaves in the garden are there all around me in shapes I recognize
but shades of different greens and grays in the light.
By chance earlier today as I was searching the tomato plants that have
gotten past me and grown up past the tying mark and back down in that
perennial bend all my tomato plants seem to have because they always
seem to get past me on tying, I happened upon a wonderous 4 o'clock down
in the lower gardens. It HAS to be an invention of fairy painting far
beyond what was expected. This 4o'clock has to have a name, and today I
dubbed this one I discovered growing beneath the skirts of the loaded
beauty berry, "Fairy's beauty ". Picture a folded, papery thin trumpet
flower, ripe, ready to open during the late evening, in shades of a soft
pinky peach, and smeared yellow, in a sort of tye dye pattern. I see
this unmistakable duo of colors and picked a ripe blossom, I gently
opened it the rest of the way, unable to wait for it to open later on,
and was rewarded by a sight that blew my mind. A flower that is half
and half, one half is solid soft pink, lined on one half inside of the
trumpet blossom, the other half is yellow, buttery yellow, AND with lots
of specks of paint spatters of the same pink that is the solid color
across the petal. A most remarkable study in painting and I knew that
each flower of this one 4 o'clock was different, and I traced the stems
down to where she came up out of the ground. they followed down to the
spot next to the beautyberry, and came up thru the branches. An absolute
keeper and easy to find later on, the seeds will be impossible to
gather.
this morning I sat up all night and talked conversations with my grown
son, and we spoke of various things a mother and son sometimes do and
the fairies and Mom's Nature graced me with yet another gift. It was
something I forget about when I garden when I do. I sat there seeing my
grown son do what he did when he was small, he started to fall
asleep,nodding and falling over onto the couch, and I did what all
mother's do, I covered him up with a quilt to keep him confortable in
his finally letting sleep claim him, and as I sat there still aware,in
the softness of the new morning, I noticed the dawn was outside, the way
early morning birds were doing their routines, the lights were getting
soft, and I could see the colors awaken on the plants out past the
door. The soft blue of the royal salvia that the hummers adored was a
navy velvet, and as I was looking at the shapes, I was thrilled by the
arrival of the first ones, the hummers, the early birds, the tiny
straffing flyers. Darting in and out of the stems and branches that are
still cranking out the irresistable blue trumpets of delight. And since
it was just warm enough last night, they were flying fast and hovering
more, less threatened in the wee hours than the later times and not as
stiff and slow as when they are cooler.
I went to the door and two stopped their early morning raids to dart
to the front door and hover at face level and stare at me, kinda like
checking me out and possibly making fun of my wings that were too large
to hover, and other set backs. Then getting bored with me, and being
distracted by the gaining lights and further air traffic foul ups of
other awakening flying critters, they buzzed off at me with that
melodious high pitched chirking sound they make if it's quiet enough to
hear them.
I got buzzed later on by them when I was out just standing admiring
the tall flowers, and they expressed their irritation with me for being
in the way by straffing my head to tell me to MOVE ON
PLEASE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.REAR OF THE ELEVATOR, next display......
If you go past the Joe Pye that shouts to the square dancing bumbley
bees and ballet butterflies, and other hummers and buzzers, (which by
the way is about 12 foot tall or more, mauve and irresistable) you might
notice a smell of warm sage, and it's the bog sage that is so crammed
with buzzers they ignore you as you push past both the swaying branches
of them reaching out towards you in the archway they grow over, to touch
the sungold tomato's in the blue pot that are starting to ripen handfuls
of golden sweet treasures. Inter-twined in the tomato vines and green
and orange tomato's are reblooming Malva's the Zebrina's and the
bumblies are irritated when you have to move them out of the way to
gather the fruit.
Fairy work is obvious in the most startling places. The quiet pots
of recovering sedums and semps and cacti have gotten their wind back in
the loving hand of the sedum fairy. A fat little guy that feeds the
first drawn up leaves of the echiveria's, sedums, and hens and chicks.
Even the cacti suffered this winter in their dry spell of my
house-drought. But the hand of this fairy is healing. I walked out to
the western and northerly portion of the deck where I placed some plants
on the grill as a plant stand, and noticed the ghostly shades of purple,
silver, and blue. with the good drainage and slightly rich sandy soils
and rains, they plants have
recovered and are florishing. Their designs are incredible as usual.
I found wonder after wonder today, absolute chocolate cake quality of
compost begging me to top dress a bed, any bed, choose wisely! the
vines
of one of the two sowings of Lab Lab beans has proved to be the best one
of the
year, twining up past the bamboo cane, to grasp the dead branches of the
mimosa and I haven't seen the flower stems yet, I know they are there, I
have to look up past 7 foot to see them. Green little upside down jugs
of figs are all along the stems of this years fig branches, slowly
plumping up to make possibly the best fig year I have every had.
Raspberries, one golden cane, fat,long and quiet, and a red Heritage
made it's own fat cane and I discovered bigger and sweeter berries
hanging on the ends of these two canes that were larger than my
thumbnail. the zebra grasses beg to be walked past and thru, to
experience the joys of going thru rustley grasses. Overhead the hot
pink and white crape myrtles, hovering like etereal clouds, hold bumbles
and hummers who check them out as they discover more and more trumpet
vine flowers in that orange sherbert color.
The helianthus I dug up and rescued from the bulldozer this spring,
turned out to be Lemon Queen,purchased in the final days of Allan Bush's
sale to close Holbrook Farms....... and the clean, pure disks of little
sunflowers are well over 300 or more and bending on stems of 6 foot or
more splaying out to shout a bit as you pass them. If you dart into the
archway of the forcythia and trumpet vine and grasses, to look at the
wide cleared spot after I cut back all those branches of the forcythia
(never did dig that sucker up!) you notice you sink a little bit, and
find I laid lots of that now finally dwindling pile of wood chips that
is breaking down into compost as a layer of mulch, a foot deep next to
the fig box. The spend fuzzy stalk of the hollyhock has finally ended
and all you see are the itchy pods of seeds going up the broken stem and
are reminders of the crape paper pink flowers just two weeks ago.
The late arriving rudbeckia's are STILL blooming, and with such vigor,
I had to climb into the bed one day, and carefully with twing, tie and
gently girdle the stems together with each other to support themselves.
Next year I cut them back to half during the first months of development
to avoid the breakage in storms. And I got to check the progress of the
back side shade bed that houses the epimedium, Nancy nettle plant,
pulmonaria, tiarella, painted fern and Japanese sedge. all are doing
fine and healing in with the bonus moisture to get settled better.
Flitting about like a stoned fairy, I found myself under the branches of
the butterfly bush, glory bower, and looking at the secret garden and
discovering the textures are even neater now. deep blue salvia, bent
wierd from the too rich soils, Japanese painted fern that is more
established, tassle fern, yellow and green hosta, Bears Breeches, still
a baby, an unexpected return in the purple cardinal flower, the pink of
one loosestrife, the wierd yellow of the blooms on the huge bronze
fennel. and the ethereal sprays of the thalictrum. The Salix is still
sending out sprays of white foam flowers, the pink anemone that survived
the assault of the black blister beetles is now blooming, as are a few
tufts of orphanage plant, and the smell of fallen apples in numbers that
is appalling wafts in across the east side to mingle with the smells of
glory bower and other things, and I am grateful for the smells of fallen
apples once again.
The singing of the night critters is almost deafening, but I find a
peace in it that tells me that all is right at least up here on the hill
tonight. I hope that I don't lose touch with you all. And if I have a
temporary set back, please keep faith that eventually I will get these
overdue bills taken care of and re-established with basic phone
services. the ability to talk to you all, to communicate and share with
you the magic and wonders of nature all around us gives me happiness you
all feel when I write to you all. some of you have my snail mail
address and I can be reached there if I lose electronic
touch......thanks for sharing a midnight observation with me, there will
be more later on when I find the moments........madgardener listening to
the symphony of the August night, up on the hill, over-looking English
Mountain, shrouded in mysts, with a ripe yellow crecent moon, in Eastern
Tennessee (zone 6b straddling 7)feeling quite blessed to have all of it
including you all <GBSEG>
Marion Margoshes
Thank you for these lovely thoughts. It has counteracted the angst that
some of these idiots caused me.
--
pisces
lee
<398E30D4...@bellsouth.net>:
>I took a midnight observation tonight of the early August
>gardens. The wonders were all around me.
thanks, Mad
i started labor @1:30am, so i really appreciate your posting
this tonight. i'm not going to get any sleep :)
i hope you don't lose your connection. i'll miss your reports.
lee
Arlette, Cocoa&Brownie
too :)
--
God Bless, Arlette, Cocoa & Brownie(the fantastical bunnies)
Arlette, Cocoa&Brownie
Hope your labour went quickly...tell us about your new bundle of joy!! Was
it pistils or stamens?? :)
Ann
>Hi Lee,
>Hope your labour went quickly...tell us about your new bundle of joy!! Was
>it pistils or stamens?? :)
We already know it's pistils <G> I hope everything goes well for
them!
--
Ann, Gardening in Zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************
http://www.annzoid.com
Harrisons
hope the clouds of life will lift for you immediately, if not sooner.
Eugenia, zone 6, two towns west of Boston
"Madgardener" <mad...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:398E30D4...@bellsouth.net...
Madgardener
> Thank you for these lovely thoughts. It has counteracted the angst that
> some of these idiots caused me.
> --
> pisces
Marion, I appreciate you posting my original, it seems as of now
Netscape communicator doesn't have it in my files yet......so I can copy
it to save. And I decided I had better write something that was
inspirational to me now while I have a phone......and I also got tired
of sloughing through all the bs........how's your gardens doing? My
tomato's are FINALLY getting somewhere.......madgardener
Madgardener
you're at the end of that one? I hope all goes well with your new
gardener and little blessing. my love comes out to you and the new dad
and to your little one, kiss it's little head for me......sigh........
(and use those heat lamps on that sore butt!! They really do work! :)
madgardener going off to pass out from hard work
now.............(congratulations, by the way)
lee wrote:
>
> mad...@bellsouth.net (Madgardener) wrote in
> <398E30D4...@bellsouth.net>:
>
> >I took a midnight observation tonight of the early August
> >gardens. The wonders were all around me.
>
Madgardener
my box and found the stressed but still alive foxglove
greens..........:) I will let you know how they fare tomorrow, they are
just breathing for the moment, but I promise to keep in touch, and
you're more than welcome anytime to visit my garden, just beware the
spider webs,they seem to be everywhere! (and those paper wasps weren't
too pleased when I watered a little bit today just to play in the
water.........oh well, they'll get over it. I provide them unlimited
food sources and they'd better behave or I will evict them..........)
thanks again, for the foxies, I will let you know of their colors next
spring, I have JUST the space for them......madgardener
Madgardener
(ask Starr about that one! :) thanks for the kind words.......keep in
touch with your own gardens sometimes. madgardener
"Arlette, Cocoa&Brownie" wrote:
>
> Lovely thoughts...you must have a big garden. I like the motherly thoughts
> too :)
Madgardener
my box and found the stressed but still alive foxglove
greens..........:) I will let you know how they fare tomorrow, they are
just breathing for the moment, but I promise to keep in touch, and
you're more than welcome anytime to visit my garden, just beware the
spider webs,they seem to be everywhere! (and those paper wasps weren't
too pleased when I watered a little bit today just to play in the
water.........oh well, they'll get over it. I provide them unlimited
food sources and they'd better behave or I will evict them..........)
thanks again, for the foxies, I will let you know of their colors next
spring, I have JUST the space for them......madgardener
Arlette, Cocoa&Brownie
Congrats LEE!!!!
Richard Krape
The trolls and wasted energy spent on bickering turned me off. Gardening
is such a worthwhile fun activity. I find it refreshing and peaceful to
just putter or admire a garden, when it is mine or someone elses, it
makes no difference.
Maybe that is what I keep looking for here. When someone shares their
garden by taking time to tell not only what is growing; but how much
they enjoy it as well, it is a rare gift to the rest of us. Every once
in a while I come back here just to see if Madgard has posted another
one of her wondrous strolls through her garden.
I feel like I just saw the flowers as they are described. It makes me
feel like all those descriptions on seed packets and in the catalogs
would actually grow like they all say they will. Mine never turn out
that well. At least it is nice to see Madgard can get plants to
flourish. Thankyou Marilyn for sharing your garden with us.
Berg :-)
Richard Krape
Flower buds get to almost open and in one evening become a deer snack.
Thank goodness we have planters all around the decks. Just looking at
the double blooms of tuberous begonias in large pots with a background
of open water and lots of sailboats and dude schooners going by makes
the porch a place to relax and enjoy. The hummers come regularly to the
feeder, but really prefer the fuscia hanging near it. I can stand still
an arms length away and they will still feed, but chirp at me as much to
say, Back off,this is my territory.
In spite of a number of hot spells even with the house practically
hovering over the salt water, things continue to grow. One native plant
I wish would bloom much later. The wild goldenrod is turning yellow.
Goldenrod yellow
Calander says its summer
Plants say early fall
Berg :-)
loonyhiker
Don't give up on all of us! I just ignore the trolls and the bickering. I
guess because I'm a teacher, I'm good at ignoring the childish stuff. I love
to hear everyone talk about their gardens too. This group usually inspires
me to try something new. And if I don't know about what to do, I don't
hesitate to get on here and ask. Someone is always nice enough to help me
(maybe they can hear the panic in my typing?) All that makes up for the
trolls and bickering!
Since you wanted to know what is blooming, here goes. I'm in South Carolina
and its been hot here! All around here are black eyed susans, tropical
hibiscus, crepe myrtles, cannas, mums are starting to bloom, lantana,
liriope, shasta daisies, obedient plants, veronica, petunias, begonias and
lots of weeds! It rained here for 10 days straight and the weeds have taken
over. After the rain, it just got too hot (heat index of 105) to go out to
weed (boy don't I sound like I'm whining!).
I've been inspired to make a new shade flowerbed and plan to put in 5
rhododendron this fall. I also am planning on all the good things I want to
buy when it starts to get cooler like: rhodos, peonies, bulbs, and anything
that I can get my hands on for 50 - 75% off!
Have a good day!
loonyhiker
Richard Krape <ed...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:6880-39...@storefull-234.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
Richard Krape
I never really gave up on the ng; but I give it a rest now and then.
There are a good couple dozen I will click on just because I know them
from previous posts. They tend to be not only known for their gardening
knowledge; but also for their sincere love of plants and gardening. It
also becomes clear after reading a number of posts that they are warm
caring people who love the contact with other people as well. You will
see them post answers to questions many times, almost always with an up
beat attitude.
I am spred too thin to stay with the ng for any length of time. Too many
clubs, Too many long term chores. Then there is poetry, art, and travel.
I'm not complaining ,mind you, I live each day to overflowing, finding
joy in watching a bird, listening to the lap of waves on the shore,
sunrises and sets, The long awaited opening of a special daylily bud.
The list could go on and on. Happy gardening,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Milkweed pods, Seeds in flight
Fireweed now all in bloom
Queen Ann's lace close for the night
Goldenrod yellow dispells all gloom
The signs of fall are read in flowers
Days now shorter, count the hours
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Berg :-)
Falcon
<bebraDE...@ANDTHISmailroom.com> had this to say:
>What kind of tips can you give my for my daylily beds?
Goodday,
I am the hubby and was running the weed-wacker trimming
my newly wed wife's yard. Looked like tall grass to me. Buzzzzzzz.
....later....Screams as she told me I had trimmed her daylillies.
My tip is - Don't do that, it is most hard to get your hearing back
from a frantic and cranky wife. (Grin) We, well, mostly me, can
finally laugh about it now but I assure you she watches me carefully.
I can say that I recognize young daylillies now. I avoid them most
studiously.
Ciao,
Falcon
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Bebra
told me I could plant the seeds from the pods that form on some of the
plants. This is my second year for planting daylilies. Everyone that I
planted last year came back this year. I have added about another 10 to 15
this year. Always looking for new ways to acquire more. This year, I had
the pleasure of visiting a daylily farm in my area. It was absolutely
breathtaking. Hundred and hundreds of daylilies, every color you could
inagine....that's my dream someday to have my very own daylily farm, as they
are getting mighty popular, since they seem to be a plant that requires
little care. Any pointers you can give, would be much appreciated.
thanks
bye
"Richard Krape" <ed...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:23009-39...@storefull-237.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
Bebra
done the same thing if someone had done that to my daylilies.....better luck
next year...
"Falcon" <falc...@codenet7.net> wrote in message
news:0e51qs8p0k5nhhk6o...@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 21 Aug 2000 01:38:17 GMT, "Bebra"
> <bebraDE...@ANDTHISmailroom.com> had this to say:
>
>