May
01
Knock-Out Rose Bud
I remember celebrating May Day as a kid. We would make construction paper cones with a pipe cleaner hanger and decorate it with ribbons. Then we would go to a field and pick wild flowers (I even remember doing some with flower out of the yard), wrap them in wet newspaper and wax paper and then put them in the cone. We hung them on the doors of neighbors, rang the bell and then ran to hide. It seems so simple, but we had so much fun with it! I don’t know how we came to celebrate May Day so much since most of the US doesn’t (the Puritans were NOT amused by it) but perhaps it was because Garden City, KS had a rather large German population.
May Day was originally a fertility celebration of the pagans that was around long before Christianity. It was an important holiday for the Romans who dedicated the day to ‘Flora’, the goddess of flowers. During the reign of the Puritans, the celebration was discouraged, but it was still an important holiday in Europe when they fell out of power.
The Maypole was a tradition during the middle ages, and competition among villages, to find the largest pole and erect it in the village center. The Maypole disappeared when the Puritan Long Parliament forbid it in 1644 but it was revived when the Stuarts regained power. Gradually, the May Day celebration became less about celebrating spring fertility and more about kids enjoying a day of joy and merriment. The Maypole even became a symbol of freedom during the French Revolution when it became the ‘Tree of Liberty.’
I even remember dancing around a Maypole in grade school and choosing a May Queen who was crowned with a daisy-chain crown. I wish I had thought ahead a little bit and had made May baskets with Samantha this year! Maybe after school today? We’ll see.
In the US, May Day became politically tied to the fight for a shorter work day. On May First, 1886, unions enacted a national strike for the 8-hour work day. The strike center was in Chicago, but strikes where also held in New York, Baltimore, Washington, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit among other smaller walkouts. I’m very grateful for the strikers and the 8-hour workday! Happy May Day!
Apr
30
Light Pink Snapdragons
They are definitely bringing May flowers! A quick walk through my garden revealed all of these blooms:
- All thirty roses! The Cecile Bruner was the last to join the show.
- Autumn Coral Sage
- Spanish Lavender
- Bearded Irises (just the yellow and pink so far)
- Geraniums
- Strawberries
- Royal Tapestry Yarrow
- Asters (just a few blooms – they are really supposed to bloom in the fall)
- Mealy Blue Sage
- Scarlet Sage
- Sun Drops
- Dahlberg Daisies
- Santolina
- Radish
- Trailing Verbena
- Louisiana Iris
- Coral Honeysuckle
- Snapdragons
- Oxalis (both the red and the green)
- Clover
- Wine Cups
- Pomegranate
- Blackberries
- Elderberries
- Oxeye Daisies
- Passion Flower
- Marigolds
- Black and Blue Sage
- Petunias
- Gulf Coast Penstemon
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Lamb’s Ear (got to get rid of those… sorry honey bees)
- Lemon Thyme
- White Borage
- Cilantro (need to cut the seed heads back on that one)
- Phlox
- Russian Sage
- Calibrochoa
I’m very grateful for the rain!
Apr
22
Forest Pansy Redbud
Do something today to make our world – and our future – better and brighter! Plant a tree, some flowers or veggies. Use less stuff, recycle and reuse. Walk, ride a bike, take a bus, or carpool with a friend. Turn off some lights or the TV. Conserve. Little things make a huge difference!
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Samantha’s Earth Day Shirt
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Patrick’s contribution
Apr
16
Veggie Garden
I love the smells in my garden. OK… the compost can sometimes smell strong and that bucket of weeds that has collected rainwater and then sat for a week is downright rank. But over all, the garden is filled with incredible smells. I love the way it smells when it rains or when the sun starts heating up the soil.
Walking through the garden, I can’t help but pet the rosemary and lavenders. I have to crush a bay leaf and take a big whiff. I’m constantly brushing and petting and smelling while I’m walking through my garden.
The flowers have a wonderful aroma that can’t be ignored. Each rose smells different and must have its due attention. The herbs call me even louder. Thyme, basil, sage, oregano, cilantro, dill, fennel, and mint. They make me hungry and sometimes I can’t resist nibbling on a small leaf here and there.
But the star of my garden… the one that makes me swoon… the one that transports me back to childhood, is the tomato plant. I get a whiff and suddenly I’m back in my mother’s garden in Kansas eating tomatoes off the vine as if they were apples.
Apr
09
I just got back from a shopping trip at Home Depot and Lowes and I have to say that I was very reserved in my shopping.
Looking back over my planting lists and pictures, I have come to the realization that I have killed a lot of really pretty plants – like these African violets? They didn’t even last long enough for me to commit to memory what they were called for sure.
I hope it matters that I have kept more plants alive than I have killed, but that may be due to the plants and not me. I suspect that it may also have something to do with “things in pots” and the week long summer trip that we always take.
Anyway… on to the next plant. Here is my current plant “wish list”:
- Powis Castle Artemesia
- lotus (now that I finally have the pond going)
- more and more heirloom tomatoes and peppers
- bronze fennel
- side oats gamma grass
- inland sea oats
- Summer snowflake (leucojum aestivum)
- Rain Lily (Zephyranthes spp.)
- Eucalyptus
- Cuban Oregano
- Lemon Verbena
- Plumeria
- Cyperus (Umbrella plant)
- Coleus
- Caladium
- Hostas
- Southernwood (Artemesia abrotanum)
- Juncus inflexus ‘Afro’ (a squiggly reed)
- Acorus calamus ‘veriagatus’ (native sweet flag)
I’m sure I will find more before the season is done!
Apr
05
If you were fooled by the beautiful warm weather we have been having and gave in to the urge to buy those tomatoes and peppers (like I did) then you might want to give your warm-loving babies a blanket.
The things that should be covered, besides tomatoes and peppers, are cantaloupe, cucumber, okra, squash, corn, eggplant and watermelon. You may want to consider what flowers you have put out also… did you fall for the African daisies?
The easiest thing to do is turn a pot over on top of them and then place a rock or brick on it so that it won’t blow away.
You should bring those pampered house plants back in too… even the huge lemon tree. Exercise is good for you. Lift with your legs – not your back.
Good luck and stay warm!
