Surrounded by Flowers

Early June is such a great time for the flower gardens.

Bonica Rose

Carpet Rose

Lavendar

We have scads of clematis this year.

Clematis Jackmanii

Clematis Niobe

The hanging basket by the front door.

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A Sweet and Creepy Nursery

In a shrub in the front garden is the sweetest little bunch of baby spiders you'll ever see. This is how they hang out most of the time.

And this is what they do if you blow ever so gently on them.

The boy has been observing them and taking pictures (not these) and talking about how sweet they are. I'm so proud that he sees the beauty in them and that we can pass on our love and care for all God's creatures (except mosquitoes). As a kid little angered me more than when a classmate killed a spider or insect for no reason at all. I hope as he gets older that Calvin will take upon himself the venerated mantle of "bug defender" on the playground.

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Iris

These lovely purple beauties are blooming all over my garden.

Old style short irises and lavendar colored moss phlox.

Regal and beguiling.

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Of Grass and Gardening

This is the first year since we've moved here that the back yard has not been underwater during most of March. Instead, we have lovely green grass. We still have patchiness, but we've finally started using a lawn service that will fertilize the grass and kill the weeds during the growing season. So all we should have to do with the lawn is keep it mowed and perhaps water it in July and August. It's good that there can be one thing outside that doesn't require much attention. Because now that the kitchen garden project is done and running, I must turn my attention to the shade gardens in the backyard and a couple spots in the front that need revitalization.

I have some beautyberry bushes from my mother-in-law that managed to survive the winter in their pots, and they need a permanent place in the sun. I have a couple holly bushes that haven't done anything spectacular that need removal. I have golden margeurites that need to move as they have proven to be too tall when in bloom for their current positions. I have a small lilac that needs more sun. And I've like to get a few vertically oriented evergreens for the front of the house.

Plans, plans, plans. I seem always to be scheming.

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Lenten Rose

With spring sprung so early, we have many flowers already blooming. One of the most beautiful, yet least noticed because their heads are bowed as in prayer, are the Hellebore, or Lenten Rose.

Today I finished reading Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, which I chose to read during Lent as I had never actually read it before.

After I turned off my Kindle, I took a short walk outside to snap some pictures of scilla, daffodils, and the just-emerging rhubarb and onions. Most of the perennial flowers are pushing up their first leaves. Chives are already ready to be harvested and will grace our dinner of poached eggs and toast tonight.

But far and away the most lovely sight were the Lenten Roses, a delicate reminder of this precious gift of an early spring. What is so appropriate is that to enjoy these flowers, you really have to get on your knees and bow down low to the ground. Which, after all, is just the position we should be in during Lent.

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Tantalizing Hints of Spring

Wow. Nearly a week since my last post, which means we're one week into March, which means March is passing by. This is a good thing. It's looked and felt like March for far too long.

Today, believe it or not, we reached 50 degrees. I took advantage of this sunny, warm, windy day to clean the windows, inside and out, of the sunroom, which has been my office for a week or so. I also dragged out the hose and cleaned the screens. I dusted shelves and cleaned woodwork and vacuumed up cobwebs. I organized my books, my planting gear and seeds, and my art supplies. I even planted out my red onion sets that I had been storing since fall. I put them in the one place where the ground had thawed enough (and congratulated myself anew on my big raised bed project from last year, which made that thawed ground possible).

Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to SIXTY-ONE DEGREES, though it will be quite windy. I'm thinking that the boy will want to take his bike out and play in the sandbox. So that's we'll plan on doing. In fact, with the exception of a cold Friday, the 10-day forecast is shaping up to be pretty balmy. Not so good for maple syrup producers (which stinks) but great for winter-weary Midwesterners.

So don't forget your sunglasses this week. Those pasty arms and legs are bound to be popping out of sleeves and shorts and you don't want your eyesight damaged by the glare.

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Seeds of Spring Sown in My Heart

What can possibly be going through my head when I suggest to my little boy that we go out to Van Atta's nursery and "look at" seeds we might want for our garden this year.

Silly, silly, silly. Because you can't just look at them. You have to buy them. Not that you're going to start them for at least a month or more. But you have to buy them.

And I have to say, it was so encouraging to see little pansy seedlings in trays in the greenhouse and to imagine that in a couple months, things will be growing outside once again.

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Frosty

More and more lately, we are seeing mornings like this . . .

Each leaf and needle rimmed with frost . . .

Patterns forever repeating . . .

Everything dimmer, more subtle . . .

And that is how November is to me. Subtle. Serene.

The only vegetation left in our yard that is trying to show off is the big burning bush by the road.

But it's so humble the rest of the year . . . who can blame it?

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Calvin Picks a Carrot

It's been so fun and rewarding to see how involved in and excited about the garden Calvin is. Though we will leave much of the carrot crop in the ground until a freeze, I thought Calvin might like to pick one to see how they were doing. We sowed the tiny seeds of a short and stubby, clay-friendly variety in June. And last night we each had a few carrot sticks cut from Calvin's little harvest.

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Nasturtium

If you can't bring yourself to chomp on such beautiful flowers, you can always add the peppery, lily-pad-shaped leaves to salads. But there's no prettier garnish than one of these blooms.

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Eggplant Parmesan from Your Garden

We're starting to get quite a crop of tomatoes and peppers. And we've had eggplants, which I made into eggplant parmesan. It's a fairly easy dish and it is sooooo tasty. We ended up eating it for two nights. The key to good eggplant, I've discovered thanks to the internet, is draining out the excess fluid. Here's the deal. You slice up your eggplant into about 1/4 inch slices, then layer in a large colander, sprinkling each layer with kosher salt. Cover with a plate and let sit two hours (put the colander on top of a plate or dish to catch the liquid). Then rinse and pat dry. I used three normal sized eggplants (not huge ones you might buy in a store).

Next you dredge them in a mixture of equal parts flour and bread crumbs, then dredge in beaten eggs, then fry in a pan with about 1/2 inch hot olive oil. Fry until golden brown, turning once, then drain on paper towels.

Take a shallow pan (9x13 for a large amount, though I used a smaller one) and start with a layer of sauce (homemade is great but store-bought is respectable, just something tasty).

Next a layer of eggplant.

Then shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Do yourself a favor and get a block of real parmesan cheese and then grate it. Don't get the hard, pre-grated stuff. Ick. Then on top of the cheeses a layer of fresh basil from the garden.

Repeat the layers again but omit the basil (one layer is really enough) and end with cheese. Bake 30 minutes at 350 or until the cheese is browning and bubbling. Remove from oven and let sit 5 or 10 minutes before serving. Serve over spaghetti and more sauce and garnish with basil.

I'm telling you, I've made this but once and yet I know it will become a staple in our house. My husband mentions it daily. We have five more eggplants currently growing on our plants and more flowers blooming, so I hope to have this meal several more times before the first frost.

Don't have a garden? All of this wonderful stuff can be found at the store, albeit in a more expensive and chemically enhanced form. If you aren't growing eggplant, you should be!

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Summer Rolls On

Seems like every year I'm surprised by how fast summer goes. When I was a kid summer stretched out in front of me like an unending, leisurely stroll in the woods and now here we are looking August in the face and wondering what happened to July. As a kid, I had no plans beyond the softball season, swimming in my friend's pool, riding my bike, and reading about 50 books. I would mow the lawn and help out around the house, but most of my days were empty, waiting to be filled with rock collecting and climbing trees.

This summer I have played no softball, but I have managed to swim (in a lake), read (but more like 50 pages than 50 books), and collect some rocks (with Calvin at camp, his introductory expedition into rock collecting).

The jar on the left is mine, filled over the past three years. Calvin's is on the right.

I've always enjoyed "capturing" nature. I don't remember a time when I wasn't dragging rocks, sticks, and feathers inside or catching caterpillars and toads. Now I usually capture nature with a camera, but I still like finding little things that have been left behind by nature and bringing them inside. I'm so happy to share this love with my son.

This shadowbox shows off a few of my gleanings from outside. A wasps' nest, some prized rocks, fronds from my autumn ferns, a dragonfly I found (dead) on the sidewalk, and two unfortunate butterflies who looked so pretty in death that I couldn't leave them to be swept away into the trash or the gutter. So I kept them.

The lawn needs mowing and the whole place desperately needs weeding. But looking on the bright side, the crazy hot weather and diligent watering have produced major growth in the vegetable garden. Though I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps my green bean seeds were of a special non-flowering variety. They keep on climbing, but to what end I'm not sure.

Left hand picture is from early June, right hand picture is from late July (today). What incredible growth!

The lettuce has just about had it with the hot weather, so I'm thinking we'll finish off most of it this week then scatter seeds for late-season greens in its place. I've got to remove some foliage that has powdery mildew. And I'd like to find out what is eating the flowers off my pumpkin and squash plants. Anyone have any ideas? Raccoons? Opossums? Gnomes?

While I wonder if we'll have any pumpkins, squash, or melons come fall, summer rolls on. It cannot be stopped or slowed. Time is relentless. Are you treasuring your time on this beautiful earth?

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First Fruits

We've had the lettuce a bit already this summer, but our first beans, pepper, and cherry tomatoes are going to be part of dinner tonight. Many thanks to my friend Valerie who, despite claiming a black thumb, kept everything alive for us during the sweltering week of camp.

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In Bloom

Summer is officially here. It took a while this year, but it is now solidly in the 80s and the vining vegetable plants, like the acorn squash and pumpkins, seem to grow a few inches each night. So do the weeds.

Fuschia in a hanging pot. One of my few annuals.

The flowers in the garden are acting sort of strange this year and I anticipate some major reorganization in the autumn and spring of the ornamental gardens around the house. But some of the flowers have started coming out quite nicely.

Monarda (bee balm) in the herb garden. Great for hummingbirds and for making tea.

Others are looking very crowded and/or out of place. As much as I like my golden marguerites I fear they may have to move to the church gardens as they are just too spread out for my very small area, which lends itself to more formal arrangements.

My one daylily in the front. I'm not a huge fan of daylilies, but this one was here when we moved in and because it isn't yellow (and therefore doesn't look like the plantings around area businesses) I let it stick around. The foliage is attractive and a good contrast for the finer and bushier plants around it, and I like the dark burgundy color.

I'm planning on removing a few things in the front that have been hanging around for five years without really pleasing me and replacing them with some vertical evergreen accents and some bushes with burgundy and chartreuse leaves, like dwarf barberry and spirea.

My oakleaf hydrangea is looking great this year. I'm very happy with it!

I'll also be focusing on revamping the shade gardens in the back, which are looking saaaaaaaad this year. They were underwater for a month and now it's like a desert back there. Very difficult to find plants that I like that will handle those conditions, and I don't want to coddle anything now that I'm growing food and will have to water the vegetable garden. The ornamentals have to survive pretty much on their own!

My Nubia Clematis, which had only a couple blooms last year (after being in the ground for two years without even growing leaves!) is blooming nicely this year. It does pay to wait and give perennials a chance to prove themselves. At some point though, if you don't like it you should rip it out and get something that will grow well and make you happy.

I'm also considering planting a grape vine. A friend from church recently gave me a few jars of frozen grape juice concentrate from their vine, which he had to destroy last year because it became diseased. His wife recently passed away. She made the most amazing grape jelly from that vine and I used that juice to make my own grape jelly yesterday. I'd like to be able to do that every year and it's hard to find local concord grapes at a decent price.

The sun shines through my grape jelly.
Hope it's as tasty as Hazel's was.

Yesterday I also realized that we leave for camp in just a couple weeks. Ack! So much to do before then. But it will be a welcome respite and time to explore one of my very favorite places on earth. Hoping for more fantastic pictures this year and time for Calvin to do some serious outdoor exploring.

Though I fear the mess in the garden I will come home to. Every year the weeds take advantage of that time, like they know when we will be gone and spend the weeks before our departure organizing a coup. And while I can ask friends to water things I can't very well expect someone else to weed my garden.

Can I?

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