FIBERGUY

If you know me, you know that hollyhocks are amongst my most favorite flowers, and this double ruffled pink one is, well, just look at it will you?!

OK – I must confess.  This lily belongs to my neighbor and is right next to where I park my car in the drive.  But, I ask you, how could I not include this stunning creation in my collection?

This day lily filled me with joy when I saw it at Kelly & Kelly last year.  I had to have it.  You see why.  It’s the most feminine seashell pink.  Oh, it does take one’s breath away.

This is a fancy hybrid, I think, of the rudbeckia family. Harald picked it up at one of our many nursery stops this year and it just went in the ground – and it is blooming spectacularly already.

I haven’t had the heart to write about it, but a hail storm passed over our house on Saturday and virtually destroyed our gardens.  I know they are only plants, and we are lucky that no one was hurt and the house wasn’t more damaged (no broken windows, thank goodness), but still – it was enough to bring tears to our eyes when we walked out into the yard after it was over.  H’s folks were over and we were just sitting down to dinner when it began.  The hail came in three big waves, the second of which dropped golf ball-sized hail.  The entire yard was covered in ice.   The other two waves dropped large green pea sized hail.  The hostas are just shredded.  I know they will look like hell this year, but should be fine next year.  Anyway, I called State Farm and started two claims this morning, one for my car, and one for the roof.  I’ve been trying to find reputable roofing contractors this afternoon to come take a look and tell us whether we have damage requiring repair.

Tonight we have to spend the evening cleaning up the yard.  Our large maples lost at least 1/2 their leaves.  Some of the trees even have bare tops – they’ve been completely stripped of foliage.  It will all be OK in the end, I just wish we didn’t have to deal with this.

Two weekends ago we paid a visit to Seed Savers in Decorah, Iowa to purchase some transplants that we couldn’t get shipped to us.  It was a lovely trip through rural America and I thought I would share just two photos from that day.

This is the lovely, and functional, barn at Heritage Farm, the site of the great work that Seed Savers does.

And this is one of the ancient White Park cattle which originally came from the British Isles. She had just given birth and the little calf was right out of camera shot and that’s why she’s looking at me so seriously.  Isn’t she just beautiful?

Yesterday was the day, finally, to get outside, put on the gloves and start cleaning out the flower beds and waking them up from their winter nap. It felt so good to have one’s hands in the dirt again, to breath the fresh air, to feel the warm sun on my face.  We cleaned up a mess of old leaves and old growth and every time we unearthed another little plant with it’s new growth struggling upward, it was a joy. It looks like most of the bleeding hearts survived wonderfully, the oriental lilies seem to be coming back strong, and my precious blue delphinium and orange poppies and pink hollyhock are all showing good signs of having wintered over well. But nothing is growing as well as the two clumps of bachelor buttons we transplanted from H’s family land in Lutsen. They have spawned a million little babies all over the place. And the climbing roses even have new leaves popping out all over!

Admittedly, the beds look a little bare today compared to what they have been looking like, but it’s an improvement. We even went out to our favorite garden store, Otten Bros. in Long Lake, and I bought a heliotrope (I like to get one every year but they are not perennial in Minnesota). And we bought a Victoria Red rhubarb plant. I miss the rhubarb I had at 21st Avenue and am looking forward to once again (in a year or two) making rhubarb cobblers and pies.

Of course, I am keenly aware of just how out of shape I am. There are parts of me aching this morning that I had completely forgotten about. I guess that’s what six months of staying inside will do for you. Who am I kidding? That’s what six months of not doing much of anything will do for you. Oh, well, even the ache feels kinda good today. It means we aren’t confined to the house anymore.  On Saturday we have a long-planned trip to Decorah, Iowa to buy our transplant seedlings of heirloom tomatoes and peppers from Seed Savers, a company we like to patronize.  They do such important work.  I can hardly wait!