Category: Gardening

Today’s Bit of Beauty – 06/18/09

Boyd

As Harald so rightfully challenged me last night, it’s time to get some pictures after promising two weeks ago to do so. Even though I’ve been gathering pictures for several weeks, I am going to start with a picture taken just this morning. Sorry it isn’t clearer, but these are among H’s most precious additions to the garden and they are blooming particularly beautifully this year. They are Martagon lilies, a very old type of lily. Now, if you aren’t familiar with them, you wouldn’t know that the blooms are impossibly small – probably no more than a couple of inches across. Click here to read a good primer on Martagons.

Today’s Beauty – 08/02/2008

Boyd

This is close relative to the hollyhock, a French mallow.  Actually, we planted this plant the first spring we were in our house.  It bloomed profusely and then went to seed.  We thought nothing of it until the next year when mallow plants were absolutely everywhere!  We’ve been trying to get rid of them ever since.  But this hardy plant came from a seed two years old and we decided to let it grow.  Probably a mistake, but for now you must admit it’s lovely.

This weekend

Boyd

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.

Seed Savers

Boyd

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?