Living in the Past

Hi Everybody~~ First a plug, if I may. Actually I suppose my whole blog is a personal plug, but whatever... Anyway, I am pleased and honored to announce my membership in Teza's innovative Renegade Gardeners' Forum. If you're perplexed as to just exactly what I'm rambling about, it's basically a bunch of us diehard gardeners who eat, drink, shop, sleep, and breathe our craft. The forum will be shop-talk in the form of opinions and personal anecdotes on all things gardening. Fun, don't you think? For more information, click on my [personally designed, thank you very much] sidebar icon. I hope you'll be entertained and feel free to offer your two bits.

Lupine 'Gallery Red' and Monarda didyma 'Grand Parade.'

I hope you'll pardon my unconventional proclivities. [By now you're aware that I possess a lot of those.] Yes, it's December, a time to celebrate winter's spartan beauty, that is, if you like winter's spartan beauty. Okay, I do, I admit. But I like summer's billowy beauty more.

Phlox paniculata 'Eva Cullum' and Achillea millefolium 'Royal Tapestry.'


Muhlenbergia capillaries "Pink Muhly Grass"

One of my favorite photos from last summer. Phormium tenax 'Evening Glow' among the throng


The variegated foliage of Phlox paniculata 'Norah Leigh' beside Coreopsis rosea 'Heaven's Gate'

with a miss-labeled, [thus mystery] Clematis.

One of the pathway junctions, summer 2008. Notice the now-removed playhouse
on the far left.
Teucrium hycranicum 'Purple Trails' among the admittedly way too crowded groupings.

On the left, Hosta 'Great Expectations' beside Nasturtium and Coleus foliage.

Hanging above is 'Tom West' Fuchsia.

I'm thinking about unearthing photos of last winter's record snowfall, taken by my daughters--the genuine talent in the family. Thank you all for the sweetest, funniest and most entertaining replies. You guys rock!

Hard @ Work or Hardly Working

'Rhapsody in Blue' is a decidedly purple rose
with a to-die-for fragrance.
My garden buddy Carol actually rooted my plant
from a cutting.
Yeah. She's good.

It's heat wave time.
Oh Goodie!! [Not]

I like it mild. I don't like heat.
When it's above, say, 78.3F, I wimp out and bitch and moan
and ask God why he hates me and what I did to
deserve such ill-treatment.
But hey, I'm an adult. If forced, I can coerce myself to compromise and adapt.
Like, maybe garden during the mild hours of morning or evening.
Meander and putter along
my garden paths without an oxygen tank and portable mister strapped to my back.
[Do they actually make such things?]
Basically without keeling over dead.

This morning my lovable but obnoxiously demanding cat
wanted me up at 5 AM.
What the...?
Rising just long enough to form words that
Mr. Cater-to-me-now-or-I-might-have-to-throw-up-on-your-pillow
might not find very accommodating,
I saw it. Undeniably. I think.
I'd better get up and check.
Yep.
Blue sky.
Cat thinks I'm catering to him as I
saunter towards the kitchen, then out the door,
coffee in hand, kitty in tow, to my favorite spot on the planet.
Cat thinks this is all about him, because of course
this is what cats are wired to think.

And after three all-too-brief hours the
day's heat is accumulating at warp speed and bouncing off the deck
and outer house walls like a tennis ball on Ritalin,
and smacking me with a wallop that could rival George Foreman.
Grab the oxygen or go in.
There is no oxygen. I made that up.
Good-bye garden.
Hello computer. Go away laundry.

A view of the northernmost garden room.
The large leaf in the foreground is
Catalpa bignonioides that I keep pruned to shrub size.

Monarda didyma 'Grand Parade.'
I plucked the aging petals from the middle
of each blossom. I thought the green centers looked
kind of cool.

More Monardas because more is always better.
These are tall varieties, pink 'Marshall's Delight,
purple 'Blue...something.' In the back is
'Raspberry Wine.'


Last fall, I bought two 4-inch pots of
this Hollyhock, Alcea rosea 'Creme de Cassis'.
Often the flowers depicted on a plant's tag are dissimilar to the
actual living, breathing thing.
This plant is no exception. But I like it anyway.

Coreopsis rosea 'Limerock Ruby.'
Ask me how many times I've bought this plant only to have it
killed by Winter and I'll
look at you with a blank stare.
Neurosis keeps me coming back for more.
Believe it or not, this is ONE plant partnered with
a lighter colored Nasturtium 'Cherry Rose.'
Maybe if I keep the container protected I can
winter it over.

Speaking of Coreopsis, I recently found 'Heaven's Gate'
at a K-Mart, of all places.
Again, maybe if I play my cards right
[How many times have I played this game?]
I can get it to winter over.
Please...

It took me years to legitimize the merits of the venerable
Phlox paniculata. This is a division of my very first attempt.
'Red Magic.'
I swear the committee that is relegated to muster catchy monikers for these cultivars
has got to suffer a bad case of collective color-blindness.

Alstromeria psittacina

getting a foothold.
What's not to love?

Lantana 'Fantasy' makes a valiant
attempt to survive the salient
notority.

Garden photos...

By the way, I wanted to mention that while I'm inside, escaping the heat, I've been
working an accurate layout of my backyard.
Garden Planner 2.3
is my loyal and helpful assistant.
For those of you who might be interested,
I'll be posting the finished project.
If I ever get it finished.
Actually, I'm thinking it won't be long because
this software is highly addictive.
And it's freaking hot out there.