One thing I *haven't* seen...the bottom halves of my foxgloves! Foxgloves are biennial, meaning that they live for two years - one as foliage and the next, with tall flower spikes. The top halves popped a couple of weeks ago and have been blooming wonderfully!
The only odd thing is that with the tall pink foxgloves, the bottom half of the flower stalk remained bare. Is it because they were bitten by our late frost? I'm not sure. They're a bit top-heavy, but I'm still enjoying them greatly!
Soon they'll go to seed, and I'll start all over again. My plan is to plant foxgloves yearly, so I'll have always have their flowers. I've got a flat of little foxgloves seedlings that will flower next year, so hopefully I'll never be without their blooms.
Another major star in the garden this year? Golden loosestrife (talk about a name straight out of a Greek myth!). Loosestrife can be terribly invasive, but the golden variety, apparently, is fairly tame. From a humble little clump last year sprang a vigorous, glorious bloomer.
Look at that blaze of color!
I am absolutely delighted. Next spring, I can split the clumps and spread them around. Hooray!!
Penstemon 'Husker Red' is another unexpected treat. I bought it because I vaguely remembered hearing a recommendation for it. It's blooming now, and the stalks top nearly three feet.
When these flowers are done blooming, I'll shear them back...but I won't throw the stalks away. Penstemons are supposedly easy to propagate through stem cuttings, so I'll try my hand at having a whole bed of these next year!
I have to say, too, that I'm kind of in love with my primroses.
I was a little afraid to plant them, because they spread by underground runners and can crowd out other plants. But they are so gorgeous - cream colored with a hint of pink, and cheerful yellow centers. So far they've been fairly well-behaved, and they're easy to rip out if they become too bossy.
In addition to planting wild ox-eye daisies in my flower bed, I planted them around some of the fences. I think they're so pretty.
I dug another wheelbarrow-full, too, to add in more clumps around the house.
They'll look bad this year, but next year they'll fill in nicely. See what happened with last year's daisies?
It's not just plants around the garden...I'm enjoying seeing more insects! I spy...
This harvestman (not a spider!) is great to have around, for eating smaller pest insects. I think their patterns are so pretty!
I've seen lots of rosy maple moths around the front door. Pretty dramatic coloring!
This stick caterpillar (Geometridae) couldn't fool me this morning!
Of course, we have tons of bees...honey bees, carpenter bees, bumble bees, you name it!
We see rabbits almost daily. I think Claudia is sleeping on the job!
Definitely.
Being in the garden is a huge comfort to me during these troubled times. My privilege allows me to unplug and cover my ears when it becomes too stressful, but so many people don't have that option. So, for the record: I believe that systemic racism is real. I believe that Black Lives Matter is an amazing and important movement. I believe that we are well overdue for a major change in this country. I wholeheartedly applaud the protestors. I believe that looters are in a completely separate category from the protestors and in most cases, not associated with the BLM at all. I don't approve of the property damage that has occurred, but I 100% understand and empathize with the frustration that led to it. I think that focusing on these isolated events in a sea of positive protests is wrong.
"Letting a demonstration be judged by its most violent participants but not judging a police force by its most violent cops is the language of the oppressor." - R. Andrew Free
I believe in the separation of church and state, and the current situation demonstrates exactly why it's so important. The same Christians who clutched their pearls and screamed, "Character counts!!" over Bill Clinton's misdeeds are standing behind Trump, excusing his clear corruption in order to gain power and influence in our country. I won't go on a diatribe about how I - and many other Christians - believe that he is antithetical to the Christian faith. I will just continue to pray for justice...and peace.
I hope we see real, measurable change come out of this situation, and Todd and I will continue to look for any opportunity to help and support the movement. If you are looking for a way to help as well, please check out this link for ideas.
Have a great week!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment