So My Garden Grows

Amaryllis, left out this year instead of being brought in to be forced in the winter, are blooming now.





The last of the Iris, a beautiful white was blooming against the fence, here


The white iris always makes me think of Victorian ladies at Garden parties trailing their frills and twirling their parasols. Last evening as I went looking for yet more information on the language of flowers, I discovered that the Iris is one of Mary's flowers and it is also the fleur-de-lis, symbol of France. The blue iris in particular symbolize Mary's fidelity.

I have also recently discovered that Hawthorne, a healing herb that is beneficial in its leaves, flowers and berries and is actually a tree, symbolizes hope in the language of flowers. I hope to use some of the dried leaves and flowers from my own Hawthorne tree along with myrtle leaves and berries from bushes that I grew from seed over twenty years ago in wedding potpourri. Probably I will use them in peace potpourri as well.



Years ago, when my family first moved into this house, my father cut down our Hawthorne tree. He was not familiar with what it was and felt that it was planted too close to the house. It is too close to the house, but it grew back in a forest of little shoots. He did not have the heart to kill it out completely and there it stands, this curious tree that grows as though it were split in two with one side flowering pink and the other white. It was only in the last six years or so that my friend who is a master gardener and herbalist identified it for me. It provides life-giving shade in summer's heat and a tonic for me. I have come to love it so!

Finally, the shamrock continues to bloom. Never mind that many would consider them a weed, I consider them a plant promising good luck, because of their association with Ireland and St. Patrick. I always feel blessed when they are blooming.



Gratitude is with me tonight for these joys of my garden. Spring always makes me feel as though a little taste of heaven has come my way, especially when I look out my back windows and see the pink roses blooming along the fence and the poppies now making their color splashes in the planter box.

My apologies to anyone who got the pre-proofread version without the last photo and the corrections that I could not help myself from making. I am more tired tonight than I realized.

Saturday--the Week has Flown!

The week has flown by! I have been nursing a hand problem that makes it difficult to type so am behind on everything except taking flower pictures. With both irises and roses on the counter there is much material for this indoor photographer to play with! More to learn too.

Here are some of the recent pictures of my flowers. The first is of the Cecil Brunner roses that a friend cut for me yesterday. They remind me of one of the impressionist painters, perhaps Renoir, my favorite. The second one was taken outdoors by my young friend who has just returned home from her first year of college. The last is of the last of the Iris from another friend's garden.






I have had fun playing with Kaboodle (which I call kaboodle/doodling. My computer is also calling me to do some serious security updating, so it looks like my afternoon is taken care of for today! I am grateful for the flowers, including the brilliant splash of red from the few poppies that are blooming.

The Garden Grows

The Cecil Brunner Roses fill the corner of the backyard. The first two poppies have bloomed, one an astonishing splash of red in the midst of all the green, ferny foliage. My seedlings are also growing.



It is really exciting to think that there will be vegetables and herbs growing there soon where an enormous pieces of vintage driftwood once resided.

I am hoping to have more herbs in pots, too. Gardening is so much fun. I am so grateful to the friends who make it possible for me.

My friend who has the irises in her garden brought more today and we had a fun visit as well. There are six flowers and four buds. I love the way the blue and peach contrast with one another. Watching the buds grow into flowers is also much joy. It is marvelous to wake up in the morning and look out into the dining room to see flowers.

The Rose and the Iris

I have been delighted all week by the presence of roses in my life. My Mr. Lincoln (which I call, Mr Lincoln, I presume because we aren't really sure that it is)is a bonny rose indeed. Large, true red, many petals and an incredible fragrance. As the flower dies, the petals darken and the scent is concentrated. It is a wonderful flower all the way around and will make beautiful potpourri with rosemary, frankincense, myrrh and balsam oil for Christmas.

It has been joined by a light purple Iris. Each of the colors makes the other "pop" and the stem has two more buds that will bloom over the weekend. It was the gift of my dear friend C who visits on Thursday.

C also helped me pick up and categorize all the fallen books in my bedroom. Well, I made the decisions, she did the work. Three boxes sit on the piano bench ready to go to her yard sale, or to be sold on the internet or just donated to the Friends of the Library.

The weather has been so mixed this week that I have had the aches of post polio--imagine a headache that starts at your head and proceeds down your spine and into all your joints. Not fun. So I will be glad when the weather settles a bit more and winter is truly over and done (the flowers already having appeared on the land.)

Back to my cafepress templates and some designs for Mother's Day.

TGIF and good news!

Friday oh how I love you! Today I finally got the link to my niece Jenny's Pampered Chef site. This is good news to me as I have spent an overly large amount of my time trying to find her and not succeeding. The link will be in the links to the right as soon as I finish this post and can add it.

Pampered Chef is another direct marketing company like Mary Kay only selling kitchen products instead of personal care products. It looks like fun and the products are lovely--I have two bamboo spoons from Jenny's Mom's party. Bamboo is a beautiful material, very earth friendly for it is renewable and it even pleased me to see "made in China", for after all the bamboo grows there (and feeds the Pandas, too.)

I hope to have a catalog party soon and I am excited for Jenny.

The Irises continue to produce new buds. There will have been a total of nine flowers so far. I don't know if the last flower that is blooming will produce another bud or not. They are so gorgeous and so much fun to watch.

I am looking forward to the weekend and tweaking my Etsy shop and cafepress store.

The Tax Man Cometh

I paid my property taxes online this morning. They have made this almost painless and seamless now that they take credit cards. The tax collector is actually a woman, tho so that makes the title of this post incorrect.

Anyway I was struck by the timing--five days before the Federal and State Income taxes are due. Does this make April the dreariest month of all?

Actually, I don't mind paying taxes. It is part of being a citizen in a democracy, after all. I do wish we could figure out better ways to allocate the tax money after we have paid it. The system of check boxes is one, "I want my taxes to be used for:", "I do not want my taxes to be used for:". It would add to the cost, of course, which would increase the taxes.

To a brighter subject. The irises have all re-bloomed. So there are three new flowers and one bud. That will make for a total of seven, a perfect number. Seven is the number of the gifts of the Holy Ghost (Spirit). I think I can use every one of them today as I go to battle the income tax forms. (It's the forms and the language of the instructions that makes the process so much of a penance. Of course, if I had done them earlier, they could have been part of my penance for Lent. As it is, I should stop procrastinating and just go do it.) Can't get away from those taxes, even though I am trying to so I guess it's time to make another cup of of coffee and just do them!