Sunday, June 29, 2008

Last Sunday in June


Another daylily country heard from this morning, as this one opened amidst a jumble of curly grass to the right and rudbeckia to the left (and pansies and allyssum all around). It seemed to me it has a little more red in it than the others, and is about half the height of those other orange guys.

I did welcome some new daylilies to the fold last fall (divisions from a friends renovated garden) without having seen them in bloom. I wonder if this is one of those.

This here pot gnome is the reason I was so happy to find those tiny hens and chicks yesterday. The pots he holds are big enough, but still pretty small, and so something with an alpine background was called for. I hope these guys will do nicely in his embrace.

Last night's weeding opened up a few spots in the border, so I already knew where I was going to be siting the marine heliotrope plants before I grabbed hold of my trowel this morning.

I also finally planted out that last wave of morning glories, putting a few near the base of the lamp post. I figure they can hitch a ride in the clematis vines this season, since they are already a tangled mess...and I'll sort it all out come fall.


I also dug up and relocated a few of the seedlings which are now large enough to cope with such activity. In the case of just about every kind of seed I'd sown, there were healthy looking plants too close together. So I pried loose some cosmos, or some bachelor buttons and moved them around to different locations, watering in well when I'd finished.

I also potted up the fuschia I mentioned yesterday, and a lantana I forgot to. Those are both in hanging baskets on the front of the house, where I expect they will do very well. I also scattered still a little more allyssum seed along the margins of the lamp post garden and planted a pack of Four O'Clocks, which are among Granny's favorites.

Sometimes it seems that she's on the mend, but other times her recovery seems a little tougher going, and of course, it's hard to be sure of what's really happening at such a distance. Still, I hope to talk with her soon and perhaps that will shed some light...and maybe I can get some advice about those four o'clocks.

I learned this week that I have possibly been doing myself and others I know a disservice all these years. I had always heard that yellow roses signified Friendship. But in that book I was talking about the other day, as well as Love in the Time of Cholera, I have read that yellow roses signify Jealousy...which was never my intention.

Oh, dear, what a confusing world of flowers and love it is, eh? I think that's the Chrysler tea rose with it's first yellow bud, and a host of others following shortly after. If so, it has apparently somehow lost its metal tag in the move.

There's a fifty percent chance of showers for us tonight, though so far nothing has materialized. This storm, seen over Cape Cod Bay from Rock Harbor late this afternoon, seemed to be a localized affair, as there were a few spatters of rain on my windshield as I left town, but I seemed to drive out of it.

Dogs Walk. Boats Return. Tide Rising.


Here's one of those heliotrope plants, making a nice pre-Fourth of July display of patriotism in its new location.

Of course a bluer tone would be more ideal, but the white centers of those tiny purple flowers do approximate the whole starry field thing nicely, don't they?


Once the planting and watering was complete this morning, I rounded up the appropriate hardware to get the new flags added to the fence, just in time for celebrations of Pride.

Of course, there was no parade in our neighborhood, per se, just the usual assortment of dog walkers and Big Wheels. But I celebrate in my own quiet way...and I'm glad to know that the next time I go looking for a Rainbow Flag, I won't have to look any further than my own front yard.

For those of you rolling your eyes and grunting at the whole business of gay pride parades, please, let me encourage you strenuously to check out Joe.My.God's take on that whole attitude. If you will.

To my gay, lesbian, transgender friends and our friends(and Dorothy's)and supportive families, near and far, hither and yon, up and down, left and right and wherever else you may be (we don't need all the details), Happy Pride!

Celebrate wisely, but do celebrate!

13 comments:

dykewife said...

i was always told that yellow roses meant betrayal, or infidelity. i can't remember who it was who said that, but they said that if your husband brings you yellow roses chances are he's having an affair.

weird, huh?

Butch said...

Happy Pride Month to you both!! Your yard and the flowers are very nice. The colours are so rich. I also like your wee Gnome. Under your lanterns, you should put a few more throughout your garden.;-)

Greg said...

Dykewife, I suppose it depends on the florist you go to and whatever scattered bit of lore you know or have been told. As if there wasn't enough to ponder about why someone may've given you a bouquet, those silly Victorians had to go and make it so much more complicated.

Butch, I do have a few more gnomes here and there, though they are mostly in the backyard. Perhaps I'll move them around some!

I hope you enjoyed the bay shots, which I took with you and your new outlook in mind.

Unknown said...

I think I would be tempted, if I lived near you, to occasionally move your gnome to various places within your yard. :) HAHAHAHA! :)

Greg said...

You think you would be tempted?! Ha ha...I know you would be...but I also know that this little pot gnome is made of concrete and heavier than he appears!

Java said...

So glad you got your flag up. Lovely flowers today, dear.

Jess said...

I think we may just show up on your doorstep one of these days! What a lovely world you live in!

Oh, and Happy Pride!

Greg said...

Thanks, Java!!

Jess, that'd be great, but good luck finding "Not Wisteria Lane" on the map--email me for directions!

Jess said...

Actually, I did think of that, but asking you to send the address in that same comment would have killed the cuteness of it. After all, I'm all about the cuteness. ;)

Greg said...

Oh, you are, Jess, aren't you? Still, when you're coming to the Cape, let me know!! (Although I should warn you, though the roads are wider, some of the cows here have licenses!)

Anonymous said...

I could NEVER see you using yellow roses to signify jealousy. The rainbow flags add a nice dash of color along the fence line. Happy Pride to you as well!

Sh@ney said...

My sister & her husband had their gnome stolen a few years back and they started getting postcards in the mail from him (the gnome). this went on for about 18 months and then finally at a party, the perps confessed and they finally got their garden friend back...LOL

It was hilarious. They had no idea who took it.

Great to see your pride flags out front. I would fear to do that here, this is a very non accepting neighbourhood I live it. I need to move.

lostlandscape said...

Your yard looked really festive!

I'll have to start getting into the Pride mood but I still have more than a couple weeks to prepare--San Diego's is pretty much at the end of the LA/SF/Long Beach season so that a total Pride junkie can go to every one. That'd be a bit much for me, but it's always great to see the positive energy that comes out in force. This year we have even more to celebrate, with our state Supreme Court declaring bans against same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

Thanks for sharing your pictures and getting the rest of us into a prideful state of mind!