Seeing Red

Well, this morning's discovery about the flooding really did have me seeing a very frustrated shade of red for a while earlier. I've done about all I can do with the site, short of digging every plant out of there and buying a great truckload of dirt to create a truly raised bed.

That's just not in the cards now, so I have to hope that the sandy soil below helps whatever standing water that may collect to drain off slowly enough to benefit the plants, but fast enough to keep them from harm.

But the garden flooding wasn't the only thing driving my mood. I also find myself annoyed in the wake of yesterday's news that the California Supreme Court has overturned a ban on gay marriages. Not the sort of thing you'd expect would annoy me, and frankly, there's nothing I'd like to do more than celebrate 'til the cows (and the bears) come home.

But suddenly gay marriage may once again be THE big issue distracting voters in these last six months before the fall's election...and the idea of listening to a bunch of self-righteous people say all kinds of foul and untrue things about me and my people as if we weren't human or as deserving of equality as anyone else, as though we weren't even in the room to be offended...that prospect kind of turns my stomach and I'll be trying not to listen to very much of that.

Because I really want to be happy about this step (even as I wonder if we're sidetracking the rights of single gay people by focusing so strongly on the right to marry)...so I'll try having a little more faith in my fellow Americans that they are as fed up with the way things have been going in this country the last eight years...and that they won't let themselves get distracted by the fear-mongering of religious types.

And really, at the heart of all my anger this morning was this whole business of nicotine withdrawal. It really is amazing, even as someone who loves and respects plants and their abilities, how this demon weed gets under your skin and plays with your brain (although I know it's as much a product of all the added chemicals and such).

Anyway, as I slapped on a new nicotine patch and prepared to leave for work, I saw that the morning's flood waters were beginning to recede some.

As the sun came out this afternoon and helped to dry up the rest of it, I got to thinking that I could turn the whole business of seeing red into something positive.


So...as I made my way home from work, I arranged my route to capture some lovely red flowers I've been seeing around lately...like the crab-apple trees above, on the road to Rock Harbor...and this flowering quince along the same stretch of road.

I'm stretching the red portion of the color wheel to include these dark pink dicentrus, another variety of bleeding heart, which I wanted to share with Butch, who's got a much paler shade blooming in his yard.

They're a little red...but moreso if you're wearing my smoke-tinted sunglasses, I confess.

As I returned to Harwich, there were these red azaleas in front of the bank. The late day sun was a little strong on them, but I still think this picture turned out okay.

I hope the same can be said of everyone else's Saturday!

Orioles Return

I was giving the garden a little attention this morning when I heard a familiar voice behind me. I knew it was about the time the orioles would be returning, but I didn't know if I should expect them here in this neighborhood. But there he was, a flash of orange, sitting up there singing to let us all know he had arrived. I'll have to pick up an orange or two to cut up and leave out for his enjoyment and use in courting.


I remember watching the oriole couples frolicking in the apple blossoms in Eastham. As it turns out, the apple tree outside the kitchen window is about to burst into flower, so we might be in for a similar show this year and right outside the window. The cat will have a happy stroke.

The larger, earlier purple tulips are starting to show a little signs of wear, but the smaller ones which have appeared alongside the first flowers are looking quite enjoyable.

I wouldn't mind if they all came up this size. Perhaps that's something I can look forward to as the bulb ages.

I hope you all will indulge me another long lingering gaze at these delightful bleeding heart blossoms. It's been so long since I've had one of these around. Does anyone else see Marlo Thomas as That Girl (but with pink hair) in these pendant little hearts?

Our neighbors to the west are almost never over there, so the grass and other denizens of the green are having their way with the backyard. Here's the view through a break in our own fence. It's a delightful sort of chaos that happens when plants get their way, isn't it?

That little splash of purple by the break in the fence is more money plant--it really does seed itself in everywhere. Oh, and I also took this photo to show you all the LEAVES which have suddenly appeared in the treetops all around!

Every spring this happens. Meteorologists apparently love to f*ck with me. They tell me we've got four out of five days coming full of rain and so I leave the hose and watering can aside for other pursuits. And then the storm changes track, or breaks up over Cape Cod Bay...and there's my garden, unwatered.

This week, it was supposed to rain Monday and Tuesday...and we didn't see Drop One of that. The storm moved out to sea, so all we got was some serious wind. And in a week where tropical cyclones and earthquakes have killed hundreds of thousands of people in other parts of the world, how do I find it in me to complain about a sunny day?

It hadn't been that warm, so I really wasn't too worried about watering...especially since it was still going to rain on Thursday and Friday. Now that schedule's been revised, too, with rain currently predicted/guessed at to show up Friday and last the weekend.

I'll be watering things in the morning, just to guarantee it.

Check out these crazy clouds over our street tonight. I swear I didn't photoshop them, but doesn't it look like the winds just going in all different directions?

Sunday Garden Report

Here's those orange tulips soaking up the wonderful and warm sunshine we were blessed with today.

I enjoyed taking a cup of coffee out front in the warm early light to have a nice close look at the border, to see the progress of everything.

Just about every plant out there has gotten a bit taller, or sent out a second level of leaves.

But the biggest news, for me anyway, is the appearance of the first lilies thrusting their way out of the ground.

To the right is an asiatic lily stem. I actually spotted this one in the rain the other day, but wasn't able to get a proper photo until this morning. Since it was, I suspect (I didn't take notes while I was moving everything, so I can't recall with certainty how many other lilies made the move from Eastham), part of the bag of mixed lilies I planted earlier, I won't venture a guess about it's color or habit--that's just one of the things to look forward to over the next two months.

This one below, however, I know very well. It just appeared for the first time this morning and it is the Casa Blanca lily, oriental in variety (which means it blooms a little later, the flowers are larger...and the scent is exquisite.). This is one of my favorite flowers of the whole summer, and so I had carefully made note of where I planted this one during the garden move last fall.


Elsewhere, all the peony plants are coming along nicely, the larger ones already a foot tall or better. And today, I spotted the first tiny buds on a few of them!!

For a week or so now, I've been trying to get a good shot of the bleeding heart in it's setting, to show you how large it is, and how nicely it gets along with its neighbors.

There's an understory of purple and white violets, the single white daffodil I showed you the other day, and further away are the purple blossoms of money plant. Way in the distance against the fence, is evidence that--when I refer to my Great Big Hoe--I really do mean a piece of garden equipment.


Once my review of the troops was complete, I turned my attention to the morning glory seedlings inside. As most of them are already showing their third leaf--the first true one--I wanted to carefully get them into larger pots, since I don't anticipate putting them into the ground before Memorial Day weekend. I think eight out of a possible thirteen is pretty reasonable, as indoor amateur germination goes.

To make sure I've got a great crop of them this summer, tonight I planted another twenty-four of them!!

I leave you tonight with another look at the much-discussed slender speedwell. Say what else you like about it, the tiny flowers are terrific.

Cinco

An old friend surprised me this spring. This is ajuga, which I am happy to say hitched a ride with this clump of shasta daisies. Also known as carpet bugle, this plants diminutive flower spires stand three or four inches tall. And just look at the deep blue of those flowers!

I'm pleased to see it's happy in this location, which I can tell by the way it has already put a finger or two of a runner out into the garden bed. Ajuga's a nice ground cover that plays fairly well with others. I like the idea of a little colony of them filling in some of the space between other plants, particularly around the various bulbs I've already planted.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, I also spotted one of the neighborhood cats perched on the roof of the neighboring house. I imagine it must've been nice and warm up there as the sun worked its way through some clouds lingering from the weekend.


This single cream- colored daffodil has also appeared alongside the house by the old hyacinths and the money plant.

It was nodding on the breeze quite a bit this morning, which I offer by way of explanation that the photo isn't more sharply focussed.

Right nearby, the bleeding heart has reached a height of about two feet or so, and lots of sprays of those special blossoms have sprung out on all sides now.


Outside the restaurant, the single pink tulip I photographed last week has a number of companions now, who were all on their best show this afternoon as the bright sunshine returned.



By this point in the afternoon (around 4 pm), our temperatures had climbed back up into the high 50s...with a forecast/promise of cracking into the 60s tomorrow.


Across the path, a quartet of red tulips added to the show.


I was at work a bit later than I'd anticipated, but I still got out in time to catch this terrific sunset at Skaket Beach, before making my way home for the evening stroll around the Hood with My Girl.

By the way, I did get to the Brewster in Bloom parade on Sunday, and it was awfully fun, if you are a fan of parades(which I am). I'm working on a presentation of some of that for you all, but it's taking a little longer than anticipated. Soon...

Sunday Garden Report

Off the back porch, this bleeding heart plant just gets prettier every day. I've always enjoyed the uniqueness of this particular plant, the sentimental look of those dangling hearts.

The bleeding heart is joined in that location by an assort ment of older hyacinths.


There are fewer flowers on these than the younger, pink ones out front, but these blossoms are considerably larger and just as sweetly scented.

Here, it is complimented by the purple-blue flowers of money plant, so named for the silver dollar seedpods it forms as summer comes on. It's also known as lunaria, or moonwort...or honesty. Whatever the name, I like the simplicity of those four-petal blossoms. And those seedpods are pretty cool, too.

The star-gazing last night was phenomenal. To the east, some low clouds were backlit by the late-rising moon. But overhead and in all other directions, the skies were crystal clear. It was chilly, to be sure, but it was one of those nights when you can see the pulse of the stars' light and really understand what the first person meant who suggested that a star could twinkle. I even saw a shooting star, which is always sort of thrilling.

Clouds moved in during the night, however, and this morning there was a dull grayness to the sky. I was pleased to see that we are very likely (100% chance, they say, which sounds like a guarantee to me) to have rain tomorrow and Tuesday, which isn't a bad thing at all. Watering with a hose just isn't the same as the rain that falls from the sky.

April showers, after all.

To take advantage of that forth coming natural boon, I planted some white and purple allyssum seedlings this morning. I've put them along the outer edges of the front garden, being careful to work between the just-emerging allyssum seedlings I scattered seed for a while back. Eventually, they should all grow together and create nice drifts of tiny sweet blossoms to carpet the front edges of the bed.

It was very quiet this morning, save for the insistant clucks and tuts I've come to expect from the blackbirds in advance of weather changes. There was a brief outburst of activity from the house sparrows, and the distant sounds of other birds but it was generally still.

In the distance was a dull roaring sound which is easily mistaken for the sounds of distant traffic. Only after a while do you realize that it's actually the ocean. Even after ten years, this never fails to surprise and delight me.

(An unrelated sidenote here: speaking of delight, Amy Lemen, where are you? I hope you Google yourself and find this blogpost. I miss you!)


There was a brief shower this afternoon (in Orleans, anyway...) and some of the brighter stars are still visible through the thin cloud cover overhead tonight. Our temperature's at 45 now, which is actually the warmest it's been all day.


Meanwhile, another variety of cherry tree has begun blooming outside of work.

Seeds For Tomorrow

Mother Nature's being quite kind to us this week, a nice payback for those cold gray days of winter.

Yesterday before work, I boiled down some jalapenos to make a spicy spray to coat the remaining crocuses, daffodils and such, in hopes of warding off the Nibblers, whomever they may be. Before applying that, I watered the garden border for the first time this spring...since its suddenly been a little while since it rained last.

I also spread some allyssum seeds along the front edges of the the border and got those watered in. I will probably get a few seedlings at the nursery, anyway, 'cause I just don't think you can have enough of the stuff. But, I also used the allyssum seeds primarily around where the crocuses have come, as a way of marking their location for my reference later in the season...like when I want to plant other bulbs in the same area.

Here's the Little King lounging in the laundry room yesterday. I sort of set this up, by putting an old throw pillow in my now- chocolate-free Easter basket.

It didn't take him long at all to find the comfort in it. The laundry room has many windows, so its a favorite bird watching spot for Agent LaChat.

I've recently spotted (as I'm sure he has, as well)the first goldfinches of the season out in the apple tree, and hope to also hang out some orange halves, as the orioles should be arriving shortly. And this weekend I really MUST get that big bird bath set up.


Today was a day off, and also reason for cele bration as we had a handyman visit this morning to replace the defective valve which decides when and if we get hot water. Since it has recently been deciding against our having hot water, this is terribly good news.

As a bonus, I spent the day with Mom and Dad, touring around Route 28, visiting various stores and shops, having lunch and enjoying one another's company some more.

As a garden-warming present, they bought me a new watering can and some packets of seeds for the season ahead. I also priced soaker hoses at assorted locations and found one for $6.99 at the Christmas Tree Shop(of course!), and also picked up a few more packets of seeds.

I'm waiting on the appearance of assorted lilies before I'll lay out the soaker hose, so I can arrange it properly without accidentally digging up anything important. I'm sure it'll be the most efficient way to keep this full-sun garden well-watered this summer.

As for those seeds, I'll be working with Morning Glories (in assorted colors), Bachelor Buttons (in what appears to be a matching color assortment), some California Giant Zinnias (the same species I photographed last fall in another gardener's plot), purple Cleome, some Seashell Cosmos, and also some German chamomile.

Most of these can be direct sown into the garden, but not for a while yet(last frost the last few years has come right around Memorial Day for us). I think I'll start some cleome seedlings to give some of them a headstart...and the same with the morning glories. In advance of that, and a new planting of sunflower seeds I've got in mind, I sat down tonight and made two new trays full of paper pots, which I'll get planted in the next day or so.

I've also now transplanted all the sunflower seedlings from the first planting into larger pots and my south-facing bedroom window is becoming quite full.

Oh, check this out:

This fabulous blossom caught my eye yesterday morning in the bleeding heart bush.

It took only a split-second to realize this was no bleeding heart flower, though, but a clever ruse planted by my Loving Other Half as a surprise. His long history of practical jokes includes having wired fake flowers onto roses finished blooming to fool Provincetown tourists, back when he lived on Commercial Street, so I wasn't a bit surprised. But I did get a good laugh...and those are always welcome in the garden.

You can see there'll be no shortage of real bleeding heart blooms in a very short time, from all the bud clusters pinking up. For now, though, I've left this Fool's Flower of April to play with anyone else who happens by.

Rainy Morning

It's been no secret (though I've tried not to make too much of it here) that our latest move has left me a little dis couraged.

Winter has no doubt played its role to some extent, even though we've not had the extremes of snow and cold and great duration thereof that I see and hear of in others lives. It's the grayness of the days, really. I need some more sunlight!

It's still darned chilly here, but I am finding encouragement in the gardens, what with things beginning to green up and little shoots of new bulbs beginning to spring up here and there. And of course, the new property comes with surprises of it's own, like the cluster of bleeding heart foliage I found near the other day's hyacinth discovery!

It was a rainy morning here, pretty intensely so, so this photo was my only effort at doing much of anything outside. Things dried out a bit for the afternoon, and on the way home, I had a chance to prove my recent theory about the birds who live in the plantings of our local grocery store: they don't seem to care much that I'm photographing them...as opposed to the guys in our yard, who all scatter at the first sound of the camera being turned on (why DO digital cameras have to make noises, eh?).

After searching through my field guide, I've figured out these are house sparrows.