Palm Sunday Surprise

Well, this is a little more like it!!

The African violet at my bedroom window surprised me with a few delicate blossoms this morning. I had hoped to see some flowers here soon, as the plant's been growing nicely over the winter. I just didn't think they'd come so soon! Yay...

Behold, the miracle! Inside this wierd looking husk lies all you need for some of the most fantastic flowers possible. Just add dirt and water.

I got a five pack of assorted lilies at the Christmas Tree Shop recently for pretty cheap. Especially since this particular five-pack had six bulbs in it! The last one was a little small...so I'll keep my expectations low.

But I remain excited about the bonus and look forward to seeing what colors these will be. As far as I'm concerned, you can't beat lilies for adding some spots of random fabulousness in a border garden.


And it was fun to get out there and dig a few holes in the ground. It wasn't nearly as soppy as I thought it would be with the recent rain, so the drainage seems pretty good, save one patch of clay pretty far down the fence.

I'd already chosen things from the old place which had thrived in similar conditions to plant at that end...so perhaps all will be well.

I also found, during the Move, a packet of sweet pea seeds which Mom and Dad brought me from their trip to England.

They're a few years old, as they'd been misplaced during a previous Move, but I planted a bunch of them just the same, around the fence posts. I have a good feeling about them and it's the right time of year for planting.

If they germinate, I'll make some string trellaces for them to clamber on.

More bits of green are appearing here and there...like these chrysanthemums. I can't be sure, as things got a little mixed up during transition, but I think these are the imperial mums which joined the family last year.

A TECHNICAL NOTE: It's amazing how time flies. As of this entry, I'll have posted to this blog 1316 times since I started in April of 2005. I know this because I realized recently that there hadn't been the option for post tags back when I started and so most of my entries don't have them.

I spent some time today going back and adding tags to about two hundred of the earliest posts. Most of those are just pictures, but still, it will be great to have them all cross-referenced. For example, click on the tag "lilies" and see what you get!

Imperial chrysanthemum in full bloom.

The Imperial Chrysanthemum

As a writer (tho I feel not an especially good one lately), I'm all about the stories. I'm a little jealous of friends and/or fellow bloggers who have plants which can tell stories of their pasts, plants which have been handed down through families and friends.

Here, however, is such a story. I am told that the chrysanthemum below is among the offspring of a chrysanthemum which served as the Imperial Crest of the Japanese Emperor Hirohito. For a time, it was grown exclusively in the Imperial Palace.

As the story goes, as the final days of World War II wound down with Japan's surrender, there was an American G.I. stationed at the palace, who was also a gardener. Before returning to the states, he collected a division from the palace garden and brought it home to his cottage in Chatham, where it thrived.

Last spring, the current tender of that cottage and garden brought me a division of the Imperial Chrysanthemum, as thanks for some work we did together. And today, it's blooming! Thanks, Chuck!!

I look forward to watching this plant grow over the years and providing more than this year's single blossom, though it is no less beautiful for its loneliness. I can't, however, begin to match the life it might've known in Japan.

For a little more about what its life might've been like, I turn your attention to the New York Botanical Garden, where the annual Kiku (Japanese chrysanthemum) show is poised to begin. There's a great video about the extreme techniques and care these plants receive throughout the year, to prepare them for a pretty incredible autumn display.

With so many scrub pines and oak trees on the Cape, our fall foliage viewing opportun ities are some what abbre viated, which may be why we begrudgingly (but cautiously) share our lives with the pretty poison ivy.