Saturday, September 8, 2012


This is the first year that I have had four-o'clocks go to bloom
You have to grow them by seed
and every year something happens to them
last year I nurtured a few surviving seedlings
and then! the landscaper pulled them out
thinking them weeds
boo hoo
So this year I started them in pots
and then with the hot weather I left them there
and woo hoo...they continued to grow
and now I have about four plants all blooming in reds and yellow
These are a childhood plant....my father loved them..he threw seeds
in the ground every year (he was not a gardener)....and they grew
He said they were the only flowers he remembers seeing
growing up in a rough neighborhood on the west side of Chicago
So these are "father" plants to me.......and now this year...flowers


I just love this aging fairy standing fast in the flower bed


and this morning I spotted Happy Jack squirrel
actually foraging for food
he found an alder cone
 


I told you the vines are taking over the castle


and this purple flower is a weed...of which I do not know its name
it has a pungent smell when touched
and I rather like it
in small amounts, of course
 


and asters...glorious asters
and sweet autumn clematis..
sigh

Joe pye weed...he struggled this year
and I think he just gave up and went to seed
to get it over with
I understand this attitude, Joe

but look at the hanging bag of petunias...they're
still hanging in there....
 
 
 
The morning air was  cool and refreshing
and the crickets quietly sang in the grass
and the grass squished a bit under my feet, due to the rain yesterday
and poor drainage.......
I wandered around the garden looking and observing
a fabulous morning activity
I am filled with gratitude for all of this privilege given me
in this plot of land
my....  Open Bar of Joy

19 comments:

  1. Such a beautiful post, Suz---I haven't had luck with the 4-o'clocks yet; my sister grows them every year and they delight me with their colors. Your gardens fill me with peace and serenity.

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    Replies
    1. ANg..WHAT'S WITH THOSE FOUR OCLOCKS?
      Why are they so hard to grow...
      my father just tossed seeds and most times they would reseed.....what???
      They are such a beautiful plant..almost bush like
      and ...when I was a kid...I loved collecting the seeds

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  2. I can surely see why you love your garden so. It's beautiful. I love your father's four-o'clocks. They're so lovely and sentimental.
    Stay in the garden, my dear. It is the strength that gets us through.

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    Replies
    1. oh they are indeed...as are marigolds to me...grandfather flower
      I am feeling pretty good lately....must be that graveyard and the 4 o'clocks....
      ps...one cemetary over is where the wee one is buried.....I thought of her all the way home...

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  3. I've never seen 4 O'Clocks! They're lovely and the pic is great. You have a beautiful garden and I so relate to the early morning stroll.....

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    Replies
    1. Oh you are in for a treat...they are gorgeous and bush like....they open around 4 oclock...hee hee
      little trumpets.....oh I wish time would stand still at morning...early morning.....

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  4. celebrating your fatherflowers with you
    and the deepening shades
    in your summer turning autumn garden:)
    -Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ohh....yes season time marches on....
      I just read a thing....time doesn't march on...we do
      how about that one to think about
      hugs to you dear autumn buddy

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  5. So much to love in this post, but I especially love your worn fairy. She is wonderful! Two things I see that I think I have, too. Is that Virginia Creeper - the vine? My husband has never forgiven me for digging it out of the woods and placing it so it will grow on the house. It leaves little "fingers" attached and the Japanese Beetles devour it and leave just the veins. I've seen it in other's gardens and it turns a beautiful red, but mine doesn't. I also have a wild Autumn Clematis that I've not been able to get trained anywhere. It would be so pretty!

    Thank you SO much for you very kind and encouraging words! I think you're right, we are a lot alike! I love your blog, too. It's funny, we both used "boo-hoo" in our September 8 post:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my fairy...my husband actually spent 175 dollars on her around 15 years ago.....I still don't know what possesed him to let go of that kind of cash...for the garden....he doesn't even like gardening....but he bought her for me.....and she has aged...she used to hold a shell...blowing into it...ah she was gorgeous
      I call the vine woodbine...and it does turn red...I love it...but IT loves the house
      and a grapevine has snuck in there...making my life miserable...I have to pull it off of the house every year...and this year there is LARGE wasp nest....ouch
      My daughter got me into that clematis..hers grows on a wooden fence..it is gorgeous...like snow
      mine is wild and falling over...I have to get a better structure for it...
      yep..I confess...I boo hoo alot...hee hee
      that too

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  6. Things are getting out of control over there.....and I love the look. Our place is pretty savage as well. I don't want mosquito bites right now so I haven't been out there. The plants outside our window make our desert garden look like a green forest. Seriously. We were laughing today as we ate breakfast in the dining room table. Such a bizarre sight. I just wish the bugs would go away. My body hasn't recovered from the last attack.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. this year sucked in the garden...heat, bugs and poison ivy.....

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  7. 4-o-clocks? What are they, do they have another name?

    I've not been round the garden for a few days, you've inspired me.

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    Replies
    1. Friko...Mirabilis Jalapa...Marvel of Peru, Beauty of the Night...they are tuberous and grow bushlike

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  8. I love that fairy too...you know I do. Fairy dust. Love that purple aster...what a purple! And oh! Four O'Clocks. I have always wanted them. My aunt and uncle had them in their country garden when i was a kid. memories.....

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  9. Oh...and i found your other post about the special gift today. xox

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    Replies
    1. what did Rich say about another mouth to feed?

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