I have yellow crownbeard (Verbesina occidentalis) ringing 50 to 60 yards of the wildflower gardens. They grow high and sturdy with a unique rectangular stem.
They seem to be somewhat taking over but I really enjoy them. They are deer and weather resistant.The flowers are quite messy which fits my wildflower garden just fine.
We have had hosta around our house for over forty years. This season has been special because they have bloomed. That may sound weird but they have not bloomed for many years because no matter what steps I took my deer population has eaten them like salad. They eat the buds and the tasty leaves. This year I think the massive rains have made the blooms possible. Or it could be Deer Off spray or maybe even Uncle Ians Deep Repellant (dried coyote urine and blood meal). For whatever reason they have been left alone and are thriving.Here are some oldies called Big Daddy Hosta. I had forgotten how nice the blooms were.A Little Person's Garden View As a wee person, my imagination runs free, I peek through the window, many pixies I see, Spreading dust, like the dew from the trees, While fairies fly high and the flowers party! The gnomes are standing so tall and still, Between the Hostas, Iris, and the Daffodils, With bright sunshine beaming, from hill to hill, I would like to be outside, twirling like a windmill! Written: 6/27/16 © Submitted for Contest: Little People Sponsored By: Shadow HamiltonCopyright © Sarita Milliner | Year Posted 2016
A Little Person's Garden View
As a wee person, my imagination runs free,
I peek through the window, many pixies I see,
Spreading dust, like the dew from the trees,
While fairies fly high and the flowers party!
The gnomes are standing so tall and still,
Between the Hostas, Iris, and the Daffodils,
With bright sunshine beaming, from hill to hill,
I would like to be outside, twirling like a windmill!
Written: 6/27/16 ©
Submitted for Contest: Little People Sponsored By: Shadow Hamilton
Copyright © Sarita Milliner | Year Posted 2016
Looking out my window I saw this young buck in my neighbors garden. He said he wanted to swim in the pool but the gate was closed.
He and three friends wandered over to our meadow. He wanted to pose. He is growing an impressive rack.
Also watching the action -
The day lilies have arrived. They bloom for only one day but there are many of them. They speak for themselves.
We have a magnolia tree by our garage. It has been growing slowly for more than 45 years.
This year has been exceptional as the flowers have been blossoming for over a month. They start as a firm bud,which grows into a small blossom,producing a beautiful flower with a pleasing deep scent.And then we get more and more. In the fall the tree produces spectacular red seed balls.
this sheet of paper. -Thich Nhat Hanh
You were the shadows of a cloud crossing over a field of tulips.Before you became a cloud, you were an ocean, roiled and murmuring like a mouth.
You were the tears of a man who cried into a plaid handkerchief. You were the sky without a hat. Your heart puffed and flowered like sheets drying on a line.
And when you were a tree, you listened to the trees and the tree things trees told you. You were the wind in the wheels of a red bicycle. You were the spidery Maria tattooed on the hairless arm of a boy in downtown Houston
And when you opened your wings to wind, across the punched- tin skyYou were the rain rolling off the waxy leaves of a magnolia tree. A lock of straw-colored hair wedged between the mottled pages of a Victor Hugo novel. A crescent of soap. A spider the color of a fingernail. The black nets beneath the sea of olive trees. A skein of blue wool. A tea saucer wrapped in newspaper. An empty cracker tin. A bowl of blueberries in heavy cream. White wine in a green-stemmed glass.
above a prison, those condemned to death and those condemned to life
watched how smooth and sweet a white cloud glides.
Confessions of a FanOur St Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup last night after 52 years of sometimes gut wrenching futility.I grew up as a sports fan in La Grange Illinois watching baseball on a ten inch TV. I would watch both the Cubs and the Whitesox. Most of my friends were Cub fans but I opted for the Brooklyn Dodgers because of their storied history. They lost me when they moved to Los Angeles so when I arrived in St Louis it was easy to fall in love with my new team, the Cardinals, because of their GasHouse Gang history and the fact that they were regular winners. They have won five World series Championships since I have come to town (1964,1967,1987, 2006, & 2011). I loved Sportsmans Park in north St Louis and have enjoyed two iterations of Busch Stadiums downtown.The year I came to town the St Louis Hawks won a National Basketball Association Championship (1958). The final game was played at the Kiel Center and the Hawks beat the Boston Celtics with Bob Petit scoring 50 points.In Chicago I had been a Chicago Bears fan so it was interesting when the Chicago Cardinals moved to St Louis. Bill Sheridan and I had season tickets but the St Louis Cardinals did not win an NFL championship and finally moved to Phoenix. The St Louis Rams arrived from Los Angeles and as The Greatest Show on Turf with Kurt Warner they won the Super Bowl NFL Championship in 2000.Their weasel owner moved them back to Los Angeles several years ago.In Chicago I was a Black Hawk fan and loved to watch hockey at the Chicago Stadium. When I moved to St Louis we had a minor league hockey team so I was excited when the NHL expanded from six to twelve teamsand the St Louis Blues started playing in 1967. That year they played in their first Stanley Cup Final. Bill Sheridan and I walked up to the ticket booth and got $15 tickets for the two games at the St Louis Arena. They lost in four straight games to the Montreal Canadians and but goalie, Glen Hall won the Con Smythe Trophy for MVP.After those first few years they have made the PlayOffs many times (over 40) but have never made it to the finals until this year. For many years we had two season tickets and I would go to the games with my son Gordon.But we never really had a championship calibre team until this year. You may know making the playoffswas dicey since we were in last place in early January. We got a new coach and a new goalie and we started winning games. Last night against all odds and against the hopes of the East coast broadcasting crew we soundly beat the heavily favored Boston Bruins 4-1 in Boston for our first ever Stanley Cup Championship.We are all elated and at the same time wondering if it really happened. It did and WE WON!All our St Louis teams have won championships. We are about to get a new Major League Soccer team. We'll se how long it takes them to win their title.
Canadian honkers love the easy access of our beach at the lake. Today a pair were shepherding four unfledged youngsters. They are not good posers.
They continued to surround them even when they hopped back into the lake.
Wild Blue Flax (Linum perenne lewisii) is common in Colorado and I have not seen it before in my wildflower
garden. It is also called prairie flax. It opens in the morning and is closed by the middle of the day.
My deer population love to eat the tender buds of my lilies. Since that is where the blossoms
originate that prevents them from flowering. I tried something different this year. I put the lily bulbs in a section of Black Eyed Susans. Asiatic lilies are smaller than Oriental lilies. They bloom earlier and have no fragrance.Here are some of my Asiatic lilies,
and one early Oriental lily.
Several years ago this hosemint showed up as an orphan. It must reproduce by seeding as it has shown up in the same garden in several areas. It has many names including Lemon Beebalm. When its leaves are rubbed
together it produces a lemon scent. It attracts bees and butterflies.
It is interesting to look at and is a great addition to flower arrangements.
White Deer
the acres and trick my eyes
snow-blind, they hide in plain sight,
stock-still in a drift.
Beneath the coarse surface
a chord stirs,
recessive pairs go back
to unearthing
a patch of horse-mint,
grazing in a neat cross-cut the wild
randomness of this place
where winter is the first to arrive
and the last to leave.
This is my favorite flower of the year so far. It is an exquisite whitespiderwort after the rain. You know they only last half a day.
It is with great pleasure that I introduce Big Boy, a new member of our family in the gnome garden. I was driving through St Clair Missouri when I saw him standing near the road. I stopped and fell in love. He was excited to find out that there would be a whole garden for him and many in a new extended family. When he first came on the scene he was rather drab.
But he cleaned up real nice and he is very enthusiastic about being in the garden. He is a very hard worker butmaybe a little too serious so far. I hope he will loosen up some in the future. We feel fortunate that he has joined us. Please welcome him.
Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) is one of my favorites.
Each bloom lasts half a day and then turns into a purple liquid drop. The next day there is a brand new bloom and this goes on for a month and a half.
Spiderwort
by Lola Haskins
each blue flower lives half a daythen becomes a purple teareach purple tear vanishesinto the riveron this bright spring afternoonour way is lined with bluepaddle gently such blossomswill not come againand breathe breathe all you can
