Signs of Life

Spring, again. Were it less than twelve months since the last time we saw green shoots pushing up through winter dirt, would we be as delighted? Another instance of the human psyche and the earth's cycles working in perfectly-evolved harmony.

First to bloom, as usual, is the ground ivy, generally considered a weed. For a pest, it's pretty.















Also making an appearance, a few crocuses (croci?). I just learned that saffron is actually crocus pollen. However, apparently it's the pollen of the fall crocus. I think the pollen of spring crocuses may be toxic. I'm not going to test this theory myself, however.















The hollyhock emerges.















Also, some tulips.



















And daffodils, and hiacynth.





























And the sedum. It starts out so sweet-looking! By late summer, it's all bulked up.
















Signs of trouble: all those pods are morning glory seed pods. All those black specks are morning glory seeds.















I'm tempted to bring out the shop vac and deal with them once and for all. Hmmm ...
















photo courtesy of Pacific County Historical Society and Museum

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Hollyhocks at Last!

At last, I get to see what a hollyhock is all about. It's blooming!

[Click on any image for a magnified view.]




































So far, I haven't noticed any scent. But they are lovely to look at.


The reliable coneflowers are also blooming, in their reliable way. As summer goes on, they get a little scraggly, but now they are crisp and lovely.





































Mystery plant no longer a mystery!


















It has become obvious, at last, what this plant is. A globe thistle. Of course. I vaguely remember ordering it, thinking the round heads would complement the allium seed heads. Right now there is only one allium seed head, being swallowed up by the ever-shaggier fountain grass.


















Maybe next year, the effect will be more complete.



Jack's beanstalk?



















Only if Jack would accept a morning glory as his stairway to heaven.


A surprise

I used to have a few mallow plants (malva) in the back where the hollyhock is, but every year they were decimated by rust, an orange-brown fungus. So I gave up on them. However, when I saw this one volunteer making a go of it, I left it. So far, no rust. It chose a lousy spot, just outside the edging of one of the beds, and it may not survive the laying of new pavers currently in progress (see next post). So enjoy it while it's here.



















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Sunny morning after rain

Though presumably I have more important things to do, the sun was shining and I just had to go out and take a few photos. And I just had to post them. Forgive me. I promise to get to work soon.

[Click on any photo for a magnified view.]

More columbine in bloom.

It's interesting trying to photograph things in the garden as I really see them. The camera sees too much. When I look at this spot through my eyes (and mind and heart) ...













... I don't see the mess of dark fencing against the gray rooftop of the garage below. (The blocks here are terraced, so the back neighbors are below us.) I don't see the chain link fence. I see the glowing petals, the delicate tails of the columbine. Getting up close and managing the background help, even if it does mean twisting myself into some weird, barely-balanced positions. Here the camera's image is more along the lines of what I see:































It's all very interesting, at least to me!




A moment for poetry.

Flower, bee, ant, dew ... didn't Issa write a haiku about that? Or maybe I'm thinking of Emily Dickinson.





















Bee, oh bee,
how do you do
that bee thing
that you do?






Mystery plant #1.

This plant has some distinctive characteristics that should make it easy to identify. But I am still stumped. If you are having one of those aha! moments, please share. Thank you.
































About which I will have more to say later.

This is lamium.













It's very pretty, it has very pretty flowers and the leaves have an interesting scent. Also known as spotted deadnettle. I will have more to say about lamium later (see under "spready").


What happens when you rake up a mess of fallen leaves, twigs, and scattered dirt, which happens to contain seeds from last year's morning glory vine, and let it mellow in the rain for a while? This is what happens.

















I will have more to say about morning glory later (see under "spready," "tenacious," "dear but only to a point").



A lady at her leisure.

The sun feels good to us earthlings.

Warm spot No.1.













Warm spot No. 2.




















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