Busy, Buzzing, Bees! Sort Of.

Mine! All mine!
(Click pictures to enlarge)

"The solitary Bee
Whose buzzing was the only sound of life,
Flew there on restless wing,
Seeking in vain one blossom where to fix."
~ Robert Southey, Thalaba (bk. VI, st. 13)

One "busy" bee.

"How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower.
- Isaac Watts, Against Idleness

Drunk with nectar....languishing in the summer sun.

"Give and Take...
For to the bee a flower is a fountain if life
And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love
And to both, bee and flower,
the giving and the receiving is a need and an ecstasy."
~ Kahlil Gibran

"Busy as a bee" and how busy the bees have been this spring. We have all sizes from tiny little yellow fellows, all the way up to these giant bumble bees. They have latched on to the hyssops of blue and apricot (agastache), the lavender, daylilies, milkweed, black-eyed susan, and any other plant with anything that resembles a flower. Of course, the lavender and the bee balm (monarda) are the favorite. In fact, each bloom is often covered with two or three big bees at one time. I noticed that even at dusk when most insects are retreating for the night, these bees almost seemed to be in a bee-drunken stupor; settled down in between the blooms with wings folded, not moving even as the camera came to within inches of their heads. Yes, indeed... these two are drunk with delight. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't stay on the flowers all night.

We had many bees last summer as well, but it seems as if there are more this year. And yet, the black swallowtail and monarchs are still slow to lay eggs on the abundant milkweed and fennel. Could the bees be part of the reason?

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Saturday Photo Hunt ~ Busy (late)
Mellow Yellow Monday

Annuals: To Plant or Not To Plant, That Is The Question

Lobelia erinus (Blue Cascade) & Calibrachoa hybrid (Yellow)

"To analyze the charms of flowers is like dissecting music; it is one of those things which it is far better to enjoy, than to attempt to fully understand." ~ Henry T. Tuckerman.

I have never been a real fan of annuals; those flowers that do not survive the cooler zones of winter. I've never loved the cycle that the yard guy does in the front beds... spring brings the impatiens or vincas and fall brings the pansies. For one thing, the impatiens don't really love the sun that much and they don't seem to spread well. In Mississippi, our house had quite a few trees which made growing a good lawn a problem (St. Augustine was almost the only grass to grow under those pines), but the impatiens grew and spread, sometimes to three feet tall and a few plants would fill an entire square bed, hiding the boxwoods. Not here. They don't really start filling out -- if they survive the heat and my antipathy towards them -- until September or October when it finally begins to cool off and at their height of blooming, the yard guy comes along and rudely pulls them up. He replaces them with pansies. Now, I love pansies much more than the impatiens; still, while pansies may bloom her in winter, they are wimpy. They really don't like the cold that comes with snow and spend much of the winter looking wilted or frost bit. It really is the spring... usually here this includes late February and March, perhaps into April... where they are at their best. I have managed to nurse a few along in a pot on the deck, but now in June, even these are on their last leg and wobbling. In the front beds, the pansies only start looking really good and trying to spread when March gets here. And again, at the height of their beauty, they are snatched up and replaced in May. The endless cycle. It seems wrong. And so this is why I seldom plant annuals... at least knowingly.

When Stephen was here, he found this hanging basket of bright yellow million bells (I think a petunia relative), blue lobelia and (not pictured) red flowers (the name escapes me.. this happens more and more with each passing year.. though I doubt I ever knew the name of the red flowers). They are all annuals and won't make it until next summer, but I have to admit they are beautiful. Downside... must be watered every day and I mean, everyday. You cannot be two hours late before they start to wilt. It must be something about the planter they are in because I have a homemade basket of million bells and petunias that is not this sensitive.

I love to see the plants and don't mind pruning back or deadheading (except tickweed which is tedious), but I really like to plant only once and then watch as the little shoots and stems poke through the ground in spring again. I tend to look like a giant mudball when planting, not my favorite thing to be. So I tend to plant perennials. However, this year the monarch and black swallowtail have been slower to show up and my fennel is six feet tall, just waiting for some caterpillars and the milkweed overfloweth and the bees of all types are having orgies in the bee balm and lavender and agastache. So where are they? On the annuals. On this plant.

Black Swallowtail with red... verbena?

Perhaps I SHOULD plant a few more annuals... sigh.

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Mellow Yellow Monday
Ruby Tuesday

The Passing of Pansies

Perky pansies.... their last hurrah!

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember; and there is pansies, that's for thoughts." ~ Shakespeare, Hamlet

Creeping upward, slowly... cool day setbacks... but still warmer, each day a little bit... temperature marches slowly and then more quickly... instep with the humidity. Spring takes its time in getting the motor running but seems to rush headlong into the heat of Summer without a thought for those it leaves behind... the daffodils, tulips, iris and the pansies. Poor pansies... they tried to expand and flourish and flower and brighten up the late fall.. but the cold came too soon this year and they struggled. Spunky pansies.. called a winter flower but who can really like the snow or the cold...they try to look beautiful with wet leaves and flowers and ice and that white stuff, but they struggle. Still, in Spring, pansies perk up and lift their heads to the breezes. They call for the April rains and shine. It is in Spring that they show their stuff.... but Spring is too short and counted not by the days but by the temperatures. While the "time" of Summer does not arrive until June... the "heat" of summer... that which signals the roses and lilies and lantana to bloom... arrives in May. And just when the pansies have overcome the winter hardships and are at their brightest show.... it's over.... too much to bear.. the wilting heat... the flashy colors of summer. Perhaps if the pansy gave nectar to the bees or attracted the increasing number of butterflies... would her delicate petals stay just a little while longer? Poor pansies... already pulled up and replaced with summer annuals in the front beds... already removed from hanging baskets and most deck containers.... but, here... for another week perhaps... in a shaded area.. with slightly cooler temperatures... they can share space with roses and petunias and blanket flowers and growing sage and tomatoes.... just a little longer.

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Mellow Yellow Monday

Trees of the Season

Spring, daffodils bloom but the trees must wait....

"I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!" ~ John Muir

There is an order to the season... Spring really doesn't "spring" all at once. Each tree, each flower has its time of glory before its Creator. Crocus at the end of winter, then daffodil and weeping willow, the pink helicopter seeds of standard maple and the pale green new leaves of the birch... one after the other. Some with seeds arriving in tow with leaves, some with seeds that have to wait for fall. The last to leaf... usually the oak and crepe myrtle; the oak first pushing off brown dry dead leaves hoarded over winter to let the new green growth out and the crepe myrtle sprouting new growth below dead limb tips that should have been pruned in February. Each having a moment of splendor before shades of green deepen and blend with others in the the woods and forests and swamps.

Ornamental pear, flowers before leaves.. first in line for Spring.

"The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ornamental pear and plum have their finest moment with millions and billions of tiny white flowers that draw the season's first bees and shower the ground around their base with Spring snow.

Showy and loud, stately and proud, the rows of pear line boulevards and medians bring thoughts of white carriages and horses and fair tale princesses in pale blue sparkling dresses, rather than the reality of people in cars on their way to places unknown. Emerson was right.. how can we see the trees and not wonder more?

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Carmi's Theme ~ trees
Mellow Yellow Monday

Christmas In April

Christmas blooms in April. Yellow Christmas cactus.

"I've always thought my flowers had souls." ~ Myrtle Reed, Lavender and Old Lace

Mom brought this plant home over a year and a half ago, a yellow Christmas cactus. The unusual color with a tinge of peace at the base of each flower is nothing compared to the light that seems to glow from within. It bloomed a bit at Christmas but not with a spectacular number of blossoms. With the help of colder nights in the sunroom and increasing early morning sun from the east, it has been putting out buds and blooms for a month now... and I hope it continues until Easter. As always, that luminescent shine seems to pour forth from within the flower. It is so delicate and powerful at the same time. Where did she get this? At Sam's, along with her orchid... the one that bloomed for nine months straight, stopped for two months then started again and is still full of blooms four months later.

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Mellow Yellow Monday

Bashful

Bashful beauty broadcasts, " Surely Spring has sprung!"

"If one daffodil is worth a thousand pleasures, then one is too few." ~ William Wordsworth

I am reading a book... a small book.. actually, I've read it already but thought it good to go back through again. When I have finished a second time, I might post about it.. or I might simply keep it as my small treasure for just a bit to see where the journey goes... no, I won't keep it too close because a wonderful journey is even better when shared... but I did start. For now, this journey, this counting of gratitudes is in its infant stage and so my first ones are simple.. thunderstorms... we had our first today... and just the rumble of thunder said "Spring is here.... and right on cue." The yo-yo effect is slowly but surely ebbing away as the day and night time temperatures edge their way up. I don't think we will have any more freezing night temperatures... neither do the plants. Spring breezes... no longer howling around the roofline or clacking the bare tree limbs together... gentle but firm and warm with a hint of continuing cool around the edges...as I sat waiting for Mom at the doctor's office.. the soft breezes blew small white petals from the three large flowering pear trees and they floated to the ground like the winter snow. It had that "other worldly" effect.. you know, the one you feel and half expect to look up and see a golden carriage drawn by two snow white horses appear through the veil of falling petals...that effect. The tulip magnolias have bloomed and are shedding their pink petals in a carpet around their base...the buds so long in waiting and so short in staying after the opening. The same is so with our daffodils... no new ones planted, just the older bulbs well rested over winter. They opened a bit early as always and then had to brave the cold winds of early March... so this year, they are not pristine, a bit ragged and raw around the edges, but still... daffodils. One bulb managed, probably with inadvertent human help, to escape the flower bed and end up implanted in the yard. I remedied that... managed to extract it with bulb intact and placed it back among its siblings. This small variety, was hiding behind a larger yellow sister who is hogging all the attention with her big saturated golden locks... so I crept around and when she wasn't looking... I snapped the shot. Yes, one daffodil is worth many pleasures and much gratitude as well... this bashful beauty will go on my list.

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Mellow Yellow Monday

Somewhere Between the Fidelity Investments Commercial and the Wizard of Oz ~ Follow the Yellow Line

Follow the yellow line.... a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. August 2006.

"The cables that hold up (the Brooklyn Bridge) on big stone piers are beautiful and not hidden. It's metal in your face, taking traditional material and putting it to use in a way that you can see what it can do." ~ Alan Goodheart

I don't know what it is about my mind but sometimes the strangest thoughts break in and simply won't go away. In these pictures I see hot, sweltering, summer days in concrete and asphalt with no rain, no wind and no relief in sight. I see us, Nyssa and I on a great adventure and obviously with no higher order mental faculties functioning as we set out to walk back to Brooklyn from Manhattan, across the Brooklyn Bridge. Never mind the fact that once we made it to the Brooklyn side, it was still a long way to the apartment... and we had no idea as to where the nearest subway stop was.. we still set out. The walkway is down the center, room for walkers and bicycles... places to stop and rest and take in the sights along the way. Down below, the highway or road with yellow taxis and cars too numerous to count.

The Manhattan skyline behind us... we made it!

And what strange things pop into my head with this picture? For one, the green line in the Fidelity Investments commercial.... that keeps you on the straight road ahead.. or so they say. Follow the line.. follow the markings down the walkway... And the Wizard of Oz with the high pitched song of the Munchkins....

Follow the Yellow Brick Road. Follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Follow the Yellow Brick, Follow the Yellow Brick,
Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

We're off to see the Wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
You'll find he is a whiz of a Wiz! If ever a Wiz! there was.
If ever oh ever a Wiz! there was The Wizard of Oz is one because,
Because, because, because, because, because.
Because of the wonderful things he does.
We're off to see the Wizard. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
~ E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen

Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Sto-o-o-o-o-p! Stop the song in my head!!!!! Hmm. Maybe it will now be in your head....share the music, I say. Have a lovely Mellow Yellow Monday!

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Mellow Yellow Monday

The Mimic

"Why does this mimic mock me so?" said the tiny goldfinch to no one in particular.

"The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply that they have perfect faith, for faith is necessary to have wings." ~ James M. Barrie

"Why does this mimic mock me so?" said the tiny goldfinch to no one in particular. No one in particular replied, "He does not mock, he envies your wings; for see... he has none. This other bird, this twin, has your shape but no substance. He is simply black all over, no feather, no wings, no piercing eyes or bright colored down to attract others. He is flat, a cut out shape, a silhouette with no heart; stuck here, attached, grounded, bolted to this pole. This "bird" is no bird, just a decoration, but not even that... an emblem, a pale and weak copy of the real thing... of you, little goldfinch. You are the real art, the real decorative piece on this feeder... you have wings and feathers and a voice to sing. You don't have to compete with this fake fellow... just be yourself... sing, fluff up your tail, fly....live."

(end of post)
Carmi's Theme ~ "Doubles"
Mellow Yellow Monday

Field of Rainbows

Yearning for summer flowers. Norfolk Botanical Garden.

"Everything is both simpler than we can imagine, and more complicated that we can conceive." ~ Goethe

In the middle of winter with the bones of nature rattling in the preserve, I yearn for the gorgeous flowers of summer. The botanical garden here has a huge field of wildflowers with a white washed rough hewn fence that is beautiful in summer and fall. The colors of the rainbow shine out from the foliage and the mixture of reds and yellows as well as purple and white are just lovely. I know that the red flowers are bee balm or Monarda, but I'm not sure about the yellow or purple. Most of these are either perennials or annuals that reseed themselves and the garden suggests this as a "wild" natural yard alternative. If I had a huge yard with three or four acres of land, I would let one of them become a beautiful and wild, complex and simple field of rainbows like this.

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People Who Have The Most Birthdays Live The Longest

The "??th" anniversary of my 30th birthday.

"You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you're down there." ~ George Burns

I was trying to get through the anniversary of my birthday with as little fanfare as possible... then Judy spilled the beans on Facebook and floods of "happy birthdays" flowed in. So.. with much gratitude at such an outpouring of well wishes.. I say "Thank You!" You notice that I don't celebrate my birthday, but rather the anniversary of my birthday... my 30th birthday. I won't reveal what anniversary we are up to now, but let's just say that in a few, a very few years I will have to start celebrating the anniversary of the anniversary of my 30th birthday. Why 30th? Oh, I don't know.. it just seems like a nice round young number.

Laziness was the theme this year. I slept through half of it, but then my cousin David was on Skype the night before and we talked about everything for a very long time and it was almost time to get up before I finally went to bed and at my age, well.. you really need those eight hours of sleep. My brother called from Vienna, jet lagged from a 14 hour flight and with a cold from rabid fans in Japan. When Daisy and I finally dragged our ragged bodies down stairs I found two beautiful arrangements... one from my baby girl, Nyssa and one from my brother. Yellow roses and sunflowers to brighten the day from Stephen and an edible arrangement of the sweetest strawberries you have ever tasted in January, bananas dipped in white and milk chocolate, sweet red grapes and mellon balls. Oh, yes... flower shaped pineapple with melon ball centers as well and in such a cute teal green vase. I took pictures of the fruit and a good thing I did too... I ate them... all of them and they were great! The roses and sunflowers are still brightening the winter days... we had a bit of sun on Saturday but now clouds and rain are on the way for this evening. Still cold.

Mom decided to take Dad and I out to a fancy restaurant, The Vintage Tavern, for our birthday celebrations. You know it is a fancy restaurant when the first thing they do is exchange the perfectly good tan napkins for black napkins because you are wearing dark skirts or pants and you might get fuzz from the napkins on your clothes. It was an amazing meal... the menu is seasonal. So we had oyster stew, salad...watercress greens with fennel, sweet grapefruit centers, blood oranges and goat cheese with a creamy pomegranate dressing..broiled flounder over soft onion spoonbread with capers and cream sauce and sauteed mushrooms. At least, that is what I had. Dad had some of their gourmet mac 'n cheese as well and Mom had scallops, special cooked spinach and her scallops were over grits and with an orange puree that I think had carrot in it. We shared a creme brulee for desert. Mom paid the bill...she said this was Dad's birthday meal too, even though his will not be until February. We left the restaurant in what could only be described as somewhere between a waddle and a roll and I was still not hungry again well into Sunday afternoon.

So, thanks to all who helped make the "??" anniversary of my 30th birthday a raging success. At this age a success means you lived through it. Now, we continue... and another 12 months before we have to face it again.

"We've reached an age that when construction workers stare at us it's because they figure we might be considering a remodeling job." ~ Susan McClellan

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Cornflower Blue And A Bit Of Yellow Angst Too!

Cornflower blue.... a memory long gone and a hope of spring.
(Click pictures to enlarge)

"The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color.." ~ Hans Hofmann

The light blue petals of a cornflower aptly named in paint forever... cornflower blue. It seems like such a long time since these brought beauty to the garden and swayed so softly in the spring breezes. Here by the east coast ocean we typically have cooler weather in the months of October and November and then in the low 50's in December. But this year we have been hard pressed to make it out of the 30's or 40's for almost a month now. The north winds blow and their sound next to my bedroom window on the north side of the house is even more ominous sounding than the summer storms moving in from the south. I think the word "blustery" best fits the sound and the mood. But, for the first time in a week we have sun... real sun.. with shadows and with blue skies and no clouds. No fluffy clouds, storm clouds, gray clouds, snow clouds, rain clouds... just clear cornflower blue skies.

The mad goldfinch!

Everyone has seen the famous picture of The Mad Bluebird, but this little goldfinch seemed very out of sorts at our feeder this weekend. Perhaps it was the wind howling in the trees and setting off a sway in the feeder system that has made him a bit seasick. Perhaps it was the rain that was supposed to be snow but was rain with occasional large flakes of snow mixed in. Perhaps it was the empty feeders and that we had left a bit of a cake that had gone wrong in the baking, instead of the expected sunflower seed kernels; although I did see him pecking at and eating a bit of the orange slices in the cake. I do believe it might be that I was standing inside in the warm house, next to the roaring fire and pointing a huge black lens at him, while he was trying to eat. Some creatures just don't like to be disturbed and have no fear of telling you off about it. Hey! Little finch.. it is Christmas and I have left full feeders and special treats of fruit and nuts for your Christmas feast... so tell your friends (if you keep that face on, I'm not sure you have many) to come and have a wonderful dinner... just don't tell the hoards of blackbirds.

These are my pictures for Blue Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday this week.

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Blue Monday

Carmi's Theme ~ Favorites of the Year

Silence Is Golden Yellow

In a quiet world, the goldfinch sings. (Click picture to enlarge)

"In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence." ~ Robert Lynd

Have you ever been bombarded with sound from every direction.. phones ringing, the television going non-stop for hours, kitchen appliances whirring, even the sound of people talking? And have you noticed how many different warning beeps and buzzes there are in your house that constantly go off..... the refrigerator door is open too long, there is an error in the auto-program of the microwave, the oven has reached baking temperature, the washing machine has finished the cycle, someone has opened an outside door to the house, the coffee maker has finished brewing, the oven timer has one minute left in the baking time, the George Forman grill is at grilling temperature, the dishwasher is finished the cycle, someone has shut an outside door to the house, the microwave has finished heating your cup of coffee and wants you to take it out RIGHT NOW, the dryer has finished its cycle, the oven baking time is finished and that one slightly weak high pitched beeping sort of buzz that you look all over the place to find and never do... what IS that buzz? How on earth did we ever survive even a day before all these warning systems..... oh, yes.. microwaves didn't exist, we set separate mechanical timers for ovens that rang like bells, no one cared about the clothes washer and dryer times and simply listened for them to stop, coffee pots percolated and didn't drip-drop-steam-foam-or grind and no one really knew what the temperature of a fridge was without putting an actual thermometer in there... and I mean a real mercury thermometer.. not one of these digital things as they didn't exist either. We are not talking about the ear splitting, inner ear damaging noise of a rock concert... although they apparently had one on Saturday night at the high school football field that is about a mile and a half from our house as the crow flies and I could feel the thumping of the drums and hear the wailing of the voices inside the house... with the doors and windows shut tight. I can imagine what it must have been like in person, but this is not the noise of which I speak. This noise is simply the underlying current of sound that presses on us from every direction and for such endless periods of time that we tend to tune it out.....UNTIL IT STOPS. And when it does stop.... the residual hums and rings in your ears for minutes, perhaps hours.. in fact, it takes quite a while for you to realize that it is silent.

Is it mixing sensory perceptions to say that this bird in this setting "looks silent"? To me it does. It wasn't silent when I took the picture. I was in the sunroom and the fan was circulating and the air was running and the dog was sniffing all over the floor in hopes of finding a morsel of food. Outside, it was summer and the background noise of children laughing down the street, crickets chirping, lawn mowers running and even the wind blowing the wind chimes filled the air. But, the picture still "looks silent". If it were not for the green foliage of the sunflowers and the summer yellow mating color of the male goldfinch I would say this looked like a bird in winter and in my experience, the deepest silence comes at night... in the country... in winter with a blanket of white snow covering the ground. No one is moving or crunching in the snow. There is no wind. There is only sky and stars and the moon and the snow. All other silence seems relative.

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Mellow Yellow Little Fellow

Coneflower... just one left. (Click picture to enlarge)

"Form your own color concept of things in nature. I have no rules for fine color to give you." ~ John Sloan

This weekend, the winds have been cold and the temperatures flirting with freezing; still, here on the coast we have yet another reprieve. I did go ahead and bring in the boston fern sitting on the north porch, though I haven't repotted it nor cut it back for winter and it still languishes in the plastic pot that Stephen accidentally knocked down the steps and broke in pieces. The poor, and I use the word "poor" loosely, fern was unceremoniously stuffed back into the cracked pot and set right back where it started with ne'er so much as an added spoon of soil. Yet, it has flourished under the "benign neglect" plan. It sits in a corner where the rainwater runs off the copper roof and thus it is happy. It gets ample morning sun and is shaded from the heat of the afternoon sun and is happy. It rewarded us with growth, more than doubling the size it was at purchase and almost blocking the doorway out of the sunroom. So, I think it deserves some fresh potting mix, a fresh trim of the fronds and a winter spent in the sunroom spa.

I noticed this morning that with the slowly dropping temperatures, most of the remaining flowers are beginning to fade. I did see this one small coneflower trying its best to put a good face on the coming frost. It is pretty low to the ground, unlike its former brothers and sisters that reached fourteen to 20 inches into the sky; but it keeps spreading the soft yellow light of cheer for as long as possible. This coneflower is in an advantageous sheltered position, shielded from the north wind and still in afternoon sun for a bit of warmth. There is already much mulch around (I put over 3 inches on this summer when I built up the flower beds) and I plan to put a bit more. As soon as this nasty head cold/sinus infection goes away, I will be out there trimming and sorting out the beds, tucking all the little plants in... nice and cozy... for their short winter's nap.

Tell me. In fall and with approaching winter, why do we so want to cling to the warmth of summer when we spend most of it lamenting on the heat?

By the way, I had to just "talk" about the fern as I never took a picture of it this summer. Just another way it was totally neglected. And for my brother... Yes, I was very careful to inspect it for those pesky snakes before I brought it in. I poked and prodded with a broom handle.... yuck!!!!! I still get the creepy shivers thinking about that hiding reptile this summer. I guess they have also made their way to warmer sites... or hibernation or what ever they do. I simply say... "BE GONE! AND DON"T COME BACK!"

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