Sonatini - The Hardy Amaryllis

I'm probably late to the party (I'm late for a lot of things, being The Queen of Procrastination, you know), but I made a discovery today that has me wondering if it's too good to be true.

Hardy amaryllis. As in Hippeastrum. Yeah, like the 'Red Lion' and 'Apple Blossom' kind. Imagine living in zone 5 and growing them in your garden year round. No lifting in the fall and storing in the basement. Unless you really want to, and you can do that, too.

I first saw them on Breck's website as one of their spring offerings. Nothing against Breck's really, but as they are known to rename things, I had to check it out and see if it really was what I thought it might be. And yes, it would appear so.

Hybridized by Hadeco® in South Africa, the Sonatinis are miniature amaryllis that typically produce two flower stems per bulb with three to four flowers sized 2.3-4 inches in diameter on each stem. They're hardy to zone 5 and are to be planted 6-8 inches deep out in the garden. Mulch well for winter.

I'm going to order some from Breck's. They're $39.99 for five bulbs which seems like a lot, but they also have a $25 off a $50 purchase* right now, so I'll combine it with something else and give these a try. Breck's has a lifetime guarantee (replacement or refund), so I can't hardly go wrong.

Has anyone grown these in a zone 5 garden and had them go through winter yet?

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Photo from Breck's
*Coupon code: 716527. Expires 3-21-08.

The Birds, The Bees, and African Violets

When I walked into the room, my attention was drawn to the three African Violets sitting on the Baker's rack in the south window. One was violet (well, sure!), one pristine white, and one frilly purple and white.

The white one was in absolute full glorious angelic bloom, so clean and literally sparkling, it made me wonder why I hadn't noticed it at all the day before. It's been blooming for at least a couple of weeks, and you wouldn't expect it to look so good after that long, but it was about as close to perfection as it gets. Naturally, the next move for me was to grab the camera and record the beauty and now I'm going to share it with you:

Up close, it's even better...

When I saw this photo on the computer screen, different words ran through my head: pistil, stamen, anther, stigma. And once again, as happens over and over to me, I couldn't tell you which of those corresponds to what structure in that photo. I can remember - and spell - the Latin names for countless plants, but I can't remember what is the pistil, what is the stamen, what is the anther, what is the stigma. I can look this up over and over again, and it just falls through my brain like water through a sieve.

For the record, the four yellow balls are the anthers and the stalks they're on are called filaments. Together, they make up the stamens. The long white thing is the style, with the ball on the end being called the stigma. These comprise the pistil. Ask me in five minutes and I won't be able to tell you any of that from memory.

All I know is that the African Violets are gorgeous right now and they have all the parts they're supposed to. Oh look! This one has a purple pistil! At least I think it's the pistil...

Wildflowers in Winter

During our walk yesterday, we saw several wildflowers wintering over in their dormant states. Some were doing it underground out of our view, but these wild something-or-others were quite attractive above the ground in their crispy brown attire. I'm not very good at identifying some of the native wildflowers when they're not wearing their summer color. Whatever they are, I like how they look in winter.

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Join Elizabeth Joy at Wildflower Morning as she marks the time
until spring with weekly wildflower themes.

You Can't Go Home Again

"You can't go home again."
~ Thomas Wolfe

Well, you can, but it won't be the same. Romie and I drove a short distance away to my hometown Sunday afternoon. We did this to see just how much of it was still the way I remembered from when I grew up there. Sadly, not much. But by the time we left for home, I counted it as a good experience anyway.

When I was born, my parents owned a grocery store, custom butchering and locker service, and a beauty shop. They were all contained within a large stone block building that had an apartment on the second (top) floor. That's where we lived. A couple of years ago, the building was torn down and now it's an empty lot.

Across the street, there was another grocery store and it's been torn down, too. The post office is still there and has changed very little from the time I used to go in and open the combination lock to get our mail from Box 15.The one-room building is beige now; it was light green then.

A few blocks away, there was what we called "The Old School." Both of my parents graduated from this school, which closed in the late 1950s, the year before I was born. It was a great place to play, even though it was kept locked and we weren't supposed to go in there. Leave it to us kids to find a way to get in through a basement window. Imagine having the run of a three-story school building with a full-size gymnasium!


After the school was closed in 1956, the building was rented out for various activities, one of which was Vacation Bible School. There were two churches in town, the Methodist and the Baptist, and the two combined to do VBS every summer. The Baptist church has since been torn down, and so has The Old School. Our family attended the Methodist church, which is still there and holds services every Sunday.

When I was three years old, my parents built a new house three blocks away from the store and Mom's beauty shop was relocated to that house. I had the best of both worlds - a mom that worked so we could have some of those 'extras,' yet she was home and always available to me. I lived there until I got married.

That new house is now nearly fifty years old (!) and still there, although it's changed due to an addition the current owners built several years ago. Grandma lived next to us in a house she built in 1969 after my Grandpa died. That house looks pretty much the same as it did when she lived there.

A block away, the ball diamond still is in place, though it doesn't look like it's used like it was when I played softball there. There aren't even any bleachers for sitting to watch games. I learned to drive on that ball field when Dad let me drive his red "three on the tree" truck around the outfield.

You may have guessed by now that my hometown is quite small and you would be correct. There's only one road in and out and no stop lights. It's one of those "don't blink or you'll miss it" kind of towns. When I lived there, the only stop signs were for Main Street. The other intersections all had yield signs, which have since been replaced with stop signs.

There used to be a railroad that went through town and my next-door neighbor, Kelly, and I used to walk it, picking wild strawberries which grew along the tracks. We even made maps of the location of the strawberry patches. The railroad was taken out some years ago and in most places you can't even see where it used to be. But just to the south of the clay pond, once used by the clay tile factory that now produces plastic drainage tile, evidence of the former train tracks is still there.

Romie and I got out of the car and walked the path between the small trees and brush and it was here that we got the most enjoyment from our visit. We saw many birds enjoying the seeds hanging from the brown and dried plants along the path. There were many blue jays and cardinals and while I didn't actually see any woodpeckers, we did hear them as they pecked away in the trees.


What once were tracks used by trains now has tracks made by small residents of this area that Mother Nature has begun to reclaim.










Strawberries still grow here!












There are many wild roses clambering all over the place with beautiful little rose hips providing a spot of red color in the midst of the winter browns.

















Praying mantis cases were found among the roses, too.















We saw Trumpet Vine seed pods, some still loaded with seeds.












Other unknown seed pods were seen, too. These very slender ones were about six inches long and about a quarter-inch in diameter. Anyone know what these might be?

These unknown wildflowers were plentiful and beautiful, wearing their winter suits.

Someone who loved B.T. had been here before us. I wonder if they still love B.T.?


















Doesn't this look a bit like Lamb's Ear? It felt like it, too.







As we walked back to the car, I realized that even though much is gone from this little village of less than 200 residents, loss was not the only change we saw. A large business occupies the property next to the drainage tile factory and wasn't there in "my day." Several streets have been extended to accomodate newer houses that have been built. There are two public parks that weren't there before.




The hometown I knew lives only in my mind, but I don't look the same as I did back then, either.

Green Thumb Sunday - Convolvulus

Convolvulus tricolor 'Ensign Blue'

It's about this time of year when I get really antsy and irritable over winter. There's still a lot of it left but I've had enough. So I immerse myself in the seed and nursery catalogs, plotting and planning for what I want to add to the gardens. I also browse the gardens that live in my computer - those hundreds of photos of the plants and blooms that we enjoyed in previous years. It helps a little.




This convolvulus jumped out at me this morning. Last summer was the first that I'd grown it and it did well. Kara had given me seeds from her plants she'd had in her own garden the previous year. Besides these brilliant blues, a few white ones showed up here and there. I saved seed from them and I'll plant them again this year. I mean, the gold bugs have to have something to eat, don't they?

Join

Compassion International

From 1993 to 2005, we sponsored a little girl from Ecuador named Gabriela, through Compassion International. This is an organization that helps low-income children by providing vitamins, health care and education, including Christian teaching. They are supported by donations from people like you and me.

We'd always wanted to do something like this, but were wary of it, not knowing how the money was actually being spent. After much research, we decided that we'd give our money through Compassion. We've not been sorry.

Gabriela was our first experience with this, and we were her only sponsor until she graduated from high school. At that time, she was no longer eligible to be sponsored. The only regret I have is that we are not permitted to have personal contact with any child we sponsor, once they graduate from the program. We do still pray for her though.

The highlight of our years of sponsorship came in 1994, when I was able to meet Gabriela in person. We'd had an exchange student from Ecuador living with us during the 1993-94 school year and in December after she'd returned home the previous June, I flew to Quito, the capital city where she lived. I enjoyed nearly three weeks there with Karina and her family and I'm indebted to them for making it possible for me to meet Gabriela.


The drive from Quito to Guayaquil, where Gabriela lived, was a long one, taking us eight hours to make the trip. While it's not so far in miles, much of the terrain was through the Andes mountains, making for some slow going. We met Gabriela in the lobby of a hotel in downtown Guayaquil and it was tearfully happy meeting. Small for her age, I scooped her up in my arms and we gave each other a big hug. She spoke no English at all, but I had brushed up on my Spanish enough that we were able to communicate. The Compassion representative was also there to help when translation was necessary.

No translation was needed, however, when Gabriela and I discovered that we knew one of the same songs. With tears streaming down my face, Gabriela sat on my lap and we sang "Jesus Loves Me" in unison - she in Spanish and me in English. I really can't describe how that felt to be united with her in that way.

It was a beautiful day and we walked through the park, marveling at the giant iguanas and the gorgeous flowers. There was an amusement park nearby where Gabriela was happy to ride a few rides before we took a taxi to her house. There, I was amazed at the living conditions and how very little in the way of material things her family had. Yet, here was a happy little girl who was loved very much. She had all she really needed. I learned a lot that day.

We have a new child to sponsor now. Maria Belen is also from Ecuador and perhaps I'll have the opportunity to meet her as well. Karina and her husband still live in Quito and I hope to be able to visit them there in the next few years.

A new letter arrived yesterday from Belen's mother. Belen isn't old enough to write them herself, so her mother does it for her. It was the same with Gabriela until she was able to write to us herself. The letters always come translated, although most of the time I'm able to understand them myself. My spoken Spanish, however, has deteriorated to the point of being useless, unfortunately.



We keep Belen's picture on the front of our refrigerator so that we see it daily and are reminded of the responsibility we have towards her. Not only will she benefit from our financial help, but God hears our prayers for her. We believe He is blessing her through our sharing what God has given to us.

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Visit Compassion International.

Can You Tell I'm a Gardener?

Our homes tell a lot about our personal lives, as they should. We like to surround ourselves with those things that bring us joy, both inside and out. When you see Our Little Acre from the outside, it's pretty obvious that we enjoy tending our gardens. But what about when you walk through the front door?

The 177 house plants probably give it away. (Oh wait...that's now up to 179, isn't it?) But beyond that, what does our house say about us? Probably not a lot about Romie, other than he has a wife. Given a choice, he'd live in a log cabin with the bare minimum of furniture and those bucolic farm scenes for art on the walls.

I wondered if you took the live plants out of our house, would anyone guess that I like flowers and gardening? Let's take a look at the evidence...

If you were an overnight guest in our home, you would get your choice of which room you wanted to sleep in. You could choose Kara's former room, which has these botanical prints:


Or there is Jenna's former room, which has thankfully been redecorated from its former red-walled Mickey Mouse theme. (I toyed with the idea of leaving it that way so when the future grandchildren came to stay with Grandma and Grandpa, they would remember sleeping in "The Mickey Room." What kid wouldn't love that?)



Now this room has a definite botanical influence. The drapes have a leaf pattern in the weave, as do the finials on the drapery rods.







The chair, besides functioning as a plant stand, has a floral pillow propped in its seat.











On the walls are a couple of leaves that have been skeletonized. I doubt it was Japanese Beetles that did it, and although it looks beautiful used in this way, I don't want to see any leaves looking like this in my own gardens!






There's also a large bronze leaf hanging on another wall.





Across the hall, in the master bath, hangs a picture of daisies. I love daisies.









There are a couple of black-and-white pictures of blooming spring bulbs.









Downstairs, in the family room, the bookshelves hold lots of ... well ... books. And more than a few of them are gardening-related:























On the end table by one of the sofas, there is a stack of coasters made by my dad. Two summers ago, we lost a pine tree from our yard. This tree was one that Kara had brought home from school when she was in the fifth grade. It had grown a lot and was doing quite well when all of a sudden it started losing needles and died.

We kept the tree, or at least part of it. That's now the directional that is in the garden, but we also kept one of the larger branches. I asked Dad to slice it up to make coasters, which were given to Kara for Christmas that year. There were enough that we could have some, too.




This room also has a picture that was given to me by Jenna last year for Mother's Day.






In 2004, I went on a bus trip with my mom to Chicago Botanic Gardens. To remember the wonderful day we spent there, I purchased a piece of Guy Wolff pottery he made especially for the Gardens. I put fake ivy in it, but that's only because where I used to have it displayed, there is no natural light. I guess I could replace it with something live now.



In the utility room, next to a large collection of live plants overwintering in the south window is a ceramic art piece that I bought in Florida last winter. I got a couple of these for Mom for her birthday, too. Hers are a large hibiscus and a Monarch butterfly. She displays them together and they really look pretty in her sun room.

Every summer, Fort Wayne (IN) has its Three Rivers Festival. There's always a fabulous Art Show on the two weekends of the festival in Freimann Square. One year we went to it and I found some gorgeous pottery by John Reishus from Alexandria, Indiana. I purchased a canister set and a covered casserole dish to match. I think the set goes well in our kitchen, which has ivory appliances and wallpaper backsplash that looks like tile imprinted with herbs. (I love this wallpaper. It's very thick and has a unique texture, making it really look like tile!)

Mom gave me the cute ceramic mouse, to which I added the leather tail, although it's not permanently attached. Jilly thinks that tail is her personal plaything and every now and then I'll walk into the kitchen and the tail is on the floor. Sometimes she even hides it under the rug that's in front of the sink.

We don't use our formal dining room much at all for formal dining - that's just not our style - and strangely enough, the desktop computer is situated in this room. There are also french doors to the patio area, which we use quite a bit in the summer. The door to this room is just off the kitchen and my garden hat hangs on it. I suppose it's an odd place to hang this hat, but it's handy there!




On top of a short curio cabinet in this same room sits a pottery bouquet that used to belong to my grandma. There was an unfortunate accident during some housecleaning at her place and a glass shelf fell onto this bouquet. Many of the flowers suffered breakage and she told me if we wanted to take all the little pieces and glue them back on, we could have it. Romie is pretty good at doing that, and unless you look really closely at it, you can't tell anything happened.


So yes, even without the 179 house plants, there are signs that gardening is my "thing." I wonder if they could tell we love cats, too?

Nature or Nurture?

Jack and Jilly have done it again. Remember this picture?

That's Jack on the left and Jilly on the right. They're siblings, born here after their mama showed up pregnant and just a few weeks away from delivering. Once in awhile, we feed them Special Kitty moist cat food in the pouch, as a treat. The other cats have been offered the same treat, but they give the impression that they can take it or leave it. Not so with Jack and Jilly. They looooooooooooooooove it. It doesn't matter where they are in the house - they could be sound asleep in a closet upstairs in a bedroom - the second they hear me shaking the pouch down before opening it, they are Johnny-on-the-spot.

They're pretty mannerly, not like these cats on YouTube. Jack and Jilly share until its all gone and walk away. I just fed them their treat a little bit ago, and if the crossed tails in the photo above wasn't cute enough, look at this one:


Do you suppose this tail synchronization thing is genetic?

30 Years Since The Big One

I remember it like it was yesterday. But it's been thirty years since our part of the country got hit by the Blizzard of '78. The 'B' is capitalized because it was a major event and around here, you don't even have to give the year it happened when you mention it in conversation. If you were an adult living in the midwest and experienced it, you know just what blizzard that was.

I blogged about it last year at this time and I won't repeat what I wrote then. You can just go here and read it. But on this very cold morning (it's 2°F at 10:30 a.m.) I'm remembering it all the same. Our local news has been having reports all week from citizens recalling their experiences.

My girls look at the pictures and hear us talk about it and they wish they'd been around to see it. We've not had a snowstorm like that one in the thirty years since and I don't know if I'll experience one like that ever again. But with all the crazy weather we've had in the last few years, maybe they will.

Wildflowers - A Favorite

I don't know that I've ever seen a wildflower blooming in winter around here, but there are plenty come spring. Last April, we took a walk through the woods near our house and there were all kinds of wildflowers growing. Purple trillium, spring beauty, wood violets, Dutchman's breeches, trout lilies, Virginia bluebells.

Dutchman's breeches have the cutest blooms that look like pantaloons, hence the name. The Virginia bluebells have the most incredible ruffly purple-blue-magenta skirted blooms. The trout lilies and the trilliums look handsome with their mottled foliage. But the bloom that fascinates me the most is that of the wild ginger.

It grows abundantly along the rivers and creeks and deep in the woods here. Last spring, I transplanted about ten plants into our shade garden, at the base of the honeysuckle trellis. The heart-shaped leaves are pretty enough, but you need to get down and look under the leaves to see the really beautiful and unusual blooms that appear in April and May:

Asarum canadense

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Join Elizabeth Joy at Wildflower Morning as she marks the time
until spring with weekly wildflower themes.

Another Kind of Kalanchoe

As I was doing a little research for my Green Thumb Sunday post about my new kalanchoes, I ran across an image on Google that looked familiar. It was the same plant I've had for about two years. I bought it two winters ago at Lowe's because I liked the paddle-like forms of its glaucous leaves.

And now I know what it is. Yes, that's right. Me, who Googles everything under the sun - most especially plants - went for two entire years without knowing just what my plant actually was, beyond being a succulent. I'd seen a similar one with reddish edges last winter when we were in Florida, growing in my aunt's neighbor's yard. Her neighbor didn't know what it was either.

But now I know. It's a kalanchoe. I never would have guessed that, based on the common ones we find up here. It doesn't look a thing like those. And the one I saw in Florida has reddish edges because it's exposed to direct sunlight most of the time. Mine isn't, even in the summer.

Kalanchoe thyrsiflora

It has grown quite a bit since I bought it. In fact, I now have two of them where there once was one. Even the smaller one is much bigger than the original plant was when I bought it. It lives outside on the front porch during the summer, and that's when it experiences the most growth. It's an easy plant, too. It's very forgiving when I forget to water it. And with 177 houseplants this winter, that happens.

Nine Years and Counting

I passed another milestone last weekend. What was probably just another cold winter weekend to most people marked one more year of life that I almost didn't have. Nine years ago right now, I was in the hospital, in intensive care, beginning my recovery from a near-fatal bout with bacterial meningitis (Neisseria meningitidis).

You'd think after this long, I would kind of forget when this all happened and that the dates would pass without me noticing. But anyone who's ever had a brush with death can tell you that you remember these things. And what I recall is not the illness so much as all the big and little things I would have missed had I not survived.

And I'm grateful. And I know that I'm blessed.

Yay me. :-)

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*This picture was taken just two days before I became ill with meningitis. Romie carries it in his wallet.

The Short List Gets Longer

I knew this was going to happen. Just as soon as I posted a list of things I might want for the garden, I thought of some more that I want on that list:

• Sea Holly (Eryngium 'Amazing Jackpot')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Primrose (Primula 'Francesca')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Egret Flower (Habaneria radiata)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• St. John's Wort (Hypericum 'Brigadoon')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Hardy Geranium (Geranium pratense 'Double Jewel')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Double Oriental Lily (Lilium 'Miss Lucy')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Tree Peony (Paeonia suffruticosa 'Shima-nishiki')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Hosta 'White-wall Tire'
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Toad Lily (Tricyrtis 'Lunar Landing')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Corydalis (Corydalis 'Berry Exciting')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum 'Broadway Lights')
  
  
  
  
  
  

Okay, that's all.

For now.

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Photo Credits: 1,2,3,5,6,7 - Dutch Bulbs; 4 - Wayside Gardens; 8,9,10 - Plant Delights Nursery; 11 - Burpee

The Short List For 2008

In general, a "short list" is a list comprised of items which are in prime position for being chosen for something. Every spring, I make a short list of those plants for which I keep my eyes open, when visiting nurseries throughout the spring, summer, and fall.

Besides those things on my short list, there are also some that I keep in the back of my mind for possible addition to the gardens. It's not likely that I'll find nor buy everything on my short list, and occasionally I will come across something that is on that mental list I keep. That's how the daylily 'Hush Little Baby' came to live in my garden late last summer.

Sometimes, an item on the short list will be carried over from a previous year if I can't find it locally. Depending on how elusive it is, I will order it online if that's the only way I'm going to get it. Two that come to mind that are now growing in my garden as a result of online ordering for this reason are Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears' in 2006 and Campanula 'Pink Octopus' in 2007.

I purchased 'Pink Octopus' from Big Dipper Farm and though it was late in the season when I got it, it grew very quickly, almost to the point that it gave indications that it could be invasive! If I find that to be the case this spring, I'll move it to a spot where I'll happily let it take over. The foliage is lush and beautiful and if the blooms are anything like their photos, I want lots of them. Let the invasion begin!

Let me say right here that Big Dipper Farm is one of my favorite online nurseries to deal with. Deidre pays very close attention to their customers and is very helpful with whatever concerns you have. She really knows her stuff. (And no, I haven't been compensated in any way for saying that!)

I'm beginning to compile my short list for this year's gardening season and on the list at this time are:

Perennials

• Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea 'Candy Mountain')
  
  

• Coneflower (Echinacea 'Green Envy')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Coneflower (Echinacea 'Tiki Torch')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Coral Bells (Heuchera villosa 'Tiramisu')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Coral Bells (Heuchera 'Miracle')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Bellflower (Campanula 'Samantha')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Hardy Geranium (Geranium phaeum 'Samobor')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Arkansas Blue Star (Amsonia hubrichtii)
  
  

• Sweet Coneflower (Rudbeckia submentosa 'Henry Eilers')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Shrubs

• Beauty Bush (Kolkwitzia amabilis 'Dream Catcher')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Viburnum (Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Purple Beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Weigela (Weigela florida 'Ghost')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Coppertina')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane')
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Roses

• Floribunda Rose 'Ebb Tide'
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Grandiflora Rose 'Strike It Rich'
  
  
  
  
  
  

I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple that I've seen and said that I must have. As the season goes along, I'll probably change my mind about a few of these for whatever reason. Sometimes when I see the plant in person, I don't like it anymore and sometimes my ideas for the garden change.

Did I really tell my mom just a few short months ago that the garden was pretty well as I wanted it and that I wasn't going to add any new plants, except to buy additional plants of what I already have and know work for me? Did I really say that?? I must have been having a bad day.

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Photo credits: 1-Dutch Gardens; 2-Big Dipper Farm; 3,6,12,13,15-Wayside Gardens; 4,5,7,10,11,16-Garden Crossings; 8,9-Bluestone Perennials; 14-Wikipedia Commons; 17-Monrovia Plants; 18,19-Weeks Roses.

Just A Little Spontaneous Creativity

I've said that I don't have a creative bone in my body. It skips a generation when being handed down through our family. My mom has more creativity than any one person should be allowed and I've threatened to put a sign in front of her house that says, "Martha Stewart DOES live here." Kara inherited this trait from her, although not quite to the level that Mom's got it, but give her time - she's only 27.

However, I was inspired over the weekend to dress up a flower pot that I'd bought at Walmart the week before. The pot is pretty cool by itself, because it has a rectangular area on it that's painted with chalkboard paint so you can write the name of whatever you've planted in the pot on it.

I liked it for its novel idea, but I thought it looked rather bare, too. So I took some fake ivy that I had laying around and a ladybug that has been here for so long that I don't remember where it came from and let loose with the hot glue gun.

Five minutes later, I had this:

Time For a Kitty Fix

As many of you know, we have eight cats at Our Little Acre. Two of them are full-time indoor residents and the others live outside, with inside privileges. Well, three of them (Jack, Sunny, and Boo) have had those privileges suspended because they seem to think they own the place and have been known to mark their territory on occasion. I keep telling them that they can come in again if they'll stop doing that, but cats will be cats and they remain outside at all times because of it. If someone tells you that altered cats won't spray, don't believe them.

Last week, Baby decided to run away from home. She is one of the two inside kitties and one of the litter that we rescued in 2004 from a field down the road from our house. She was the itty bitty out of that litter and was generally ignored by her siblings. She also was the most skittish and would hiss at us and hide when we would try to get near her, but she came around and now she's a little sweetheart. Still ornery, but sweet, all the same.


So anyway, running away from home for Baby means she escaped into the open - into the big wide world outside the windows. A place where birds fly and other kitties play. The call of the wild was just too much and she wanted to experience it.

She does this from time to time, when she outsmarts her distracted owners, and trying to catch her to bring her back inside is an exercise in futility. She will come back in when she's darn good and ready. That usually means when she gets cold, hungry, or has been bullied by one of the other kitties. Attention from Simba our dog usually will send her running to the back door, too.

Her foray into the night last week didn't last long as these things usually go. It was after dark, so I turned the outside lights on and kept an eye on her. She sniffed here and there, dashed off to investigate a falling leaf, and looked back at the house every now and then just to make sure the security of home was still there. About half an hour of this and she was begging to be let in. I imagine it was the cold that she'd had enough of.

I have mentioned that occasionally a cat will show up here that we've not seen before. At the moment, there are two that have taken to canoodling with our outside bunch. I don't blame them, since our gang is pretty cool to hang with and the food is always available. We've seen them sleeping in the cat beds that are in the garage and the pool house, and they have found the favorite resting spots of our own kitties, who have seemingly accepted them as friends.

First to appear, early last summer, was Whitey. That's what Romie calls him. He is well-fed, so we think he must have another home nearby. Either that, or he's made a career of begging off others in the neighborhood as well as us. A couple of weeks ago, he wasn't feeling well and he spent two days in a basket in the garage. During that time, we were able to pet him, but since he's all better - no way.

In the past few weeks, a really pretty tiger cat that Romie has named Stripey has come around for food and shelter as well. The first time we saw him he had a flea collar on, but since that time, the collar has disappeared. This means he definitely belongs to someone in the area and I suspect it's the neighbors across the road - the ones with the peacocks, turkeys, donkeys and other things.

It seems that each year brings around another cat or two and we never know if they'll become a part of the family here or not. We don't want any more cats, but we also won't allow any to go hungry or without love if they need it. Don't let that get around though, okay?

A Trio Of Kalanchoes

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana 'Meru'

When Romie and I got married in 1975, we bought a small house that had a few little flower beds surrounding it and spent the next two years there. I don't remember everything I had planted in them, but I know there were caladiums one year and orange kalanchoes another time. These of course were not winter hardy and I don't recall whether I brought any of the kalanchoes in or not. I know the caladiums were left to die. :-(

I haven't had kalanchoes since that time (wow - over thirty years ago!) until two years ago when I bought a yellow one at Walmart. It bloomed inside last winter and when summer came, I planted it outside. It didn't bloom once the entire summer, but in doing research, I found that its normal bloom time is late fall through early winter.

Once again, I brought it in for the winter and shortly after doing that, it started forming flower buds. It's been stagnating with those buds for going on two months now so I brought it up from the basement greenhouse and it now sits next to a south window. Hopefully, the change and the sunlight will boost it along to bloom.

Last Thursday, when Romie and I took our weekly trip to Van Wert for his allergy injection, we made our usual stop at Walmart. I'd been pretty good about avoiding the garden section the last several times we'd been there, but I succumbed to the new kalanchoes they'd gotten in. (It's right next to the pet section and we had to buy cat food.) They were in such luscious shades and it was hard for me to not buy one of each. But I managed to escape with just two of them - both were sort of bicolored, with a common color of yellow. I thought they'd look nice with my solid yellow one, once it's bloomed.

Kalanchoe or Flaming Katy
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana

Succulent
Zone: 10-12
Bloom time: Late fall, Early winter
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Native to Madagascar

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Give Your Blog a Makeover - Part II

Next, I'll tell you how I turned my two-column blog into a three-column blog. This is actually quite easy as well, but there will be some busy work after you've made the switch.

Once again, save your current template before you do anything:

In your Blogger Dashboard, choose the Template tab. At the top, there will be a tab called Edit HTML. Under that tab, at the top of the page, there is a link - Download Full Template. Before you do anything, click on this tab and save your template to your Desktop. This way, if you do screw things up, you can always put things back the way they were.

You should also save the code of any widgets you've added to your blog, such as awards your blog may have received, your Green Thumb Sunday blog roll, etc. You can always go to the website where you got the code for these widgets in the first place, or you can find the code in your current template and copy it to a text file and save it. Either way, know that they will be lost in transition and you'll have to replace them, but you've added them before and you can add them again. Not all widgets will be lost, but most of them that were added as HTML/Java Script or as Pictures will be.

Now let's make some changes. These are for Blogger, because that's what I use. I haven't a clue as to how to make changes in blogs hosted by other sites.

• First, you need to find a template made for Blogger that has three columns. I did a search on Google using the search terms, "free three-column Blogger templates." I found the one I used here and there are many more three-column templates for Blogger's standard ones there as well. But this is by no means the only site that has free templates. There are many and you can spend a great deal of time looking through the various sites at the templates available.
  
  
• Once you've found one you like, follow the instructions on that site for saving the file to your hard drive.
  
  
• Go to the Template tab in your Blogger Dashboard and click on Edit HTML. Near the top, you will see "Upload a template from a file on your hard drive:" with a text box after it and two buttons. Click on Browse and when the File Upload screen pops up, find the new template file that you just downloaded to your hard drive. Highlight it and click Open. That pop-up screen will disappear and you should see that file name displayed in the text box. Next click Upload.
  
  This is the really scary part, but look your fear in the face and do it anyway! Until you click on the Save Template button at the bottom, your changes are still temporary.
  
  
• If you've added any Page Elements to your blog (and who hasn't?), you will probably get a red-lettered warning saying some of your widgets will be deleted. Yes, it's true, they will be, so if you haven't saved them as I advised at the beginning of this post, do it now. Otherwise, click Confirm and the changes will be made.
  
  
• Now click on Preview to see if your "new" blog looks like you want it to. Don't worry about the widgets, because one of the sidebars will likely have nothing but "Disclaimer" in it, if that. The other sidebar will probably have some of your existing Page Elements still there, such as Blog Archive, if you chose to display that in your original blog layout.
  
  
• Click on Save Template and the changes will be made. You'll have some tweaking to do. You'll need to add your Page Elements back in and the ones that were retained in the transfer might not be in the original order.
  
  
• Now that you've got three columns, you can have some fun "filling in the blanks" and getting your blog to look the way you want it. While you're doing this, internet readers may see the process occurring as you go, if they happen to be viewing your blog at the time. If that's a problem for you, I'd suggest you make like a night owl and do it in the wee hours of the morning when you're likely to have fewer readers.
  
  
• If you want to change the backgrounds, now you can do that, following the instructions I gave in my previous post.
  

I tried to make this as clear as I could and I don't think I left anything out, but the same disclaimer applies as did with my other instructions. If you encounter any problems, leave a comment and I'll try to help, but my knowledge about this is pretty much limited to what you see here, and is the result of a great deal of trial and error.

Hope this helps!


DISCLAIMER: I don't promise that these instructions are all-inclusive or that you won't have problems. I had my share along the way. But to the best of my knowledge, they are correct. I can't stress enough the importance of backing up your original template so if your changes mess things up, you can go right back to what you had originally.

Give Your Blog a Makeover - Part I

While Blogger has several nice templates you can use for the "face" of your blog, the time may come when you want to change it to something other than what Blogger has to offer. Scary stuff, that. It means dealing with HTML and pixel counts and techie things like that. Things that send the less brave of us running and screaming in the opposite direction. How do I know? Because I was a big chicken myself once and it still frightens me a little.

You may have noticed that I recently changed the appearance of my blog. I didn't want to change everything, but I was tired of the brown and beige of Scribe. I liked the icons included in that template, which are little flowers. I liked the layout okay, but I wanted three columns instead of two. I also wanted to make the sidebars a tad bit wider to accommodate Amazon's widget and other wider things.

Since I was successful at accomplishing this, I'm going to tell you how I did it, just in case you have been thinking of doing the same, but don't know how to go about doing it. We'll start with instructions on how to change the backgrounds:

1. In your Blogger Dashboard, choose the Template tab. At the top, there will be a tab called Edit HTML. Under that tab, at the top of the page, there is a link - Download Full Template. Before you do anything, click on this tab and save your template to your Desktop. This way, if you do screw things up, you can always put things back the way they were.
   
   
2. Next, you need to decide what changes you want to make. If it's merely a change in background colors, this is very easy to do. For mine, I did a Google search for free background images and spent some time looking through what I thought would be appropriate. This is the really fun part, a lot like decorating your house!
   
   The overall background image can be pretty much whatever you want as far as pattern and color are concerned, but the post background needs to be something that doesn't interfere with the readability of the type. A solid color works best.
   
   
3. Once you find what you like, you can save the background image by right-clicking on it and then choose Save As and rename it if you want; then save it to a location on your hard drive. I'd suggest making a folder on your desktop to save all your images and files associated with the changes you want to make. That will make them easy to find when you need them later.
   
   
4. Once you've found the background images you want to use, you must upload them to a web location, such as in Photobucket or Flickr. This will give you the http: address Blogger needs to show your background on your blog.
   
   
   
5. To make the change to your blog background, go back to the Edit HTML tab in Blogger. Scroll down through the HTML until you find /* Defaults with a dotted line under it, then body. Under that, you will find a line that contains an http: location of an image. Replace this with the http: location of your new background image that you just saved to Photobucket or Flickr.
   
   
6. To make the change to the background where your posts are located as well as the sidebar(s), scroll down further until you come to /*Layout with a dotted line under it. You'll then see #main-top and then a line containing an http: location of another image. Replace this with the http: location of your other new background image that you just saved to Photobucket or Flickr.
   
   Continue on down, where you will also see #main-bot and #wrap2. You must replace the image location for these as well, with the same one you used for #main-top.
   
   
7. Check to see if you've done it correctly by clicking at the bottom on Preview. I love this feature! Before you make any permanent changes, you can always preview what you've done to see if you have done it correctly. If it's not what you want, you can always start over by clicking on Clear Edits.
   
   
8. If things look like you want them to look, click on Save Template.

Now you've got a new look!

Next post, I'll explain how I changed my two-column blog to a three-column blog. If you want to do this as well, I'd advise changing the columns before you change the backgrounds, since changing your template will change these to whatever the backgrounds are in the template you've chosen. Easiest would be to find a template that already has backgrounds you like. There will be some other precautions to take when changing your template layout that I will include in the next post as well.


DISCLAIMER: I don't promise that these instructions are all-inclusive or that you won't have problems. I had my share along the way. But to the best of my knowledge, they are correct. I can't stress enough the importance of backing up your original template so if your changes mess things up, you can go right back to what you had originally.

Blue Poppies - Take Two

" Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty,
never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense."

~ Winston Churchill, in a 1941 speech to the boys at Harrow School

Two years ago, I spied the Holy Grail of Gardening in a garden catalog. Meconopsis beneticifolia. The Himalayan Blue Poppy. From the moment I laid eyes on it, I knew I had to grow it in my garden, and it's had this same effect on better gardeners than I. Ones that can actually grow it with seemingly no effort.

Like Jodi.

Okay, so it wasn't easy for her either, but she has been successful. She lives in Nova Scotia, which has better than average growing conditions for this beauty, and she taunts us with it occasionally. She even had the nerve to put it on the front cover of her book, The Atlantic Gardener's Green Book. But you know what? If I ever have it growing in my garden, I'll be showing it off, too.

Last year, I tried growing Meconopsis by seed, inside. It germinated and I had tiny seedlings coming up in the seed-starter medium. They were so tiny that Romie, in his far-sightedness, could not see them even with his glasses on, but they were there. And then they weren't anymore.

*Sigh*

Such is the life of a Meconopsis grower.

This year, I'm trying a different tack. I've read on Dave's Garden that a couple of people have successfully wintersown these things. One lived in New York and has a similar climate as ours. I've sown the seeds and they are now out in the 18° weather in their milk jugs.

I planted two species this year: Meconopsis beneticifolia, which is the Himalayan Blue Poppy and the one I sowed last year, and Meconopsis x sheldonii, or Lindholm Poppy. Both are that luscious shade of blue that we pine for in a poppy. The Lindholm is supposed to be slightly easier to grow. We'll see. I'll be happy if I just get any.

Stay tuned.

Gifts of Ourselves

Nothing gives me a thrill more than to be surprised by a random act of kindness. It doesn't matter whether I'm the one doing it or I'm on the receiving end. Both feel good.

Last month, I offered to send some seeds from my garden to a fellow blogger friend - Kate, from Kate Smudges in Earth, Paint and Life. She was particularly interested in my yellow scabiosa seeds. The day before I mailed them out to her, Romie and I had checked out the clearance section at our local Walmart.

There were baskets of odds and ends of skeins of yarn greatly reduced and a royal blue confetti yarn caught my eye. I don't knit or crochet, so it wasn't likely that I would use it for anything, but I remembered those lovely scarves that Kate had made. I didn't know if three skeins would be enough to make anything, but it was just so pretty and so inexpensive, I knew I had to buy it and send it to her along with the seeds. She would be able to create something with it, I was certain.

Well.

Imagine my surprise when I went to the mailbox yesterday and found a package from Kate. That stinker knitted the yarn I'd sent her into a scarf and sent it back to me! That sure wasn't what I'd expected her to do with it. The scarf part, maybe, but the sending it to me part - no. What a truly thoughtful thing for her to do.

Kate, thank you for giving a part of yourself to me. The scarf is beautiful, but your generous heart is even more so. I will remember what you did for me every time I wear it. I like too, that a part of my garden will be growing in yours, representing the sharing of ideas, hearts, and friendship across the miles that blogging and the love of gardening has brought to our lives.

Growing Pains

So I got brave enough to mess with the HTML in Blogger so I could change the appearance of my blog. I've been working with it for several weeks now in another non-published blog and I had things all figured out. Today was the roll-out for the new look. Except for a few glitches (such as that white bar above the title), things went pretty well. Just before I decided to call it a day and go to bed, I took one last look and what the ????

Of course, when I tried to fix it, Blogger decided to give me those cute little error messages. So please bear with me for the next day or so, as I try to get this all straightened out...

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - January 2008

I've got blooms! I've got blooms! OUTSIDE!

I actually broke this news two days ago on Green Thumb Sunday. The English Daisies (Bellis perennis) I grew from seed last spring are blooming NOW. I just can't figure out how or why they're doing this. We've had two major snowstorms and many days of temperatures below freezing, even a couple times dipping below zero. We've got a bit of snow now, with temperatures in the low 20s.

But wait! There's MORE! The violas are still blooming, too!

I'd expect to see such behavior out of the hellebores, but they're being a bit reticent. Maybe I'll see some action out of those by February or March when Garden Bloggers Bloom Day rolls around. Meanwhile, in the house we've got some nice flowering going on.











There are three African Violets in bloom right now and a couple more with some buds coming.




'Lemon Lime' amaryllis is still blooming (second flower stalk), and now both stalks of 'La Paz' are in full bloom. I really love the spikey look it has.




The yellow Abutilon is about to burst into bloom again and the variegated one has flower buds on it, too. A yellow kalanchoe that's had buds for over a month now has been brought up from the basement and put in a south window in an effort to get it to finish what it's started. The hoya is still blooming, too, and has more clusters in process.

The heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens 'Fragrant Delight') is blooming, although it's a little less intense in color than when it's outside. Its fragrance makes up for it though.

Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' is still eking out a weak bloom here and there, but my intent for those is just to get them through the winter until it's warm enough to plant them outside again. I've got several more amaryllis that I'm going to pot up tomorrow. Next month, there might be some pretty blooms to show from those!

Nature's Alphabet

"Nature will bear the closest inspection.
She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain."

~ Henry David Thoreau

There was a book I remember hearing about last year that fascinated me. Discovering Nature's Alphabet is a collection of photographic images by husband and wife team, Krystina Castella and Brian Boyl. In each photograph, natural elements form a letter of the alphabet.

I thought it would be fun to go through the hundreds of photographs of my own to see if I could find natural letters and make some words. Fun? Yes. Easy? Hardly. You have to look through new eyes at familiar things in order to see the alphabetic shapes.

Yeah...well...you try to find a capital R in Nature...

Bellis persistenticus

This time of the year, I go outside as little as possible. I don't like being damp and cold and that's just what it is. We've had a couple good snowstorms and temperatures below 0° (F). We also set some new record highs just recently, but the previous cold weather was enough to kill off perennial foliage and flowers, save for a hellebore here and a primrose there.

You would think.

As I walked past the flower bed on the east side of the family room while I was out helping Romie install a new bird feeder, a spot of color caught my eye. What I saw just shocked me. The English Daisies (Bellis perennis) that I'd planted by seed last spring were blooming. And it wasn't just one freaky bloom...

...there was a second...

...and a third!

And if you look closely, there is yet another one forming. This is the same plant that I'd earlier complained didn't make it through the winter the year before, so you can imagine my surprise at finding blooms in mid-January.

Plants are sort of like kids sometimes - they'll make liars out of you. I may have said before that English Daisies won't survive zone 5 winters, but here's photographic proof that they're doing a darn good job of it this winter!

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Wintersowing 2008

The seeds are sown in their milk jugs and parked outside so Mother Nature can do her thing. I remember the first year I tried this method of growing annuals and perennials from seed; I just couldn't imagine that it was going to work. But it did, which is why I'm doing it for the third year now.

Warmer weather earlier in the week provided me with the motivation to prepare the jugs for planting. I'd been saving them for this purpose, deciding to limit it this year to a dozen. I still want to plant some seeds the traditional way, too.

Here's a brief and simple tutorial of my version of wintersowing:

1. I rinsed out the opaque gallon-sized milk jugs with the hose. Then I took an ice pick and poked several holes in the bottom for drainage.
   
   
   
   
2. I cut the jug in half at the base of the handle, leaving a small hinge so the top stays attached to the bottom.
   
   
   
   
3. Next, I scooped the potting medium into the bottom to a level of 2-3 inches deep. I used the hose set to "mist" to wet the soil thoroughly and sat them on the front porch to drain. Watering the soil before sowing the seeds prevents the seeds from being displaced by the water pressure.
   
   
4. The next day I brought the jugs into the house and planted each one with the seeds I'd chosen, then covered them with a light layer of soil.
   
   
   How many seeds I have of each variety and the size of those seeds determines how densely I sprinkle the seeds in each jug. If they're really small, I just broadcast them over the soil and when they germinate and later reach transplanting stage, I plant small sections of the seedlings rather than individual plants.
   
   
5. Duct tape is then used to seal the jugs back up and I mark them by number and by name with a permanent Sharpie marker. I keep a record of what I've planted on a list with corresponding numbers and names.
   
   
   
   
6. Finally, I placed the jugs (caps off!) outside on the east side of the gazebo on top of the stones so they will drain well.
   
   
   

Wintersowing works well for seeds that need stratification/scarification as well as those plants that self-seed naturally in the garden. The advantage to wintersowing is that it gives you a little head start on things by allowing the seeds to germinate at the earliest possible time that weather permits. Rather than starting them inside, where you have to control light, temperature and moisture levels, wintersowing allows you to just sow and go using natural conditions!

For more information on wintersowing, including appropriate seed lists for your zone, check out http://wintersown.org.


This year's seed list:

• Gaillardia 'Fanfare'
• Purple datura
• Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset'
• Giant Yellow Scabiosa
• Cerinthe major 'Kiwi Blue'
• Portulaca grandiflora
• Coreopsis tinctoria 'Mahogany Midget'
• Emilia coccinia 'Scarlet Magic'
• Pulsatilla
• Jack-in-the-Pulpit
• Catnip
• *to be determined*

By mid-spring, I'll have something that looks like this:

Garden Bloggers Spring Fling 2008

I. Want. To. Go.

But it's in Austin. That's in Texas. 1,250 miles there and 1,250 miles back.

*sigh*

ACK! Mealy Bugs!

Remember the orchid I got at such a great price back in November? Such perfect foliage, beautiful blooms (and still blooming) and mealy bugs. For seven dollars, I didn't expect any extras, but I got them anyway.

Last week, I had seen a couple of them hiding between two of the strappy leaves where one was laying right on top of the other. I cleaned them off and inspected the rest of the plant for more. I found a few and removed them as well.

But what I found yesterday just about made me want to vomit. The mealy bugs were still there and were having a staff meeting inside the bloom. Their buddies that didn't make it for that meeting were having one of their own in one of the leaf crevices. And I caught a few more in transit from one place to another.

How many mealy bugs can you find in this picture?
(Answer at the bottom of this post.)

If they weren't garden pests and they didn't suck the life out of the plants they hang out on, I'd say they were kind of cute as bugs go. They're the fluffy bunnies of the plant pest world. But I didn't feel one bit guilty picking them off and smashing them between my fingers. Ew. Sticky.

I decided to look them up online to see what's the best method of control. Manually removing them is one option, but the eggs and the babies are somewhat difficult to find, let alone see. And they also live in the potting medium, chewing on the roots, weakening the plant. We can't have that.

So I took it out of the pot, got rid of the potting medium and rinsed the roots off in lukewarm water. It had a very healthy root system - the best of all my orchids - so the mealy bugs hadn't yet done too much damage. I sprayed the roots with insecticide and repotted it. Hopefully, I removed all the bugs I could and killed what I wasn't able to get to or see. Time will tell, and I'll need to keep a close watch on it and reapply the insecticide periodically.


In other orchid news, I've got two of them that I think are each just starting to shoot out a flower stalk! The first orchid I ever bought, which was back in February 2006, rebloomed for me a little more than a year after its purchase blooms fell off. I was pretty excited about it because for as fussy as orchids are reported to be, I've not found them to be so much. I have them in the cooler spots in the house, in bright indirect light and when I think of it, I water them. Now and then I'll mist them, but not really all that often.

Now if those darn bugs would just leave us alone, we'll be fine.

______________________
Answer: There are 9 of the little buggers.

BARGAIN ALERT: One Great Magazine!

There are several excellent gardening publications out there and if I subscribed to all of them, I'd never actually get out into my garden for burying my nose in them. But one that I pore over from glossy cover to glossy cover is Horticulture.


While it has a few more advertisements than I'd prefer, every other feature of this magazine keeps me entertained for several hours and it's one of the items listed in My Favorite Things. It's chock full of great gardening ideas and advice with gorgeous photos to go along with it.

The reason I'm bringing this to your attention is that right now, Amazon has an instant $5 off the cost of one year's subscription. That brings it down to $15 and that's a real bargain. Not only that, shipping for magazines is always free and the cost of the subscription counts toward Amazon's "free shipping on orders over $25."

There are 60 magazines that qualify for the instant $5 off when you order through Amazon, so check them out. I saw titles pertaining to cats, dogs, and birds on the list.

So if you've always thought you'd like to subscribe to Horticulture, now is the time to do it. While you're at it, check out these other gardening related books. When you add any of them (that are $10 or more) to your order, you'll get free shipping on that, too.

Happy reading!

Special Plants For Special People

We love remembering those people that are important to us, too, and like many others, there are plants in our garden that were purposely planted in honor or in memory of those we love.

There are the yellow roses in memory of my friend Pat, who died of cancer four years ago. Yellow roses were her favorites. The pink hollyhocks got their start in my grandma's garden and she has contributed several other special plantings, including a beautiful Japanese Maple tree. There is the white daisy that Jenna gave me several years ago for Mother's Day. We planted pink tulips because Romie's dad loved them.

Mom has shared countless plants with me and that means a lot because she is the reason I love to garden today. My astilbe 'Sprite' has a special marker on it that says, "Mom's Favorite." She gave it to me last summer while on one of our gardening jaunts and it's part of one of those jokes between us that you're now privy to. Every time we are out and about and we come across 'Sprite' astilbe in a garden or the conversation turns to astilbe in general, she always says, "I like 'Sprite' the best."


There are other passalong plants in the garden: the 'Clara Curtis' mums from Marsha, a 'Stella d'Oro' daylily from the UPS man's own garden when he noticed that he was delivering a lot of packages from nurseries to our house, Lily-of-the-Valley from my Aunt Kay, a Cornelian Cherry from fellow garden blogger Earth Girl, 'Dawn' hosta from blackswamp_girl, and the hippeastrums from Florida friend Kat.

There is the pine from Maine that used to grow near Sebago Lake that I carried home in my suitcase in 1979, a permanent reminder of the wonderful time we spent there with friends. The following year, Mom and Dad gave us a Buckeye tree that we planted to mark the birth of our first child, Kara.


Our gardens are literally alive with memories and we love being surrounded by them while we're working and playing outside. We walk among them and smile as we recall the special people that come to mind. These are what truly make Our Little Acre our home.

R is For Remembrance

After reading Jodi's post and then Amy's, I feel compelled to hold up my end of the blogosphere's conversation on the subject of beloved pets that have passed on and memorials in the garden. Yep, they're connected.

I've always loved cats and I've always had cats. From the time I was born and my parents had Tom, a cat nearly as big as I was at six months of age (and I was BIG at six months of age) through Friend and Big Yella Fella and Christopher and Smokey and Misha and Woogie and Muffin and Jazzy and Mimi and the recent troupe of furbabies...well...you understand. And they have all been well-loved, but perhaps none more than our Mimi.

When the girls were little, we went through a succession of kittens that came from who knows where - you know how it is when you live out in the country. They just show up. Kids and kittens just seem to take to each other naturally and when the hand of fate takes a slap at unsuspecting kittens that wander too close to the road, you have a couple of really sad kids on your hands.

You have a pretty sad Mommy, too, who not only feels bad for her children, but who had also gotten pretty attached to the kittens. So Mommy went to Daddy and begged him to allow the next ball of fur to live inside. What's a daddy to do with three pleading, whining females on his hands? And that's how Mimi came to live with us. Really live with us. Oh yes, we promised to clean the litter box every day and we meant to do it. Honest! But time went on and you know who ended up taking care of the cat.


Mimi was special. First of all, she was a Hemingway cat - a polydactyl, with an extra toe on each of her front paws. And she talked to us; I'm not kidding. You could hold her in your lap, face to face, and meow at her and she would meow back, every time. The girls just thought that was the funniest thing and always wanted me to send a video of it to AFV (America's Funniest Videos).

Mimi was a big girl at 16 pounds and no doubt owed her girlish figure to successful begging at the table or when we'd eat snacks. She was really good at catching popcorn in her mouth when you tossed her a kernel.

When someone would come to the house, Mimi would disappear and you'd never see her unless she decided to grace you with her presence. She didn't like men very well and eventually she was the gauge by which we judged boyfriends to be worthy of a second date with the girls. If they were okay in Mimi's book, then they were generally okay with us. Such a good protective mommy cat she was!

But in the sixteen years that Mimi lived with us, it was a well-known fact that she was my cat. She loved me best. I could call her and she would come. If I laid down on the couch for a nap, she had to be right there snoozin' with me and not just beside me - she had to have her face right there next to mine. When I had bacterial meningitis in 1999 and spent eight days in the hospital, the girls told me she wandered around the house, mournfully meowing, as if she were calling for me. When I returned home for recuperation, she never left my side for a minute. For the first couple of weeks when the visiting nurses came to give me my daily dose of antibiotic through my pic line, we physically had to move Mimi off my lap because she just wasn't going anywhere. I sure felt loved.

Eventually, Mimi became quite deaf and because of this, she grew to love the Dustbuster almost as much as she loved catnip. She would get a good buzz on with her kitty weed and running the Dustbuster over her fur elicited much the same response. Prior to her deafness, she was scared to death of it.

Arthritis was also not a friend to her and in her last few years, she was unable to jump up on the couch or the bed. She would sit and look into your eyes and meow, then wait patiently for you to lift her up beside you. One of her favorite napping places was at the foot of our bed in the mornings when the sun shone through the east window onto it, and it was here that Mimi spent the last morning of her life.

We had always said if the time ever came that Mimi was unable to use the litter box due to health problems that we would not be able to live with that. For one week in April 2003, we dealt with that very issue and we knew the time had come to make the dreaded decision. Romie and I talked about it and without actually saying it, we made the choice to call the vet. They told us we could bring her in that day.

Kara had to go to work, as did Romie, and Jenna was away at college. That left me to deal with it alone. I'd called Jenna at school to ask if she wanted to come home to say goodbye and she declined, wanting to remember Mimi as she was when she had been home just a couple of weeks earlier. Kara carried Mimi up to our bed and laid her in the sun, then said her tearful goodbye before leaving for work.

My mom was out of town, but I called my dad and asked him to go with me to the vet's and he readily agreed, so I picked him up and we both went in and waited our turn. Mimi fell asleep in my arms and began snoring, which she was prone to do, and Dad and I both grinned at it. Finally, the time came and I took Mimi into the room and as I sobbed and told Mimi what a good kitty she'd been...The Best...she left us.

I walked out with her in my arms as Dad drove back to his house, then I laid Mimi in a little box I had in the passenger seat and drove her home. By the time I got there, Romie was back home from work and he prepared her burial site. In my earlier conversation with Jenna, she had suggested that we bury Mimi in the herb garden under the kitchen window. We grew catnip there and Jenna said that's where she belonged. So it was that Mimi was laid gently to rest under the catnip, wrapped lovingly in one of our dark green bath towels.

The catnip no longer grows there, nor do any other herbs because the trumpet vine has grown over the pergola so much now that it's shaded nearly all day and herbs love sun. But a specially engraved stone now marks Mimi's grave. Mimi left her mark on our hearts long before that.

There have been other family pets before and since, that have found a final resting place in our gardens. Several cats, an iguana, a salamander, two birds, and a tarantula are buried in the vegetable garden. Just more than a year ago, we buried Jinx in the flower garden. I made a simple concrete name marker that is at ground level below a flat stone stood on end that we found as we were digging in the yard last year.

We love remembering our pets this way. They are a big part of our lives and because of them we will live longer than if we had never had them. They've earned their place of honor in our little pet cemetery. This is where they lived and died and live again in our memories.


NEXT: Special Plants For Special People

Lilies of the Field

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
~ Matthew 6:28

I received a bouquet of Asiatic lilies last week. It must have been the coldest day of the week with temperatures in the teens with a cold wind. They were shipped via UPS Next Day and left on our doorstep. I'd seen the UPS truck go by, but wasn't aware that he'd left anything at our place. Probably an hour later, I went out the front door and saw the box sitting there.

As I opened the box and unwrapped the flowers, feeling how very cold they were, I had my doubts that the unopened buds would amount to anything. But I recut the stems and put them in water in the included pottery pitcher and hoped for the best.

Just look at them now!






















Lilies were one of my first obsessions when I became a serious gardener. I already had a yellow asiatic that had been in one of the flower beds for awhile. Then I discovered there were other lilies, like orientals, orienpets, trumpets, martagons. Daylilies, too, although I was to find out that they aren't lilies at all.

Over the last several years, I've had some lovely lilies bloom in our gardens. The orientals are my favorites, because they bloom later in the season when all the other ones are pretty well finished and nothing beats the fragrance that fills the air when they're in bloom. They announce their presence with it.

The hawk moths loved our 'Starfighter' oriental lilies and I discovered this one night two summers ago when I was doing some after-dark watering following a hot dry day. That's not the best time to water, but better then than not at all when the plants are droopy and thirsty. When I saw the moth flitting around in the dim light, I thought it was a small bird. I ran into the house for a flashlight and my camera and I was able to get a couple of pictures of it sipping nectar with its long proboscis.



Of all the lilies we've had, by far the most fragrant and maybe even the most beautiful was 'Muscadet.' For some reason, after just one fabulous season, they didn't return. I plan to buy more though, and will site them in full sun this time, instead of mostly shade as they were before.



For now and until summer and the lilies flower in the garden again, I'll enjoy the apricot blooms of the cut asiatics for a few more days. Jilly seems to appreciate them, too . . .

Update

This is just a quick little post to let you know how all my tests came out. Thank you all for remembering me in your thoughts and prayers and for the phone calls, e-mails and comments asking how I was doing. I am really blessed to have such kind and caring friends, near and far!

As I said before, they suspected hyperthyroidism, due to my symptoms. Initial blood tests indicated that was not it, and the Holter monitor results were also normal. There were other blood tests taken and for the most part, everything is normal, at least for me. (None of us is truly "normal" are we?) I had my follow-up doctor's appointment yesterday and the conclusion is that some medication that I take every day has "worn out its welcome." I agree and had suspected that might be the case. So we are switching to another one and I'm hopeful that will do the trick.

In any case, I'm feeling much better than I was a couple of weeks ago and have hopes that things will continue on the upswing. All in all, life is good!

A Little Spot of Weather

We'll be having a little bit of weather today. Yesterday was unseasonably warm and today will be warmer - nearly thirty degrees warmer than normal. The expected high is to be 65°, which would break the record of 59°, set in 1989. Just one week ago, we were under a winter storm warning, and we're expected to be back to normal temperatures by the end of this week.

Ah, such a roller coaster we're on! On one hand, we love this springtime in the midst of winter, but on the other, we know that it's not a good thing for our gardens. Last winter had such extremes, too, and many people experienced losses because of it. Ideally, we would have snow cover all winter and steady or gradual temperature changes. But then we'd live in the Yukon, right?

Luckily, most plants are pretty versatile and they'll take this moment of springtime in January in stride. When we have days like this, the talk of global warming invariably comes up and discussion ensues. I've already expressed my opinion on this subject, and I don't believe that it's because of global warming that we're having above normal temps right now, but it is a very real concern. We typically only hear about the bad aspects of it, but it has its good points, too.

I came across an interesting article in the 2007 issue of The Old Farmer's Almanac entitled "The Good News About Climate Change." Written by Evelyn Browning-Garriss, this piece lists several advantages we'll experience due to this general warming of our planet. I love this - a glass half-full look at our environment. This is not to ignore the concerns about the negative impact global warming will have, but hey, we know there's always two sides to every story. I urge you to read the whole story, but here are the highlights, excerpted:


Warmer weather is healthier. A study by American doctors estimated that a warming of 4.5° would reduce the annual death rate in the U.S. by 40,000 and annual medical costs by $20 billion per year. Different studies have concluded that the decrease in cold-related deaths would be much greater than the rise of heat-related deaths.

Warmer temperatures save energy. Most of the warming we've had has been in the form of warmer nighttime and winter temperatures. In addition, locations closer to the poles have experienced greater warming than those nearer the equator. Northern cities have warmed more than southern ones. If energy prices remain constant and we enjoy the weather predicted for the 21st century, energy costs for heating and cooling will be cut by at least $12.2 billion annually.

Water is more abundant. Warmer air holds more moisture. Global warming will mean more condensation and evaporation, producing more and/or heavier rains. Warmer temperatures also means the moisture will be carried further inland before it cools enough to precipitate out as rain or snow, bringing life-saving moisture to previously parched areas in Asia and Africa.

Plants thrive in heat and CO2. The warmer air is lengthening growing seasons. Warmer air usually holds more moisture. Increased man-made and natural CO2 increases photosynthesis. The gas indirectly acts as a fertilizer and increases plant growth, especially in plants like wheat, rice and soybeans.

Arctic shipping routes will save time and energy. As the ice melts, new waterways are being freed up, saving time, energy and money. Airlines already use routes over the North Pole. The melting ice has also allowed access to new oil and gas fields located in the Arctic.


So, while there are certainly issues to global waming that will be detrimental and should not be ignored, it's not all gloom and doom either. The earth has always been in a state of change and we'd better learn to change with it. Living things have an amazing ability to adapt and while we may lose some species, think about this - we don't have dinosaurs anymore either.

_____________________
Evelyn Browning-Garriss, editor of the Browning Newsletter, has been writing, speaking, and consulting about the social and economic impact of climate change for more than 30 years. She tracks weather trends and cycles from her office in New Mexico.

Green Thumb Sunday - Amaryllis 'Lemon Lime'

Hippeastrum 'Lemon Lime'

The first Amaryllis bloom of the season opened for me right before Christmas. It was the 'Lemon Lime' bulb I'd bought in November. Shortly after potting it up, it put out two flower stalks. Yesterday I cut the first one off because it was done blooming, just as the second one is preparing to open. 'Lemon Lime' is considered a dwarf amaryllis, typically growing to a height of 16-20 inches. Bloom size measures approximately 4-5 inches across.

'La Paz', a cybister amaryllis, is the only other one I've got potted up right now and it's just beginning to open. This bulb is one of the very first amaryllis I ever grew, having purchased it in the fall of 2005.

During the summer, my bulbs are put into the ground in full sun so they can beef up for blooming the following winter. I lift them in late September, before first frost, and they're then stored in the basement until I pot them up again.

Join

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

I've mentioned woodpeckers before and how we can go outside at pretty much any time and listen to their rat-a-tat-tatting. This morning, I didn't even need to leave the house to enjoy one of the species that frequents Our Little Acre.

About 25 feet from the family room window is a maple tree that turns the most gorgeous shade of yellow in the fall. It's leafless right now, but it looked attractive to a Red-Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus). Romie noticed it first, and we both thought it was a Red-Headed Woodpecker because it had a red head! Logical, right?



Our woodpecker indeed had a read head, but not entirely, as the red-headed does. Apparently, ours also has a spot of red on its lower abdomen, but it's difficult to see. The male has a red stripe down its head and nape of the neck, whereas the female only has it on her neck.

This is one of several woodpeckers common to our part of Ohio, and it feeds on sunflower seeds, suet, and fruit. We'd just filled the feeders on New Year's Eve with sunflower seeds, so we're probably pretty popular with the woodpeckers right now.

It's a vocal bird and not easily scared away by humans. I've heard their call many times and wondered what bird it was making all that noise. Now I know!

Plant Delights and Dreams

Here we go again. Every winter, as the new plant and seed catalogs make their way to my mailbox, I sit and make a mental list of those things I think I'd like to have for the gardens this year. As I turn each page, I secretly hope that what meets my eyes is mundane or even ugly. I sometimes rejoice when I find that it's not suitable for my zone. Why do I do that?

It's kind of like shopping for clothes. Sometimes I'll try on an outfit I've fallen for just so I can rule it out. If it doesn't fit or doesn't look good on me, then I don't have to feel bad if I can't afford to buy it. This applies to plant shopping as well. If it's nothing special and I can't grow it here, then that puts it out of the running for my list of wants.

That list just gets way too long every year. I couldn't possibly afford it all, nor do I presently have garden space for even a fraction of it. That doesn't stop me from acquiring a few new things, however. There's always room for Jell-O and a new plant for the garden, so I make lists and then winnow them down to something remotely realistic.

Right now, the object of my attention is the new Plant Delights Nursery catalog that arrived here yesterday. It's a joy just to look through and read this publication because those folks are very creative in the way they describe the offerings contained within its covers. Oh, and the cover itself is always pretty entertaining, too.

CATALOG PRICE:
10 STAMPS OR A BOX OF CHOCOLATES

I had the pleasure of seeing some of what Plant Delights has to offer when Mom and I went to Garden Fair at Winterthur, Delaware in the fall of 2006. They had an extensive offering at a vendor's booth there and we both made some purchases. I feel they're a bit pricey, but they do have some unusual things and that usually means it costs more.


Here's what has caught my eye this year, with names and accompanying links so you can check them out further:

Parsley-leaf Japanese Windflower

Anemone hupehensis 'Crispa'

Hardy Ground Orchid
Bletilla striata 'Murasaki Shikibu'















Hardy Calanthe Orchid
Calanthe discolor (Zone 6b-9)

This one is rated a full zone warmer than ours, but I've got a microclimate on the south side of the house that I'm pretty sure would be okay for this. It's at the upper range of my spending limit though.

Corydalis 'Berry Exciting'


Speckled Lacebark Elm
Ulmus parvifolia 'Variegata'


Japanese Wood Poppy
Glaucidium palmatum

Hibiscus 'Peppermint Flare'

Mallow 'Peppermint Flare'

Sandhills Fire Lily

Lilium pyrophilum

Just when I thought I was satisfied with the several hostas I've got...

Hosta 'Marilyn Monroe'

Hosta longissima 'Manzo'

Hosta 'Electrocution'

Introduced by Plant Delights' own Tony Avent

Hosta 'Chickadee'

Yet another Tony Avent hybrid

Hosta 'Risky Business'

Tony had his hand in this one, too.


Hosta 'White Wall Tire'
More Tony!

Aching Tongue Iris
Iris 'Aichi no Kagayaki'


Paeonia 'Pastel Splendor'
This is an intersectional peony, which is a cross between an herbaceous peony and a tree peony. It costs a lot, but in the peony world there are many that cost more than twice as much as this one.


Catesbey's Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia x catesbaei

Hot Lips Sage
Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips'








Striped Sedum
Sedum alboroseum 'Mediovariegatum'

Hab Gray Stonecrop

Sedum telephium ssp. reprechtii 'Hab Gray'














Prairie Fire Catchfly
Silene regia 'Prairie Fire'

Last year, while we were out in a local woods geocaching, we came upon a native catchfly that looked just like 'Prairie Fire.' I knew right then that I wanted it for my garden. I've found a source for seeds, which I'll be planting this spring.

I like this one, too:

Silene 'Rockin Robin'


Toad Lily 'Lunar Landing'
Trycyrtis affinis 'Lunar Landing'


Beaked Blue Yucca
Yucca rostrata
Now this is one that although it's hardy to our zone (5), I have a hard time picturing it in our gardens. It looks too tropical, I think, for use as a perennial in our northern location. On the other hand, if you planted the right companion plants, it could look pretty fabulous.

So now you see what goes on in my head when I look through just one catalog of tempting plants. And there is a pile of about fifteen more sitting on the dining room table. I'm willing to bet the same thing happens to my fellow plantaholics - "Ooh, I must have that! And that one, too! Oh boy, look at this one!" and so on and so forth. If non-gardeners just realized the amount of restraint we exercise with this banquet of choices staring us in the face, they'd think we're even more obsessed than they thought.

Oh well.

_____________

All photos are from Plant Delights Nursery website, except the front cover of the catalog. That's a scan of my copy.
Photo at top of post: Krakatau Rain Lily (Zephiranthes 'Krakatau) (zone 7b-10)

Everything Old Is New Again

While I've been enamored with all the new plant offerings coming to my house via garden catalogs, there are a few that fall into the category I call, "Been There, Done That." It consists of those "new" things that don't look much different to me than what's already out there.

Let's look at roses, for example. I know there's more to a rose than meets the eye (flowering habit, hardiness rating, disease resistance, etc.) and undoubtedly I'll have the rose afficionados pointing out why each of these is so much different from the other, but with some things I just shake my head in puzzlement.

This year, Jackson & Perkins is introducing 'Enchanted Evening' floribunda to their rose lineup.

'Enchanted Evening'

Isn't it hard to get excited about this "new" rose when we've already got these to choose from?

'Angel Face'

'Neptune™'

'Barbra Streisand'


'Fragrant Lavender Simplicity®'

I understand that all of the above are floribundas (the first three) vs. hybrid tea vs. shrub. But I think you understand what I'm saying. And if they all were available to me, which would I choose?

None of them.

They all pale in comparison to the one I lust after:

'Ebb Tide™'

But wait ... maybe I really want 'Burgundy Iceberg™'

Or 'Rhapsody In Blue'

Or 'Midnight Blue™'

______________________________
Photo credits: 'Enchanted Evening' - Jackson & Perkins; 'Angel Face' - Wayside Gardens; 'Neptune™' - Weeks Roses; 'Barbra Streisand' - Weeks Roses; 'Fragrant Lavender Simplicity' - Dutch Gardens; 'Ebb Tide™' - Weeks Roses; 'Burgundy Iceberg™' - Weeks Roses; 'Rhapsody In Blue' - Weeks Roses; 'Midnight Blue™' - Weeks Roses.

Garden Dreams

I always wonder what the next year will bring by the time December rolls around again. Some things happen to you and some things happen because of you. Both good and bad of course, but the goal is to have more on the good side of the ledger when all is said and done.

So what do we have in mind for the gardens this year?

• Grapes - I mentioned earlier that I wanted to have our own grape vines. We don't really need to grow them specifically for eating, although we certainly want to do that, too. Last summer, we discovered wild grapes growing just a minute's walk from our back yard, but I love how trained grape vines look and it would be nice to grow a seedless variety or two. I've got plans for 6-8 vines planted in two rows just to the west of Max's Garden and I'm gleaning lots of good information from Ron Lombough 's book, The Grape Grower.
  
  
• Raised Beds - We "inherited" some landscape timber scraps that we plan to use for some small raised beds. I don't yet know where or how or what for, but I've got some dream time before spring in which to come up with a definite plan.
  
  
• South Side of the House - I'm not happy with the landscaping on the south side of the house, so that will undergo a change this year. Right now it's just plain boring and boring has got to go. Again, I'm not certain how I want to change it, just that it needs a change.
  
  
  
• Enlarge the Vegetable Garden - In the past two years, we've found that we don't have enough room for growing the vegetables. In 2006, we even "borrowed" the neighbor's garden plot and shared the crop, although it didn't produce a whole lot. We don't need a lot of extra room, so this shouldn't be a major task.
  
  
• Compost Bins - Now that we're composting, we need an enclosure for it. Bins just never got built last year, so that will be one of the first things to accomplish this spring.

This list will undoubtedly undergo revisions and possibly grow longer over the course of the next few months, but it's a start. And if this is all we accomplish this year, it will be enough. But when I'm working in the gardens, I get inspired and the next thing you know, I'm saying, "Honey, I've got this idea . . . "

This is where Romie just rolls his eyes.

Chapter One - 2008

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."
- Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore. I stopped making them years ago when I realized I never kept them. Why set myself up for failure? Instead, I vow to keep my eyes open for opportunities and whenever possible, take them.

In the last few days, even though what I really wanted to do was stay home, curled up on the couch with one of the kitties and a blanket, watching TVLand reruns of The Andy Griffith Show, we went visiting family.

Sunday afternoon we traveled to Ft. Wayne to daughter Jenna's. She and Joe had purchased new furniture for the family room and we hadn't seen it yet. We met Jenna at the botanical conservatory first, but got there about fifteen minutes before closing, so we just perused the gift shop. I love looking around in there because they have the most unique things and always have nice plants at great prices. Jenna bought a golden pothos for $7 and I left the snowbush I wanted, but purchased a cat Christmas tree ornament.

On New Year's Eve, we joined other daughter Kara and her husband Adam at their house for snacks and general hanging out, which is something we're very good at. We had gotten Kara a game for Christmas - Gardenopoly - and we played it for awhile until something on TV caught our interest and the game was abandoned. What little we played was fun though! Kara had gotten We Are Marshall via Netflix so we watched that (very good!), as well as Robbie Madison's World Record jump. Of course, we had to watch the ball drop in Times Square, officially bringing in the New Year.

All evening we were under a Winter Storm Warning with the potential for up to 12 inches of snow with strong winds. When we woke up this morning, however, we only had gotten a dusting. I hate it when that happens.

For lunch today, we joined Mom and Dad at their house, along with Grandma, for pork and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes. This is a tradition common to the Pennsyvania Dutch (Amish) and is supposed to bring good luck when eaten on New Year's Day. The tradition states that pork is to be eaten because New Year's Day is a time for looking forward and a hog cannot look back. I'm not sure I believe in luck, but it sure can't hurt to eat good food like that.

We watched the birds at the feeders and while there were juncos and nuthatches and other birds I couldn't identify, it was the cardinals that held my attention. To see such vivid red in the midst of the gray and brown of winter is stunning. The snow swirling about didn't deter them in the least; it merely added to their beauty for those of us that were observing them.

While we were eating, the snow started up again and by the time we left for home, it was blowing around out there pretty well. We were glad to get back home and hunker down for the evening. I got to spend some time on the couch with my kitties and the blankie after all.