Protect Yourself!

Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

~ Mary Schmich

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. It's fairly well-known that too much time in the sun unprotected can lead to skin cancer. As gardeners, we love nothing better than to be out on a beautiful warm sunny day, digging in the dirt.

I've never been particularly diligent in using sunscreen or wearing protective clothing while outside, whether I'm working in the garden or lounging by the pool. I've always loved having a tan, and in my younger days, worked very hard at getting one. Now that I'm about to turn 50, I regret all those careless times when I got burned. I never gave it a thought back then that there might be consequences later in my life. Like wrinkles.

I have not only crow's feet, but lots of little crinkly lines below my eyes as well. I've lectured my girls about wearing sunscreen, avoiding tanning beds, and using moisturizer. They'll thank me later, if not now.

But wrinkles are nothing compared to melanoma. The most deadly of skin cancers, it's nearly 100% curable if caught in time, but if it's not, the curability rate goes down considerably. We all have moles and freckles, but if one starts changing or growing or a new one appears and doesn't look quite right, get it checked. Better safe than sorry.

About four years ago, my dad had a spot on the top of his head and my mom happened to notice it while he was bent over tying his shoes. She mentioned it and he passed it off, saying it didn't bother him and not to worry. A couple of months went by and it got bigger. She was insistent that he get it checked and when he did, the biopsy came back saying malignant melanoma. After two surgeries, one involving a skin graft, and being checked every four months, my dad is so far cancer free. If my mom hadn't insisted on him getting the spot looked at, my dad would undoubtedly not be with us today.

Romie too has had experience with skin cancer due to sun exposure. He is in the process right now of having treatment for squamous cell carcinoma on the side of his face. We were shocked when his biopsy came back positive for cancer and for a type that has potential for metastasis. But his was caught early, too.

The best way to help prevent skin cancer is to stay out of the sun, but that's not practical. So when you head out to spend time in the garden, wear protective clothing and wear sunscreen.

Kara and Jenna, are you listening?

First Butterfly

I saw the first butterfly in the garden yesterday. It was a species I've seen many times, but I've never bothered to look up what it is. Now I know. It was a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta). It flitted around too much for me to get a picture of it, but it looked exactly like this one:

Photo by Steven Round

I expect to see a lot of butterflies this year. We have many flowers that attract them; in fact, our garden is a certified Monarch Way Station. Last year, we had oodles of Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) and many Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (Papilio glaucus). Probably those most in abundance were the Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) and the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).




Flowers and bushes that attract butterflies include:

• Aster
• Lilac (Syringa)
  
• Coreopsis
• Phlox
• Verbena
• Sedum
• Rock Cress (Arabis)
• Rue (Ruta)
• Daisy (Leucanthemum)
  
• Bee Balm (Monarda)
• Dead Nettle (Lamium)
• Coneflower (Echinacea)
• Butterfly Bush (Buddliea)
• Butterfly Weed (Asclepias)
• Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium)
• Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa)
• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
  
  

Some of the plants provide nectar for the butterflies and some of the plants are hosts for them to lay their eggs and for the hatching caterpillars to feed upon. Some plants serve both purposes.





Monarchs are diminishing in number due to pesticides and insecticides being used so extensively, as well as their natural habitats being eliminated. They feed almost exclusively on milkweeds, which used to grow in abundance alongside roads and highways, but due to mowing practices, are not allowed to grow to maturity. Urbanization has also lessened the number of locations in which Monarchs can flourish. This is why the Monarch Way Station program is so important.




Other photos, top to bottom: Cabbage White on Asters; Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar; Monarch caterpillar; Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Happy Birthday, Kara!

I hope you have a wonderful day, my little Punkin Tayta. I can hardly believe it's been 27 years now since you were born and made me a mom. More specifically, a MoM. *wink* One of these days, you'll be having little ones of your own and you'll get to experience all the joys they bring for yourself.

Today, I want to tell you how much I enjoy sharing the love of gardening with you. You're really just a couple of years behind me in your enthusiasm for it, so a lot of things we're discovering together, just as we did with life when you were growing up. Parenting is kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of thing, and gardening can be a bit that way, too. There are so many variables with both, that even though volumes of books have been written on parenting and gardening, some things you just have to learn by experience.

I should have known that you would eventually come to love gardening. Your grandma has always had flowers and as a little girl, you helped her in her garden. She probably was the one that planted the initial seed within you, since I was too busy with other things at that time to really garden much. But we'll make up for lost time, I'm sure. Maybe you can go to one of the big flower shows with Grandma and me. How fun would that be? Three generations of gardeners turned loose amid the flowers and plants and garden decor...

Do you know how proud I am
Of the woman you've grown up to be?
I don't wanna brag, but admit that I grin
When they say you're a "Mini-me"!

~Cathy Curtis-O'Connell Ayon


I love you all the numbers!