Thursday, April 22, 2010

Earth Day 2010


Earth Day. Wow. Huge concept. I need to scale it down to something I can grasp. Like seeds and plants right here in my yard, and dirt right here under my nails. If one observes Nature at work, it is astounding how instructive, constructive and destructive it all is. 
I found this maple seedling in my flower bed and marvel that this tiny thing could become a towering tree like the one it fell from. If I let it...which is the crux of the issue.
Some days I feel like I will take control of my tiny environment and other days, I just feel lucky to be allowed to coexist with all the creatures/plants here before I invaded. Especially at 2am when the howling coyotes woke me up.
Recently we have had a few fires along the road, which has chased a turkey out of its environs. I have seen him three times,  pecking along the highway. Big and not all that attractive, but still he has his own beauty, and I feel a thrill knowing I am his neighbor. I don't know if the fires were set or a random cigarette tossed out the window, but it is pretty ugly  and depressing to see the burnt pines.


Back in our yard, I am trying again with delphiniums, since two of the four from last season have returned. This new blue one is robust and I found it at KMart of all places. I have a safe-from-voles spot to plant it.

I'm pretty excited to see my hosta returning bigger and better than ever. I move them around like I do furniture indoors. And since they seem to flourish here, I cannot help adding new specimens to the bed. Mostly I go for HUGE, but I just fell in love with this staying-tiny Blue Mouse Ears. If a plant can be adorable, this one is. Hosta do get flowers, but really, who cares. I love them for their vigor, dependabilty and that they love shade.

 I came home with 11 new goldfish yesterday. Cleaned out the new pond and removed a few furry dead fish from the water. eeeoouww. I am learning how to care for them, if it kills me. We may have made a mistake siting this pond under the redbuds, since their falling petals continue to clog up the water pump, and stopping its function. It's always something.

Rain is hoped for this weekend and I think it will make a major improvement on things. Hand watering only goes so far. A long shower makes everyone happy.

Pssst! If you are not into gardening, today might be a good day to declutter. I saw this link on my fave, the Empress of Dirt blog and think it bears sharing.

3 comments:

  1. The delphinium reminds me of Juanita's dye-painted flower quilts. You can almost see where she quilted the petals!!! Your yard is gorgeous!

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  2. Maybe you need a screen over your little gold fish "bowl" to keep the redbud debris out? Good luck with the future fish. If you lived closer, I'd give you some from our pond.

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  3. I was thinking screen, too.

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