Where Has Randy Been?

I've been terribly tardy with my posting. This time of year the days pass much quicker for me and I find myself more tired than usual. When the leaves start to fall so does my energy level and I have to work very hard to keep myself motivated. Some years are better than others. I sense the air becoming dry and dusty and the colors appear muted and all the brilliant hues disappear. With it, so goes my enthusiasm. Today we got rain, not really enough to amount to anything, but maybe enough to wash out what ever it is in the air that makes me feel so yucky, be it emotional baggage or just the pollen from the golden rod.

The garden is starting to show signs of weariness all over the place. I think I can safely say it has reached its peak. It could use a good haircut in some places, but I still see blooms and I just can’t bring myself to do it. My and Jamie’s lives have been so hectic we’ve been running around like mad men. Hopefully we can dedicate some time to the garden this coming weekend. We do however still have some blooms, so why don’t we take a looks at some of them?

All year I’ve been eagerly awaiting the Monarchs. The Scarlett Milkweed has been blooming its heart out and not a single Monarch. Last year Jamie and I photographed the entire transformation from start to finish. The birth of the butterflies was incredible.



Just when I had given up hope that they would find us this year, they descended on us in huge numbers. One day there were none and the next those three plants were filled with more Monarchs than it was possible to count. I know I probably should have left them alone, but I couldn’t resist the urge to walk out to the plants several times a day. My presence disturbed them so I would be instantly surrounded in a cloud of butterflies. Talk about magic! It was an incredible feeling. They stayed for about three days, several still remain.

Mr. Jamie has decided that he wants to collect Dahlias. ‘Kiss Me’ is the first in his collection and is one of the cultivar from the Happy Single collection. He also has ‘Party’ which isn’t in bloom yet. I love unusual and complicate blooms, but the simple ones also have a special place in my heart. They remind me of the flowers we all drew as children. These plants bloom from summer to frost and are cold hardy 20 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. They grow very fast and can reach heights of 28 inches and spread 18 inches wide. They are low maintenance and require just a little dead heading to keep them going. The foliage on the two we have so far is a deep purple to bronze color.

Our ‘Aztec Lily’ is blooming right now. I was concerned that it may have been one of the plants that had been carried off by the bull dozer. I’m so glad it survived. It’s a member of the Amaryllis family and is a native of Mexico and Guatemala. It’s tropical in nature but can survive winters in zone 8 with some mulch to protect the bulb. Its blooms are brilliant red and can appear from spring to late summer. I’ve read that it tends to put on a better show of flowers when allowed to become a little crowded. It prefers full sun, but can do well in partial shade. Yes, that is a yellow mum it planted by, I know some of you are thinking red and yellow shouldn't be together. Maybe you should explain that to the Cleopatra Canna.

The jury is still out on the Morning Glory Tree. I can’t make of mind if I like it or not. It’s an awful lot of plant for the small amount of flowers that it puts out. My friend Carol and I were talking about it this past week and we wondered if we cut it back in its earlier stages of growth if it might become a little bushier and not so tall. Producing more limbs and more blooms, I guess it’s safe for another year and I’ll give you a report next summer.

Speaking of our friend Carol, one of her favorite plants is Thryallis. This is a fast growing shrub that stays in constant bloom spring through fall. If you love the color yellow and have room in your garden for another shrub, then this is a plant you might want to consider. The tag says it’s hardy to zone 9 but can stand temps to 20 degrees so I think it should survive here in zone 8 with no problems. Time will tell.

Home for the Holidays

Well, another Christmas has come and gone and I can’t help, but wonder what is in store for us in the New Year. This past Sunday, Jamie and I went to my parent’s house to do the holiday thing. My family always gathers together the Sunday before Christmas. In the past we had our dinner on Christmas Eve. Since that was the busiest day of the year for my work I never got to attend so they changed the date. It’s so close to Thanksgiving we don’t have a formal dinner, we choose to have Bar-B-Que instead. Momma cooks seven or eight Boston Butts on the smoker and boils a bunch of chicken to make hash. Lately my youngest sister has had to take over the task of preparing the meal, because Momma is getting older and it’s become too much for her to do. She’s seventy-two now and she has difficulty standing for more that a few minutes at the time. She still manages to get that big ole pot of rice cooked to go with the BBQ and hash. Even if it does wear her out… bless her heart. I’m not really sure how many of us there are anymore. I have six sisters and two brothers, most all have spouses and all have children. If I had to guess I would say there are about sixty of us now. It’s impossible to buy gifts for everyone, so we do Dirty Santa. Monday was Christmas Eve and it’s also my mother-in-laws birthday so we headed north for the day. My parent’s live in the very southern part of the state, Jamie’s live in the northern part and we live smack dab in the middle so it works our perfect for us. Our drive to the holler was a wonderful trip. It’s in the foot hills and beginnings of the Appalachian Mountains. The skies were overcast and the temperature was in the twenties so there was still frost everywhere at nine AM. As far as the eyes could see were hills and valleys of brilliant silver. It was a spectacular vision; I could see magic all around us. On our way in, we stopped at the café Jamie’s family runs and had breakfast with his mom, grandmother, and nine or ten other family members that just happened to be there when we drove up. The rest of the day was spent with his sister and brothers making Christmas/Birthday dinner for his mother. Later that evening we ate, opened presents and visited with his family. I really enjoy my visits and wouldn’t mind living in the holler at some point, even though there is absolutely nothing there other than his family. We spent Christmas day eating left over pizza and veggin’ out together on the couch watching seasonal movies. It was wonderful! It was one of the most restful days I’ve had in a long time. Hope your Christmas was great too!

This summer we were lucky enough to be chosen to host the birth of several Monarch butterflies. Below is a start to finish of the process, from the mother laying eggs to the new butterflies drying their wings. The slideshow has most likely stopped at this point if you want to see the show again click on the first image in the line and then click "yes". You can also get a description of the photo by clicking on the large image. One of the pictures is kind of blurry due to the rapid movement of the larva. It's the best of the images I took of that particular stage, that thing was wiggling like crazy.