The Lutheran Church May Depend Only on the Laity in the Future - The Clergy Are Too Lazy and Comfortable

Spring Observations - A Wonderful Place To Live - Springdale Arkansas

 Norma A. Boeckler

We had some rain today and more is coming, but our friends around the US are shocked we have such warm weather. As Mrs. Ichabod said on the way to the reunion, "It is a long way north to Moline, Illinois."

Another benefit we have is having the worst storms go north of us (bound for Joplin and St. Louis) and south of us (Ft. Smith and Little Rock).

The first green I noticed was a weed poking out of the mulch. Next the daffodils emerged from the mulch and in the mulch. I pulled pine needles from among the flowers we had on the altar yesterday. Mrs. Gardener is enjoying them now.

 Grape Hyacinths are not grapes and are not hyacinths,
but they bloom early and smell sweet.

The only other bulb plants in flower now are the grape hyacinths.

The roses began to leaf out a few weeks ago. They are surprisingly hardy plants and scoff at the cold. Now their leaves are green. The first order of bare root Easy Does It is already in the front yard, and now I wish I had the second order in as well. But I learned that ordering a lot of roses is much easier than digging them into damp clay and maple tree roots.

The dripping rain is good for the canes of the new bare root plants. The inches of rain coming will speed up the renaissance in the soil - bacteria, mold, protozoa, earthworms, moles, and many more soil creatures. Tons of nitrogen fertilizer will fall from the sky - as rain - and green up the newest plants and restart the perennials.

I now have more crepe myrtles, with a bargain shipment last year. I gave away four of them to our lawn crew and our daughter-in-law. Still I will have them growing along the Gardener fence and the Wright front yard. They are late to start, late to bloom, but steady in flowering the rest of the summer.

 The Mother of All Crepe Myrtles was almost upstaged
by two crops of Buckwheat.

I dumped wheelbarrows of leaf fragments from the street at the base of the Mother of All Crepe Myrtles. Each year I dote on it and get rewarded with a stunning display, often a second full bloom. I piled organic matter up to see if the pyramid would flatten out again. For that to happen, the soil creatures must pull down the flakes of leaves and digest them. Earthworms and mites do most of the work. The pile is already flattened and should be a normal blanket soon.

Caladiums will grow under the myrtle, their color protected by the shade.

Many bushes are leafing out now - Elderberry, Butterfly, Gooseberry, Spice Bush. The mints are just starting to wake up. I saw some green in the Cat Mint. Parsley was the last to go dormant in the fall and is now the first to green up.

Trump memes and more to share | Churchmouse Campanologist

Q - how do you find such great graphics, ChurchMouse?

Trump memes and more to share | Churchmouse Campanologist:





"This will be my last political post before Easter.

Below are useful memes and a brief news update which can be discussed with family, friends and — for those online — readers."



'via Blog this'

What Would Jesus Rationalize? (Gwen Moritz Editor's Note) | Arkansas Business News | ArkansasBusiness.com

 "Thompson’s story topped the front page the next morning. That was just four days after he blew my mind by reporting that the FBI believed Wilkins’ briber, lobbyist and mental health care executive Rusty Cranford, had tried to hire a hit man to kill a co-defendant in the embezzlement case that has him in custody in Springfield."

What Would Jesus Rationalize? (Gwen Moritz Editor's Note) | Arkansas Business News | ArkansasBusiness.com:



"Micah Neal, the former state representative from Springdale, pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks in return for steering grants from the state General Improvement Fund to Cranford’s company and to Ecclesia College. Jon Woods, the former state senator from Springdale, is accused of the same and will be tried next month, along with Ecclesia President Oren Paris III and a mutual friend, Randell Shelton Jr. of Alma.

According to the indictment, Paris suggested in a text message that “a good selling point” when encouraging “conservative legislators” to route GIF money to Ecclesia was it “produces graduates that are conservative voters.”

Imagine the righteous outrage if Democratic legislators argued that taxpayers should support Hendrix College — an affiliate of the United Methodist Church — because it produces a lot of liberal voters. But Woods was not outraged. His texted response to Paris: “Agreed.”

I will note that Wilkins resigned as soon as his corruption became public, even though he has not yet been charged with a crime. And he even expressed regret in his letter of resignation: “I am profoundly sorry that my own actions make this resignation necessary.”

Now, I know that seems like the least a corrupt elected official could do upon being found out, but Neal did not resign upon pleading guilty. (His term as state representative expired days later.) And Jake Files continued to draw a salary as a state senator for almost a year after he admitted to the Democrat-Gazette that he had submitted fake bids for a construction job that was being paid for with GIF money he directed."

'via Blog this'

The Care of Roses - Listen Up! - Creation Gardening Is So Much Easier and Cheaper Than Gardening Center Slavery

 Norma A. Boeckler - yes this is a painting.

I am just going to briefly note some things about the care of roses. The best thing most people can do is stop the toxins and prune a lot more.

Planting Roses
Either roses are in pots or they arrive bare root. I am keen about soaking plants in rainwater for hours, even overnight, before planting.

Pruning is always good for roses. I prune the roots and the canes when planting. The ones I pruned the most also popped their leaves first. Listen up - roses love to be pruned. They go to sleep when not pruned.

They are thirsty for water, so newly planted roses should have their canes watered every other day or so, every day if windy.

Listen up! - Do not fertilizer roses with that garbage they sell in hardware stores, gardening centers, etc. That green grainy stuff has little long-term effect and does a lot of damage to the balance of God's Creation. Mulch will be pulled down by soil creatures, and they like leaf fragments, compost, wood mulch, newspaper, and cardboard. Newspaper held in place by wood mulch is useful and attractive.

The War Against Aphids and Chewing Pests
In my garden, aphids go for the white roses and Peace first of all. I leave them alone, because the beneficials will feast on them and set up a happy household nearby. They are not fast to arrive, but they do their jobs. Later the same roses will be almost damage free.

Listen up! Insecticides and fungicides are banned from Creation Gardens. They wipe out beneficial life above and below ground.

Birds, spiders, and toads are assets for the Creation Gardener. They are like military specialists, each group having their own specialty. A lack of toxins and an abundance of food, shelter, and water will favor all the good creatures. The birds sing for joy when I enter the front or back. Either I will feed them or water the plants to help them bath and search for worms.

Continuous Pruning - Continuous Growth
Some people really need to study John 15. Nothing grows on dead wood and blackened stems. Dead wood is not neutral. It drags down the vitality of the bush. Summer means continuous harvesting of roses and pruning  the dead wood. Cutting a rose bloom or a bud means the plant will grow above and below for new ones. Leaving them alone means letting them go to seed and go to sleep.

Listen up! The flowering branch is cut to make it even more productive. The dead wood is cut off and thrown away. KnockOut roses especially respond to pruning. Cut 30% away, that growth will be back quickly with dozens of blooms.

Look for the Death Star - the empty bud with the petals fallen away. That means the rose is done blooming ready to form a hip, a seed pod. KnockOuts are so prolific that Death Stars are all over the plant. Cut them off short, cut them off long, snap them off with fingers.

Roses Are Not Members of the Cactus Family
Listen up! Roses need a good watering at least once a week. I do not just water the base, but give them a good shower as well. Falling petals will give away spent blooms, something to prune away later when the plant dries. Do not prune wet plants.

I Do Not Treat for Blackspot and Never Worry about It
My roses are almost free of blackspot. If I have some ugly leaves on the ones for the vase, I cut them away.

Roses and Hostas and Mulch - Oh My! Roses Go Postal

Roses and hostas and mulch - oh my!

I feel relaxed enough to start writing more Creation Gardening posts.

I am limiting my plant selection to roses and hostas and Joe Pye Weed. The Easy Does It roses soaked first in the rain barrel. I obtained some hostas last fall so they can enjoy sun/shade of the front yard.

As gardening books have pointed out, hostas will get along in deep shade, but that makes people want to limit them to planting under trees. We have a distant neighbor who fashioned most of their shady front yard out of hostas, and it is very appealing. But hostas like sun too, and their prime appeal for me is their production of flowers that hummingbirds adore.

The only problem with sun and hostas is from colorful ones being bleached out by too much sun.

I am thinking of hostas as the plants between roses, because the living roots of plants will hold water and fertilize the soil. Most of the organic material in soil comes from roots, so all roots matter.

I have various mints to divide. They are clumping plants, so they do not take over the way catnip does. I can share them with other gardeners too. They can make tall or large mounds once they are growing well. Mountain Mints are tall and large when established.

 Creation Gardening
The cover design and illustrations are by Norma A. Boeckler.

Roses Go Postal
The mailman began a discussion with me about roses. His wife does not like to prune at all. Since he  had a few houses left on the cul-de-sac, I went to find Creation Gardening and gave him two copies. "So YOU wrote this?" I said, "Yes, those are my roses in the book."

Yes, I just told this story, but some of you do not read and memorize everything in this blog - to your peril.

I look my own photos of roses and think, "I grew that? Wow!" Like everyone else, I am stunned by the beauty of roses. I often tell people, "God grew them. I just dug a hole, watered, and pruned them."

As St. Paul wrote, "Sow abundantly, reap abundantly."

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9:6

I do not recall Paul saying, "Plan abundantly, grow bigly."

I coddled the roses for the winter, with collars and mulch protecting each one. However, four died. When someone says, "Why?" I have to respond, "I don't know. They don't leave a note."

But if I have a large number of bushes, I will have plenty to share with others, far beyond what we need for ourselves and the altar. When the landlord's repairman comes by, I give him a rose vase with roses for his mother. She loves them. We have many stories from people around town about roses being shared and enjoyed. They get  Creation Gardening free if they are interested.

 Bride's Dream - largest hybrid tea rose.

Buying Roses

When ordering roses -

I like Edmund's Roses; Jackson and Perkins roses are too expensive.

I favor fragrant roses because everyone wants to enjoy the various kinds of scents coming from the bloom. If they get  a few Peace (no fragrance) with one Mr. Lincoln, they think the scent-bomb is from the whole bunch.

I favor red roses over yellow because of blackspot being more active in yellow roses. Mr. Lincoln is inexpensive and grows like a weed. Fragrance - chokingly strong.

 Easy Does It - sunset colors, constantly blooming.

Veterans Honor is the most perfect red rose ever and lasts forever in a  vase. The canes are not as strong as Mr. Lincoln's.

 Veteran's Honor red set off by Pope Paul II white.
The background is Sassy's limo - 1994 Lincoln Town Car.

Floribundas are going to give more color in the garden, so they are the best choice for that outcome. Some - like Easy Does It - also produce great roses for the vase.

Pope John Paul II is a splendid pure white rose - and prolific in the garden, but wilts fast when cut.

 Fragrant Cloud - Duftwolke - ranks with Mr. Lincoln
in rose fragrance. The color is kinda orange, kinda brick, much more attractive than descriptions allow. The shape of the bloom is exquisite.

Use Insecticide Indoors, Beneficial Bug Plants Outdoors
Toxins do not belong in the garden. The more we favor the beneficial bug plants - and attract birds with food, baths, and resting areas - the more our favorites will be spared.

Let's say a particular beneficial insect kills the creatures that eat up roses. (Don't forget spiders helping out.) Would you not want to have a strong, willing, hungry army of pest-easters ready for the next round of blooms? That is God's design, which panicky gardeners mess up by killing everything in sight.

If the beneficial bug eats those destructive critters, his family will settle in the area and plot more stratagems against the next invasion. The benefits are exponential, as people have seen from perfect roses handed to them, sometimes with little Hover Flies still trying to do their jobs.

 Two of my college students fell in love and became engaged,
so I put two Falling in Love roses in a vase and delivered them the day they announced their engagement. We attended their wedding.

 Falling in Love has a white reverse and great fragrance too.