 |
| Veterans Honor is flanked by John Paul II. Veterans Honor keeps its bloom in the vase for a week or more. JPII fades overnight in the vase. |
"When are you ever going to bloom?" I asked my favorite perennials this morning, after almost 3 inches of rain. They remained silent.
Plants have a given time to bloom and fruit (grow seed). Lawn grass flowers and fruits, but few notice. My mother would urge us to mow the lawn because "It's already going to seed!" I thought that was good for more grass, but my excuses were skewered in the logic of "or else."
That is why monoculture lawns are so boring - there is no plot, especially with the help of liquid lawn care salesmen - no more weeds!
 |
| By Norma Boeckler |
Every creature and plant has a schedule, embedded in the organism since Creation, embedded by the Word. John 1:3
Opponents concluded from the headline, "He is going to call himself a genius in timing." No, the genius is the One who created everything and included the software to make it run smoothly, even to the point of repairing the ocean of soil abused by man.
Lawns are not necessarily boring. They are fertile pastures for many plants, insects, and birds. The first to bloom and stay blooming (and fruiting) all summer are the Wild Strawberries. They provide pollen for the bee and fruit for the birds very early in the season and continue all summer.
The "weeds" that so many despise are the ones that appear early, show some color, and go away. I was trying to learn the ones here, but settled for the all-inclusive label used by Almost Eden - "They are weeds."
Wild Strawberries are very early (along with fall planted bulbs like Daffodil, Tulip, and Crocus). Newly planted bare root roses bloom early too, and I keep them blooming by removing the flowers and distributing them. In contrast, Poke Weed takes most of the summer to flower and fruit, but it can produce hundreds of berries loved by 60 species of birds. Beauty Berry is last to bloom and fruit, providing berries for birds into the winter, much like Myrtle seeds.
 |
| Beauty Berry is a real bully in the garden, now getting into its elephant size in mine. That is why the birds sing Matins so cheerfully in our backyard. |
Bee Balm has only started to bloom. Most of the plants are budded but not sharing any color. Likewise, Joe Pye and Little Joe Pye are budded, tantalizing me. I want to show off their butterfly magnet qualities.
 |
| Clethra - Summer Sweet, or Ruby Spice |
Clethra - the Helen of Troy in garden shrubs - has remained green, grown upward, and fashioned its tiny bottle-brush buds so far, soon (how long?) to flower. I have caught the scent now and can picture myself enjoying that zephyr of fragrance into the late fall. Clethra is the one plant I grow for fragrance, though it is also a tiny-flower star and butterfly/pollinator magnet.
 |
| Bee Balm makes people calm, watching the bees swarm. |
