Fiber Optic Road Crew Gets Flowers for Their Wives

 

 Enchanted Peace blooms rapidly, grows tall, stays fresh in the vase, and has fragrance.

The cul-de-sac has been packed with construction crews and the ditch-witch. They are installing ATT fiber optic in the front, even though we have Ozark Electric fiber optic in the back.

I was outside with my shears, looking for a few items, so I thought, "Why not share the flowers with the crew?" Earlier a salesman was stunned by the garden, birds, bees, and butterflies.

I filled two large party cups with water and added Enchanted Peace, Butterfly Weed, and a red rose. I walked them across the street and offered them to anyone with a wife or girlfriend. Two of them asked and one said, "My wife will really love this."

I do a tiny bit of weeding each day, but that is mostly to prune away the wilting flowers and the deadwood. Growth is so great this year that I am editing some plants to let more sunlight in for the starters (Honeysuckle, for example). 

That also leads me to say to myself, "Odd flower. I wonder if I planted it or a bird got it started." One recent surprise was mullein, and now I have three mulleins in the area. That got me singing, "Come to me my mullein-coly baby." 

 Mullein grows its flower spike the second year.

National Weed Your Garden Day, 2023 - A Fierce Rebuttal

 

Weeds - Guardians of the Soil is considered a classic in gardening, for good reason.

Written by a Journalism Graduate!

"One of the best gardening tips is to stay in control of your garden. Unfortunately, weeds grow fast, very fast. With inattention, they can soon become overwhelming. Giving daily attention to your garden makes it easier to maintain. Weeding 5 or 10 minutes each day will make the job seem bearable. It might even be enjoyable. This way you will be in control, and the weeds will not!"

The Rebuttal

Almost all weeds improve the soil and benefit wildlife. Some are annoying, but their bad habits can be tamed with an eye to Creation rather than the gardening center's chemical Chernobyls. 

Deep roots (dandelions, Joe Pye, Pook Weed) break up soil, improve the soil, and drill downward to let rain penetrate further.

Shallow roots like wild strawberries fill in bare spots and bloom in the darkest shade, providing tiny brilliant red strawberries for the birds, who respond with free planting chores aided by fertilizer.

Prolific seeds serve as food for wildlife, and they can be tamed, like the dreaded crab grass. The hated crab grass was brought over as a grain producer. When I had a patch where it was growing promiscuously, I laid down cardboard and bales of straw on top. Crab grass ended its monopoly by turning into compost on the spot. Now bee balm and other desirable plants flourish there.

Rank weeds can often be crowded out by clumps of attractive flowers. Once they are established the unwanted weeds can be squeezed out automatically or simply cut low enough to despair of becoming dominant.

Likewise, an unproductive area, such as shallow soil around a maple, can be beautified by the right kind of spreading herb. I am using bee balm under the maple because of shallow tree roots and shallow soil.

Mountain mint defies everything else, so I am letting some flourish while crowding out what I do not want.

Poke berry - that hideous strength or a bird feeder that multiplies? My rules are - 

1. Cut poke off at the soil level in the front gardens.
2. Let them loose to grow in the back gardens, with hosta, Joe Pye, and some Clethra.

Jesus, the Lord of Creation, engineered all the plants and animals to work together. Not unlike our bodies, which are far more complicated, plants swap, share, improve, smother, beautify, and fructify everything. 

I leave most stalks up for the winter. My mother asked why, in Minnesota. I said, "Most birds will land on corn and sunflower stalks to have a safe spot above the snow for spotting food. Meanwhile the roots rot into the soil and improve it."

So I leave with this question - Which is more dangerous ugly?

1. A dandelion herb, which provides lining for the hummingbird nest, wine for the wine-bibber, and a root converted to a coffee substitute?

OR

An angry, desperate gardener storming down the hardware store aisles for the most toxic and long lasting poison he can find. Take a moment to inhale that herbicidal aisle. 

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - “And They All with One Consent Began To Make Excuse.”

 

Click here - Complete Second Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon

16. Now when the hour came to go to the table, that is, when the time came for our Lord Christ to be born, to suffer and rise again from the dead, then the servants went out, John the Baptist and the Apostles, and said to those who were bidden, to the people of Israel: Dear people, hitherto you have been invited, now is the time to come, now the supper is ready! Your Lord Jesus Christ, your Messiah is already born, has died and rose again, therefore do not remain away any longer, come to the table, eat and be happy, that is, accept your promised treasure with joy, who has according to promise delivered you from the curse and condemnation and has saved you. And this message was brought especially to the leaders of the people, who held high places in the spiritual and civil governments. But what did they do with it? “And they all with one consent began to make excuse.”

17. This was a lesson for those guests who sat with Christ at the table, and especially for the good-for-nothing babbler, who wanted to master Christ and preached much about the bread in the kingdom of God; blessed is the man who eats bread in the kingdom of heaven! Yes, Christ answers, do you want to know how blessed you are? I will tell you. The bread is now on the table and the supper prepared. John the Baptist was here, I and my Apostles invite you now to come to the supper; but you do not only stay away, you let the host sit at his great and glorious supper, but you even want to excuse yourselves and yet be pure. Hence it is a twofold sin, not only that you despise the Gospel, but even claim to be doing right, and to be even holy, pious and wise; this is a very grievous sin. It were already too wicked not to believe in the Word of God our Lord; but as they go further and despise it, and yet want to be just besides, is going entirely too far. As our young noblemen also do, who have disgraced and blasphemed the Sacrament and have given to us erring creatures only one part, and at the same time excuse themselves, and claim thereby to have done right. Yea, they also condemn us, and oppress us with all kinds of martyrdom, murder and drive away the people who truly desire to enjoy the whole Sacrament. But let them only pour out their rage hot enough, who knows, who will yet be compelled to sweat in this bath?