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| Full color - illustrated by Norma A. Boeckler |
I read that Jaguar owners once bragged about how difficult their cars were, photographing their frequent and inexplicable mechanical problems. Complaining was a bond they shared.
Gardeners are often in perpetual mourning for the disasters they created or the ravages of weather and pests. I was going to add up mine until I saw so many wonders from trying various plants and approaches.
By accident I found Jessica Walliser's book on beneficial insects and became a Facebook friend.
By accident I ran into Lowenfels' epic book on the astonishing work of fungus in the soil.
Both authors, whether they claim it or not, provide great proofs for Creation Gardening.
Grandfather Jackson raised beautiful roses in Florida and developed a seedless tomato, the second accomplishment a family legend. The dark secret was - my uncle lost the only specimen.
Grandfather Parker was also a farmer; he went to the University of Illinois to study agriculture. Both grandfathers lost their farms in the Great Depression, hosted by the Federal Reserve Private Bank.
What startled Mrs. Ichabod was my sudden transformation into a gardener in Midland, Michigan, along with reading all the organic gardening books (Rodale, etc) in the Grace Dow Library.
Christina decreed that our front yard here should be all flowers, so I have been developing it for almost 10 years. Members cheer the appearance of various roses on the altar. Our medical friends and neighbors enjoy getting them. Sunday is rose day for the mothers on our block.
Roses were an early goal, and many have shown their glory for a time. The biggest surprise is Easy Does It - a fountain of sunset colored roses all summer.
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| Veterans Honor and John Paul II. |
The current favorite for all qualities is Veterans Honor, shining like a jewel wherever it blooms.
Naturally I bought red wiggler earthworms to improve, aerate, and move the soil. I avoid churning the soil with machines, using chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
My mother showed me beneficial insects, but Jessica Walliser taught me the way to grow plants to support them. Daisies, Joe Pye, Cat Mint, Borage, Clethra, Dandelions, Chaste Tree, and other plants feed and harbor pollinators and beneficial insects.
Almost Eden (my neighbor) sold me a number of plants, and it took some time to appreciate all of them.
In any given year, the results seem unimpressive. But worthwhile new plants are barely starting out, and it may not be their favorite weather year.
Hostas are a good example. I bought some and transplanted others from Mrs. Gardener. Mr. Gardener gave me the first ones.
The survivors are plump, spreading, and ready to grow Hummingbird Feeders. Those are the flowers of spikes grown by Hosta, magnets for Hummers.
I was contrite over buying 10 more Joe Pyes, but I decided that would be the anchor plant for our neglected back garden, now being conquered by blackberries. (Don't get me started.) Ranger Bob will get one JP. The multiple-failure butterfly garden will get two, and seven will fill the back garden.
The military-gardening club liked Joe Pye best of all, and that is before blooming, when beneficial insects and butterflies flock to it like WELS pastors at a Blatz beer sale.
And the bulbs! I added Oriental Lilies and Stella D'Or this year. Previous Daffodils were great this spring, so they may be an army next year.
Every project involves labor, disappointment, and pain. The charm of the Creation Garden is the leverage of divine principles not being thwarted by dumb human ideas. Every flower, weed, insect, and animal has a purpose. I scorned the common Shasta Daisy - until I saw beneficial flies on the blooms the moment they appeared. (Thanks, Walliser) I saw aphid damage shrink to almost nothing on the roses. Some roses have little spiders inside, taking care of themselves but also giving me flawless blooms.
I teach Old Testament students year around - toward an MA in theology. The students generally agree with me that churches operate on a business model of programs rather than the one and only Biblical model of the Gospel Word being preached and taught.
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| Beauty Berry - from Almost Eden. |
