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| Bee Balm is entertaining, hosting bees as we drink coffee on the front porch. |
Even I gasp at the Rose Garden when I look at the Joe Pye and Clethra growing taller than before, joined by Bee Balm in various sunny places. Joe Pye is headed for nine feet tall. All three are budding and ready to bloom soon. So is Little Joe Pye, conveniently growing around the corner, where the Blackberries once dominated.
Joe Pye flowers are vanilla scented. Clethra is cinnamon and sweetness, sometimes called Sugar Spice. Bee Balm is a mint, so it grows up minty then pulls in the bumblebees with showy blooms of various shapes and color.
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| Joe Pye can be a bully, using up all the sun, but it can be trimmed back so the roses get sunshine, too. |
I told Mrs. Ichabod, "I can't afford the liquid fertilizer we have been getting for free." I imagine we get tons of nitrogen fertilizer from all the rain. The nitrogen compounds are already crafted for immediate use by the plants. The rain energizes the soil creatures, which are essential in recycling organic matter, aerating the soil, and holding the useful minerals in place by their constant existence, feeding on each other, and coming to life again. Soil is an ocean of life fed by fungal strands that move organic matter to plants in exchange for the carbon the fungi need.
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| Clethra is beautiful close up, and this is especially close. At a distance Clethra gives up a cinnamon and sugar fragrance that butterflies and gardeners love. Stand six feet away and wait for the breeze. Cinna-bon! |
I had to study how computer networks carried out their tasks when I was working on the basic Cisco Network certificate and some related certificates. They sound so complicated, but they are nothing compared to the underground network of plants, engineered by their Creator to thrive, revive themselves, work with other plants and creatures, and propagate their own kind.
Ironically, the computer certificates made it easy to get teaching jobs that led me into liberal arts positions. Computer education collapsed after 2000 while lots of courses in world religion, writing, and associated fields were booming.
