Overcoming Gardener's Gloom

Going back, way back to yesterday - the Internet told me there was only a slight chance of rain. I could easily explain why I expected nothing for many days.

The Joe Pye, drooping the previous day from lack of rain, told me how much I was going to be watering with kinked up hoses and a broken sprinkler.

Gardener's Gloom is no different from any other kind. We gather the negative implications, sort through them quickly, and multiply that several times over.

"It's worse everywhere else. You should see how dry it is here." GJ - "Your pneumonia won't cure my cold."

 Sassy waits patiently, only whimpering for her walk every few minutes. This was a time when she offered to clean our plates for us, using her starving dog face.

Sassy herded me out the door extra early. Why, when she often sleeps through the morning post? The sky was almost black from storm clouds, the air was blowing chilly, as if the storm would come any moment.

Sassy hustled her walk for once, so we came home fast. The first few drops caught us near the driveway. I shut the front door behind us, locked it twice, and headed for the lying computer screen. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed as three inches of rain poured down to fill the rain barrels and soak the soil. The backyard became a lake again - Lake Woebegone?

This coming Tuesday a tropic storm from the Gulf will reach up and give us even more rain.

Sudden reversals of bad news should remind us how pathetic our predictive powers are. That is especially true of stretched out, downward trends. Every hospital test, treatment, visit, and stay is lengthy for us - exhausting for the afflicted and family and friends.

When everything seems bad, good indications become hard to imagine. That is why we have to excuse Dame Hulda, Luther's name for human reason, and rely on God's wisdom instead.

Two people met in college, fell in love, and got married. I delivered this vase of Falling in Love roses on their engagement day, and we attended their wedding.

Norma Boeckler is standing in front of her beautiful garden. She has endured three floods since 1986 - she is buoyant.

"We Sing, Immanuel, Thy Praise"

by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676

"We Sing, Immanuel, Thy Praise"
by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676

Tune - Erschienen ist - linked here

1. We sing, Immanuel, Thy praise,
Thou Prince of Life and Fount of grace,
Thou Flower of heaven and Star of morn,
Thou Lord of lords, Thou Virgin-born.
Hallelujah!

2. For Thee, since first the world was made,
So many hearts have watched and prayed;
The patriarchs' and prophets' throng
For Thee have hoped and waited long.
Hallelujah!

3. Now art Thou here, Thou Ever-blest!
In lowly manger dost Thou rest.
Thou, making all things great, art small;
So poor art Thou, yet clothest all.
Hallelujah!

4. From Thee above all gladness flows,
Yet Thou must bear such bitter woes;
The Gentiles' Light and Hope Thou art,
Yet findest none to soothe Thine heart.
Hallelujah!

5. But I, Thy servant, Lord, today
Confess my love and freely say,
I love Thee truly, but I would
That I might love Thee as I should.
Hallelujah!

6. I have the will, the power is weak;
Yet, Lord, my humble offering take
And graciously the love receive
Which my poor heart to Thee can give.
Hallelujah!

7. Had I no load of sin to bear,
Thy grace, O Lord, I could not share;
In vain hadst Thou been born for me
If from God's wrath I had been free.
Hallelujah!

8. Thus will I sing Thy praises here
With joyful spirit year by year;
And when we reckon years no more,
May I in heaven Thy name adore!
Hallelujah!

The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #108
Text: Matt. 1:23
Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1653, cento
Translated by: composite
Titled: Wir singen dir, Immanuel
Composer: Nikolaus Herman, 1560
Tune: Erschienen ist

If Only It Would Rain After the Roses Are Planted

Hosta is loved by Prince Charles, but I grow it anyway. Hummingbirds enjoy sipping from the flowers. My neighbor got me started in growing hordes of them. Slugs eat holes in them in rainy weather.

Our weather reports are consistent - always wrong. Hardly any rain was predicted after the sunny Sunday planting date. However, the rain began and continued, a long slow rain - two inches deep in the wheelbarrow. The greening of older roses was consoling.

Some easy plants are also good for pollinators - bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The same also like nectar, and some plants (like sunflowers) are prolific nectar producers and rich in fragrance.

Hostas do not have the best flowers, but they tolerate shade and attract hummingbirds. They multiply and can be separated to increase their coverage.

Shasta daisies are so reliable and productive that we take them for granted.

Likewise, the humble daisy produces flowers for beneficial insects and grow their roots for easy division and greater numbers of flowers. Many new varieties of Shasta daisies can be found.

Sunflowers are effortless to grow, unless the gardens are overpopulated with squirrels who eat the flowers and bunnies who eat the sprouts.

 Falling in Love is pink and white, fragrant, and extremely thorny. We removed all the English Ivy behind, which was trying to engulf the house and invade the window frames.

Roses in the Creation Garden - Some Basics

 Easy Does It blooms often and steadily in sunset colors, and it has a sweet fragrance.

Ranger Bob knocked on the door, then made scratching sounds. Sassy began barking her hello. She waits at Bob's home for him to come out, when we go on walks. Her look says, "This is my guy."

Bob said, "You better get some sunshine. It's raining tomorrow." I was already getting some things ready for planting roses. They came just before our mini-blizzard, two inches of snow, followed by zero degree temps. I had bare root roses arrive before the bad weather, sitting in barrels inside, water covering the roots. I moved them outside and added rainwater.

Roses can soak a long time, and they looked fine. Some even had green leaves on them.

 Veterans Honor is fragrant, lasts in the vase, and has spectacular blooms. We bought ours to honor cousin and veteran Peter Ellenberger

Why are roses such a good deal? When we plant them, it is their third year - leap year for many plants. When we buy small plants, which cost less per plant, they do very little the first year, a bit more the second, then really grow the third year: year 1 plant, year 2 sleep, year 3 leap.

Bare root roses will bloom one month after planting. Potted roses at the nursery are already blooming. One good, fresh rose sells for $5, sometimes less. One bush can cost $15 - $30. That is a good return, and everyone loves roses.

 Falling in Love is fragrant, pink and white, loved by our friend at the college, also by the couple who met in my classes. I cut two roses for their engagement, and we went to both weddings (the staffer's too).

I delivered cut daffodils to two neighbors. They look good but are not much in the vase until they are giant ones (in my opinion).

Sassy came outdoors to provide perimeter security while I planted. She does this with neighbors when I stop and talk. She positions herself for a view of the street, watches all movement, and shifts around for full coverage.

Bare root roses are easy to grow. I definitely believe in soaking shipped roses for two days, because they need to rehydrate. Mine had a long soak, so I wanted them in the garden before the rain, which supposedly starts at 4 am on the morrow.

Rain is free, safe, liquid fertilizer. Those who love roses will save rainwater or let tap-water stand 24 hours before using, to let the chlorine bleach evaporate out. Chlorine kills microbes, so we want  that gone from the plants when used. Rain has usable nitrogen dissolved in the water.

Our clay soil was damp, and rain was coming, so I did not add water.

I dug holes where I thought they would fit, pruned the canes and roots back, to spur growth, and filled in the soil plus Stinky Peat - peat moss plus manure, aka Peat Compost. I found red wiggler earthworms in the Stinky Peat, even though the bags were left outside all winter.

Meanwhile, I also pruned some of the roses from previous years, to get them started faster. Pruning them energizes their roots and branches. They love prunes.

I will watch the new roses in the coming weeks to make sure they have enough water, mulch, and pruning. Green leaves popping out are a good sign. Some established roses die, no matter what. I dig them out right away. Their empty places are good for new plants of some kind. A few may have gone wild, which means their wild roots are alive but the grafted hybrid tea rose top has died. I will get one set of dark red wild roses from them and dig them out. Wild roses only bloom once a year, and those much ballyhooed old roses are no different. Hybrid roses were able to blend perpetual blooming roses with the larger tea roses for the ones we enjoy today.

We met a gardener at the oncology clinic who did not know about the cure for Japanese beetles or the way beneficial bugs work.

Queen Elizabeth, front and center, is free of scent, but magnificent. Walter Lammerts, a Creationist PhD, developed this rose and Chrysler Imperial. The second rose outlasted the car. Too bad the Concordia Seminary St. Louis faculty has never gardened seriously. They might learn something about Creation, and the Bible has some good things to say about the concept.

Forgot That One Little Detail - Creation Is All About the Details

I set up the coffee maker and began going through the news at 5:20 AM. I check the Drudge Report first, because he drives the broadcast news with 1 billion views per month. I am extremely disappointed in poor writing on the American Spectator and other blogs. My favorite round-up for news is Free Republic, because they link the most important stories and features - good and bad - with the actual titles, followed by commentary.

Free Republic got me started in blogging when they kicked me off for posting that George W. Bush is a liberal. They erased all my posts, some of which were commended as best of the day (quips) or unusually insightful (about Bill Clinton's early connections).

I look for the overnight statistics on Ichabod and check Facebook for birthdays and new developments.

Time for fresh coffee. What? Nothing there. Fresh coffee grounds in the basket - check. Water in the tank - check. Plugged in - check. Power on..... I missed one little detail.

I do this every so often. I complete the early morning coffee making instructions but omit one detail. The loss of any given detail means no coffee - or worse - coffee all over the floor because the pot was not empty when I started it.

Creation Details
No one can list all the details in Creation, since a plant operates like a cluster of chemical factories at the cellular level. In growing roses, I may do less than 1% of all the work involved - and that may easily be boasting.

I do not do more work than other gardeners, but I aim the work to be in harmony with Creation rather than defying the way God made our world, engineered each part, and manages it now.

These are the Four Noble Truths of Rose Gardening

1. Mulching - roses need moist soil and a supply of rotting organic matter.
2. Watering - rain is not enough, and stored rain is the ultimate booster.
3. Pruning - roses love to be pruned and grow even bloomier with extra pruning. John 15:1ff.
4. Earthworming - red wigglers do the most obvious work of gardening, but not all of it.

The first three are ongoing tasks. The last one should be once for all time, but it is fun to buy some additional earthworms and share them with neighbors. I often give them red wigglers before I share plants. 

Weeding is greatly reduced by mulching with organic matter. More important is leaving the soil alone. No one would transplant their favorite rose every few weeks, because we know about roots being left behind and the shock of moving the plant.

But people gladly move the soil all the time and buy huge machines to toss more soil around per second. I stopped at one yard sale where the owner had a mega-tiller for doing just that. And he had a very large tank for spraying herbicides on his lawn. "I don't spray any more because my neighbors have dandelions, so I have to start all over again." I said nothing but thought about four years of leaving the dandelions alone and having almost none. Dandelions are herbs, help the soil, and provide birds with nesting material. Where is the crime, the indictment, the evidence against them?

My wife and I are happy about a wedding invitation for December, a young couple I taught at the local college. Both were home-schooled and excellent students. The bride began college with 40 advance credits toward graduation. One staffer asked me, "Do you know how smart she is?" I responded, "Did I notice the 1,000 watt bulb in the room? Yes." I made the arrangement below for them, but realized they should see it live, not just as a photo. December is too late, unless we have freaky weather this year. So I am taking a new arrangement over in a few days, when they are done with choir tour.

Falling in Love - For Another College Couple Getting Married

I had plenty of roses when I was teaching nearby at Ecclesia College. I dropped them off when I arrived to teach a class.

A staffer in the registrar's office kept asking about a pink, fragrant rose that she loved. I did not know the name because I planted eight different roses from a TV special. All were new names to me, so I was not sure and waited for that one to bloom again. New roses bloom fast but the second bloom can take some time.

One rose did not seem to make it, so I was digging it up. The little tag appeared as I lifted it - Falling in Love. The plant was still alive, so I took care of it. When the bloom appeared, it was pink and white, fragrant.

Later I realized the staffer loved the rose because she was engaged to be married. We enjoyed going to her wedding.

When we expanded the main rose garden, I asked my wife which rose she wanted all the way across, so we had more of one type. She said, "Falling in Love," so I planted them across, East to West.

Two of my students at the college are getting married soon, so I cut two Falling in Love roses pictured above, for Ruth and Bear.