COMING SPRING

 The weather has been so unusual this year; this week warm and breezy. Weeding has begun already (?) as some unknown ''thing'' has spread over many many gardens! This is not an easy ''just pull and go'' type of weed; on knees, dig across and under, work it, work it, pull, sift...eventually ''voila!" one weed has bit the dust.  

OH..., a rolling sea of weeds!
       Jump aboard this sea of green,
              and cast away me? but A SHIP I  need!
                      To farther shore MANY days from now, 
                              ANYONE interested?  Please come aboard!      -suzie

Come ''true spring'' there won't be time to weed; preparation for a wedding, recovery from a swimming pool blown down. Yes. Searing winds brought more trees down and, 20,000 gallons of pool water gushed toward the house leaving laden birdseed bins and an asundry other items strewn throughout the lawn. Sarah's boyfriend calls our woods, Chernobyl. Sadly, he is correct; the beauty of the woods is gone. Repetitive unusual storms of 2 years gone by.

Today: walking up the lane a breath of spring tried pouring in...why then such melancholy spirit within..., no laughter-

                                   "YET MY SOUL SEES BEAUTY IN LITTLE THINGS:

                                                     THANK YOU LORD, THESE GIFTS 
                                                                        OF SPRING."

COMING SPRING

Those nodding heads,              

ephemerals,

in white's and pink's,

some green's.

Those winter winds,

emoting me

to thoughts of

coming spring.                               

Does spring bring forth the hope of life,

a salve for broken dreams?

If so, rush past you winter winds,

pour hard gushing tears of rain.

March out to greet those nodding heads
in Hope,             an unfettered, flowing, spring.                -suzie

           


    

TOO SOON GONE

 DICENTRA SPECTABILIS: Bleeding Heart
(Lady in a Bathtub)


Below, in text and photo, all the flowers and ephemerals that I mention in the poem as well as those blooming early spring to midspring here in eastern PA will be eventually featured.





Too soon gone, the Fairy Bells,                                          

the Shooting Stars of wonder;                                           
Then God sent forth the Trillium,                                      
Jacob's Ladder to climb, to ponder.                         
                                                                                    
                                                                                       
Up popped white Spring Beauty,,,,,,,,,,, 
Virginia Bluebells announced, "It's spring!"                
Primrose blushed across the lawn,
As Iris crested with the Sun.

Now mid-Spring, my Bleeding Heart fights

hard to heal, amid twisted Pachysandra.
Drifts of Daffodils deride, the Crocus calls,
"Join chorus," all you nodding Helebores!

No longer stated the Forget Me Knots,       
Dressed now with faded blues.
Tulips will never get their chance
All hope for them is gone.

My deer made it clear, when,
With one fell swoop he cut them off,
"just, like, that!"
Now, what is this, in it's place?
I've contracted Poison Ivy!  -suzie (she)

picture one (at right): remove a flower from a Bleeding Heart plant and turn upside down. This is known as "lady in a bathtub."

picture two (at right): carefully pull apart the pink petal giving you two bunny rabbits!!  Peel from center of what you have left and voila: Aladdin's slipper's and Cupids Heart! My mother-in-law Rosemary Ensslen taught me this; isn't that cool! Something to pass down from Grandma!!!

note: I've attempted to represent the color of each flower mentioned; when the color would not show up on the page I blocked it in with a contrasting color. Below are those mentioned in the poem as well as other spring ephemerals and flowers blooming  in my gardens this time of year: virginia bluebells, rue anemone, dutchmen's breeches, hepatica, 
phlox, arum,  allium, dogtooth violet, wild ginger, bloodroot,
trout lily, celandine poppy, shootingstar.  Water garden: water hawthorne

1) MERTENSIA virginianica: Virginia Bluebells: also known as cowslip. (ephemeral)  Below: Mertensia with Doronicum orientale (leopard's bane) and Lily of the Valley on the way, Ligularia and White woodland Phlox.








 





2) Sessile Bellwort: Fairy Bells (to right: chose a picture from 2009 that shows the plant not en masse. Later putting up how it has multiplied!!!!






Hellebores (below) (to be continued) Need to show en masse as well. These need to be planted along a stone wall as the flowers nod their heads down and are bettered displayed this way.

A TRIBUTE TO GREEN

   FAREWELL TO GREEN FOR A LITTLE WHILE.....
(writing a little poem soon here to say goodbye to summer and fall)
November 27, 2009 For some reason I have not been able to write any poems/ditties for some
months now; nothing comes to me. So, I am going to publish something I wrote a while back which still needs to be tweaked here and there. But, here it is for today. 

A CERTAIN BEGINNING, A CERTAIN END

 Born to Earth we crawl we stand,

For some they choose to walk to dance.

For others life is strife and thorns,  
And those we love have left too soon!

For some colors are bright and full,

yet others tremble, lost to fears.

Life surely has harsh twists and turns,

tastes of summer and winter storm.      
Breezes blow, some topple down,      
others rise to brace the storm.          
Yes the life here holds twists and turns     
amid, fragrant tender showers.  

Is life a problem solving paradox,

an Earth without stability, truth?    
As assuredly here, a beginning, an end,  
                                The only One Truth, the Lord's Son.  -suzie 09'                               

                           

    synonyms for ''certain" from Webster's Dictionary as follows:   

fixed, settled, dependable, reliable, indisputable,

inevitable, destined 

 

MAY LILY 'mianthemum bifolium' False Lily of the Valley

MAY LILY**

THIS IS OUR FIRST BLOOM; planted 3 years ago.
BLOOM: Star Shape/White & Cream; late spring/after frost in
eastern PA, USA. Leaves hug ground or stand somewhat
upright. **FALL COLOR: red berry!!!
HEIGHT: Left tip 2" max.
WIDTH: 1"+

SOIL: ACID, prefers some moisture

LOCATION: origin: Western Europe to Japan

Would someone IDENTIFY THIS PLANT PLEASE???

This ephemeral blooms white (I believe-was away this year)(late March/Apr.); spring in eastern Pennsylvania when Jack Frost Brunnera in bloom.
Leaves reach 2 -4 '' in. tall. Most are 2/3". Width 2"
The underneath of each leaf is hairy/fuzzy.
It is definitely woodland: shade to semi-shade and does not appear to multiple/self-sow. Bought 3 have 3 for several years.

I HAVE IDENTIFIED THIS PLANT! HEPATICA Americana: Renunculaceae
excellant source: missouriplants.com/Bluealt/Hepatica_americana_page.html

Tallest Jack-in-the-Pulpit/Is yours taller/Who has the tallest???

While strolling the gardens with my daughter we came upon the tallest "Jack" we have seen in quite a while. She ran and got the tape measure and the top leaf measures 43'' high. The top of Jack's ''pulpit'' measures 28''.

Send in your measurements. We measured from where the stem enters the ground to the highest point of the top leaf. Then we measured from where the stem enters the ground to the area that folds over jack.

Post as following:

Suzie's Jack: Height: 43" Jack: 28"
Location: Eastern Pennyslvania