In this video, I try to identify a bizarre bird noise and need your help:
Childrens’ bladders be damned, I’m glad we found this gem.
We eventually located the market/store on the property and let the kids take care of business. Well, two last pics of the daffodils before we went in:
The kids were good to go and we were ready to descend upon our hosts:
After we got settled in and caught up on life, we herded all of the kids out to a “dinosaur park”. “Park” may be a bit of an exaggeration. It was more like a dinosaur “nook” and our hosts were a bit embarrassed but we all loved it:
Check out this footprint:
Their minds were riveted, albeit briefly, by the thoughts of dinosaurs roaming the area but like most kids, they found climbing to be the real joy:
The idea of wearing out the children so the parents could start drinking earlier in the evening was on all of our minds so we immediately swept them off to the local playground:
And if you thought that plan was genius, how about shuffling the already exhausted kids off into the hot tub for a “cool down”:
Operation “Good night children” complete …
Ironically, it turns out the parents couldn’t make it much past 9:00 PM and the kids were still sneaking around the house at that time. Oh well.
The next day was a nice lazy “hang”. Delicious breakfast and unlimited coffee. We were all chilling when I was asked if I wanted some cuttings of a hydrangea that dates back to the 1970’s. I couldn’t mouth the words “hell yeah” fast enough.
Turns out this hydrangea was originally planted in Staten Island, NY by my wife’s great grandfather. This man was a well known gardener in the city and we have a number of old newspaper clippings that display his work. A man cut from the same cloth as me. A hero I never actually met but have heard such warm stories about.
After he passed, the shrub made it’s way to Acton, MA up until the early 2000’s. At that point, it was moved to the locale below:
Our gracious hosts gave me two cuttings after getting drenched in the pouring rain. I was proud to be part of carrying on the legacy.
That afternoon, we said our goodbyes after having a fantastic time. We promised each other that we would do this again soon. Even their dog was sad to see us go:
We arrived back home in early evening and after unpacking, I grabbed the camera to capture some actual blooms that emerged while we were gone:
But most importantly, I planted my new hydrangea cuttings and can now watch them take off:
Hopefully some day I can give my kids cuttings from this same shrub.
A good damn weekend.
“Looks like we made it”.
John
**REMINDER**
My $100 giveaway to Santa Rosa Gardens ends this Sunday night.
Leave a comment on the original post to enter.
John
We can’t all be superstars.
Because then our superstars would no longer be superstars.
And if our superstars are then no longer superstars, we were never superstars in the first place.
Simple, right?
I’m a deep guy (as evidenced by my preceding well conceived hypothesis) and I carry that deepness out into the garden. While all of you get all sorts of pumped up for the tulips or daffodils to bloom, I’m on my hands and knees appreciating the more subtle and less valued signs of spring.
Exhibit A – Boxwood ‘Green Mountain’ blooms:
Read any description of a boxwood and in small fine print at the end of the paragraph you’ll find the term “insignificant flowers”. Really? Don’t you think they worked hard to produce those flowers? They are filled with nectar and pollen; so what if the bees aren’t around to find it. That’s their loss.
Exhibit B – Carex (cultivar unknown – damn nursery and their lack of labeling) and it’s brown/tan flowers:
I cut these back just a week ago and boom, just like that they produced these flowers. Again, their flowers are labeled as “insignificant”. I like them. They’re unique. Sorry they’re not all yellow or red or blue. Brown is a color last time I checked.
Listen, I love big showy flowers as much as the next guy. I geek out on the developing Viburnum blooms like the one below:
Anxiously awaiting for them to transform to this:
But I got love for all flowers and you should too.
Who’s with me?
John
Yeah, you read that right.
I am going to give one lucky reader a $100 gift card to THE Santa Rosa Gardens online nursery.
I have ordered a large number of ornamental grasses from Santa Rosa Gardens in the past and they are always sent in perfect shape and thrive after they have been planted. An awesome selection and are always sold at a reasonable price.
But they are way more than just ornamental grasses, check out their selection of perennial plants and drool a little bit.
So how do you enter this contest you ask?
- Leave a comment on this post indicating what one plant you would like more than any other from Santa Rosa Gardens.
- Include your email address in the same comment.
- Contest is only for those in the United States (excluding Hawaii and Arizona).
- Contest will run until Sunday, March 25 at 8:00 PM.
- Winner will be chosen at random and announced right after the deadline.
- Winner will receive the gift card via email directly from Santa Rosa Gardens.
Best of luck my friends!
John
With out a chance to rest, I got out our baseball gloves and threw him ball after ball as I tried to take a photo with my free hand. It was a great test of my hand/eye coordination and I struggled a bit at first but eventually came around:
The kids ran for cover inside the house when I got distracted with all of the bird activity:
Fine, if they don’t want to participate, me and my trusty camera will hang and walk around the yard on our own.
The weather was in the high 60’s all weekend long and the plant growth continues to continue at a super rapid pace. Our zone 6 winter has been more like a zone 8 winter and that is fine with me.
All of the hydrangeas are beginning to leaf out:
The daffodils are weeks ahead of where they were last year:
And my precious Sedum ‘Red Carpet’ exploded over night:
But most of all, I am eagerly anticipating the blooms of the Winterberry ‘Autumn Brilliance’:
I am starting to worry that my current camera won’t cut it as I learn more and more about the available advanced settings and some of the limitations. I might have to sell off some of the kids valuables to purchase a new one.
Some day they’ll understand why after I become a world famous nature photographer and I leave them with a hefty trust fund.
John
What made this display so interesting and different was the fact that there wasn’t a flower to be found and this was the Philadelphia FLOWER Show:
Maybe because I saw it near the end of my visit, it was a chance to rest the eyes a bit. But every time I walked away, I eventually made my way back. There were at least three different Carex cultivars used and home boy is a sucker for any Carex.
After a little research, I found this description of the “Garden of the Gods”:
A fantasy rock garden inspired by the wind-carved stone formations and lunar-like landscape of Garden of the Gods, an unexpected high-desert area on the island of Lanai. Legend says ancient Hawaiian gods created the garden by dropping boulders from the sky.
I also found this on the designer’s web site, Handmade Gardens:
Michael Petrie is known in horticultural circles for his wildly beautiful and unconventional exhibits for the Philadelphia Flower Show, many of which have won “Best in Show”.
I couldn’t agree more with that statement as I totally dug what the display was going for.
Before I get to some additional photos, here is a link to the video for the “making of” The Garden of the Gods.
OK, photo time:
What do you think? You with me on this one?
John