Under Trees

They say March is full of windy days that are ravaged and spent until all that is left is the gentleness of a lamb, but I think March laughed at whose ever lips those words were uttered so cluelessly and proceeded to do whatever it pleased from then on.

  

One never knows when March will begin as gentle as a lamb, shoot up to sheepsize breezes in two weeks flat, eventually stampeding over the clift in a whirlwind of frenzy into April.  The old sayings don't seem to matter much in these days of uncertainty.

What about the Marches that are so confused, one feels the ups and downs of a bumpy ride on a teeter totter, venturing back and forth between tranquility and madness.  The certainties of olden days are no where to be found.

I like the little poem below that I think was written for children, but it resonates with this adult as well.  Months are a gift to be accepted and loved, then let go to make way for the next gift.  It is a lovely sentiment of the ways of nature.

Twelve Months in a Row

    by Annette Wynne

Twelve months in a row,

Use them well and let them go;

Welcome them without a fear,

Let them go without a tear—

Twelve months in a year;

Greet the passing miracle,

Spring and summer beautiful,

Autumn, winter, gliding on,

Glorious seasons quickly gone—

God's treasures in a row,

Take them, love them, let them go!

The first signs of spring here are when the Spring Ephemerals make their appearances.   They are rhizomes, corms, bulbs, or fleshy roots that can often begin life as a seed.  Two distinct growth phases usually exist: epigeous (above ground) and hypogeous (below ground).  

The hypogeous phase of growth takes place throughout fall and winter. This is the phase in which the plants put out more roots and develop next season's buds.  In the epigeous phase they emerge early to take advantage of the sunlight that penetrates the bare branches of the deciduous woodland, then flower and fruit, and die back down to the ground entering again into the hypogeous phase of life.

The amount of time above ground can be as little as a month or two, while a few species leaves last until the middle of summer.

The native spring ephemerals in this garden are as follows:

    Virginis Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

    Eastern Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia)

    Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) (only one plant)

    Trilliums 

    Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) (has never bloomed)

    Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Eastern Shooting Stars with flower buds

Virginis Bluebells

 Trilliums hidden by woody stems of Coralberry

Native wild violets, a perennial, with white flowers that have a purple center called Viola sororia f. priceana, are blooming in the shade beneath the tall juniper tree.  After their short blooming period, the leaves will last all summer if the ground beneath them doesn't dry out.  

Native violets feed numerous native bees and play larval host to many fritillary species of butterflies.  They are cherished, and the sight of them as spring arrives warms my heart greatly.  It is not spring until they have announced it.  Such a sentimental feeling, but I love the tenderness of it all... don't you?

Celandine Poppy (above)

*

Wild Violets (below) 

Spicebush flowers

They are very small flowers.

White Ash Tree

Leafs out later in spring.

American Dogwood Tree

that grew on its own under the ash tree.

Small green bracts that will eventually get bigger and turn white.

The flower buds are in the center of the bracts.

Non-native spring ephemerals

'Little Beauty' species tulip

and the Asian Bleeding Hearts 

Male Midge Fly with feather antennae

American Robin

Photos taken from front window.

Austin on his perch trying not to nod off.

We had to hang Acopian BirdSavers 

on the outside of the front windows and stormdoor

to prevent bird strikes (Mourning Doves, Grackles, and Cardinals).

Charlotte on Austin's perch after dinner.

Almost sharing, but Charlotte won't budge.

I've been listening to the music of Bernward Koch, "Gentle Spirit" as inspiration for this writing, as without the softness of spirited music on a gentle breeze, time seems to stagnate within this head and creativeness seems to wither into the depths of winter.  Much better to feed the soul.  Don't you agree?

I will leave you to embrace the beginnings of the abundance of spring, as it is it's nature to eventually burst at the seams with a flush of green and all the colors of the artist's pallet.  How wonderful it will be to enjoy all this after winter finally makes its exit after a few teases of the future.

As for myself, husband just gifted me a chocolate crossant from a little French bakery we discovered hidden in a group of little shops across town, and a cup of steaming Irish Breakfast Tea, so I'm in heaven at this moment.  Stay inquisitive, for it's how wonderful memories may be made, and they are such grand things to look back upon with fondness.

Happy Spring!

This Post Is Linked To:

Saturday's Critters

My Corner of the World

Muddy Waters

I’ve been listening to ‘On the Nature of Daylight’ by Max Richter… probably stuck with me from ‘The Leftovers’ movie I saw yesterday, or perhaps 'Arrival' seen years ago, but still remembered.

It is sublimely sad and haunting in a lonely way.  Describes perfectly how I feel at this moment.

It is so difficult pulling myself out of this funk a lifetime of years has buried me into, but I keep trying.      

It is equally difficult to pull happiness out of the air I breathe in order to create a life that is sun shiny bright to write about when I feel only pain.

This is a downer, but it is me at the moment.

It's not recommended tripping over an insignificant step stool, as the consequences have been so painful, it is common to rehash them in terms of a hellish nightmare.

The pain of the fall and the triggering of my pinched nerve pain, well it was difficult to separate the two for a week.  Ultimately the pinched nerve pain elevated itself into optimum mode, and required a steroid shot to soothe it back down.

The real pain was waiting around the corner when my sciatica nerve became so excruciatingly horrible, I wanted to die with each footstep I managed to take.

After several weeks, I can walk with a knife twisting through my ankle feeling with each step, but hey, I’m getting used to the pain as if I was born with it.  It will be Hallelujah time when it is no more.

My birthday came and went along with my incomplete blog post.  A card did appear from my cats but debunked by Charlotte tattling on her daddy buying his version of card for the kitties.

She washed her butt and as she meandered out of my sight down that dark hallway, I could hear her whisper “Get real!  What is one day from another… it’s just one day from another.  We’re lucky to have eighteen years, while you so extravagantly have seventy-seven-years so far.”

So much for that!

Growing plants in the house… well, I don’t recall how I chucked them out of existence, but it must have been brutal at the time, as I have nothing left to ever suggest they even existed.

Fast forward twenty years…

Eleven have been mail ordered this past six months… okay, fifteen originally, but two met an untimely death when they became so leggy I put myself out of misery, and they became yesterday’s trash.  Two others were duplicates that were to be planted as two to a pot, but they became quite robust so only one per pot and the other two were tucked with sadness into the bottom of the kitchen waste bin.

A terrible end… 

My bad.

Peperomia Fraseri

Recovering from third planting.

Toothpicks holding it up

until rooted well :)

I’ve failed so many times with these poor little souls that they, along with me, feel like ping pong balls being batted back and forth endlessly.  They have quite a bit of tenacity, surviving my blackened thumb.

The internet literally has about 3,830,000 opinions for how to mix the potting soil for these little buggers.  They will typically grow on trees, rotten logs, bark, and rocks, which makes these plants both epiphytes and lithophytes, depending on where they’re growing.

I think all of mine grow south of the equator, as they have been growing and blooming this winter.  So… after much reading, most of it wasted, these are my conclusions.

I think by now my husband would be nodding off in indifference, so if you wish to join him, have at it.

I originally began planting them in wonderfully thick raku planters made by Letsgetmuddy on Etsy, using Fox Farm Ocean Forest potting soil.  This soil creates surface tension preventing water from freely soaking into the soil.  I think this is a problem that happens to most soils in pots.

I water, wait awhile, then water again so the soil will soak it all in well.   It’s a pain in the neck, but necessary.

I tried pumice on two plants, and Orchiata bark from New Zealand on some of the others.  I mix 50% potting soil and 50% pumice or small orchid bark.  Medium size orchid bark might be better, but I only have the small.  It’s all a gamble.  Do not use perlite.  It just crumbles into nothingness. Quite a disaster when I tried to mix it.

It's quite a mess, all the problems people have with peperomias.  The photos make a gardener want to weep.  Over watered, underwatered, not enough light, too much light…HELP!

Peperomia 'Rosso'

May become a group of minature trees 

after the bottom leaves fall off :(

Mine have overhead plant lights to slow down the leggedness, and I poke my finger into the soil or feel the weight of the pot to determine when to water.  One must check their plants every day, just as if they are children or pets.  If you have no time, then stop yourself from buying one.

I group mine together to raise the humidity around them.  Nothing else will raise the humidity, no matter how many times you are told a product will.  Mine need lots of company. 

In winter when the heat pump is on more often, the humidity drops, and they need to be watered more often.  Summer, when they are resting a bit, they need to be watered less.  One must always check to stay on top of it all.

Peperomia elongate was a splurge, because of the higher price, and just as two new leaves began to open, I checked one day too late to water and to my horror, the new baby leaves fell off.

Peperomia elongata

With it's little flower spike

that is still growing taller.

Two more peeked out some weeks later, and I babied the little toddler until they are now almost full grown.  It is sending up a flower spike that will disappoint if you are looking for spectacular.  Most people call them ‘rat’s tails’, but in reality, they are just stems lined with extremely tiny flowers.

I think those with a spirit of adventure will enjoy Peperomias.  If you’re like me, failure is not an option.  It is just a set back to be overcome.

I seemed to have almost talked your ear off if you are a plant lover, if not, then I’m sure you left ten paragraphs ago to scream bloody murder, determined to skip the next post.

Anyone still reading this...

The few photographs I took from my front porch of the garden, and my resident Cooper's Hawk picking off my mourning doves for a tasty meal :(  Better photos will follow in the months to come, if I ever get over the pain of my fall.

A Grey Tree Frog on the garbage bin.

Mourning Doves puffing up feathers on a cold day.

Took me more than fifteen minutes of taking photographs

to finally realize a Cooper's Hawk was in the garden.  Do you see it?

Cooper's Hawk with a down feather in its beak.

With the amount of feathers, 

I'm guessing its victim was a Mourning Dove.

This Post Is Linked To:

Saturday's Critters

My Corner of the World