Green Tendril

The river underneath

2008-09-26T05:39:00.000-07:00

A river of words flows underneath my life. It's soft whisper becomes audible when the rest of the world goes silent.
Events encountered change the muddy bed, the form of its banks, or just the sundance on the surface.
All this time not writing, I thought I was neglecting my dream. It seems instead I've been thinning the crust, so the riversong speaks clearly.

Moving Blog

2006-10-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

All future posts that fit intp this catagorywill be postede at my Otterwise blog.

ClIcK HeRe

nostolgia

2006-10-04T00:41:00.000-07:00

Nostolgia for my garden. I've been thinking about some of the suggestions, nand may implement some of them. I won't have youngsters helping me as the time spent sitting supervising is as hard as sitting anywhere else. I also have not enough space or sun to grow plants indoors.. maybe in our next place. no. CERTAINLY in our next place. But I might think about designing a webapge for a dream garden. hmm... Maybe several dream gardens. I have lists and list of gardens I woudl love to have.. medicinal, medieval, oddities... the trouble is finding places where I would have permission to use photos....

Currently, in my neglected garden is a race between two budding plants and the cold. I wonder if the monks hood or the pineappel sage will show blossom before the cold becomes too intense?

in the meantime, here are some pics from the past.

Some photos

2006-08-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

I don't garden anymore, but I do have some photos from earlier... This will gradually become a log of herbal tips and lore...

Photo: Monks hood, also known as Wolfsbane and Aconite

Goddess Shawl in the Garden

2006-08-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've been pattern testing a few new patterns for Lynn of Colorjoy.com. I just found out I get to have this one back! Its a Goddess-sized version of her new PERFECT HUG Shawl. Its heading out to the stores in the next fewe days and soon will be on knittingzone.com. I'll post with the link in case someone wants to buy the pattern later. Oscar took the photo in my garden for Lynn to add to the pattern she created :-}

Just couldn;t stand it...

2006-07-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've been doing my best to not think about the garden, as its hard to face that I'm not up to doing all I want to do there. But when I went outside to enjoy some sunshine, I saw the Hinoaki red gooseberries hanging there, all ripe and ready. A few weeks ago I made currant jam, and it set me back a few days from the resulting lameness. but I decided to pick as many gooseberries as I could from a seated posistion and succeeded in sugaring and freezing two containers full. Oscar has asked that I leave the boysenberries to him, which I'll gladly do.

July 4th at House Bonsai

2006-07-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

There's a garden here in town created by my friend Sherri. Its a wonderful blessing for any of us it welcomes. You can feel the spirit wrap right 'round you while you sit and listen and fill yourself up with the beauty.
She tends it carefully, and most importantly allows it to grow its own way when it really wants to.

Here are some pictures taken Tuesday, and a few more taken earlier this year.

Another turn on the wheel

2006-07-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

Summer Solstice is behind us, and harvest time is gearing up.
The currants look so luscious right now! I'm thinking some currant jam.. Yum! I might mix the red and champagne currants together, although seperate would be beautiful too.

The Monarda (Bee Balm or Bergamot) is beautiful. These intense red blooms, looking like a circle of Red-legged dancers waving thier legs in the air :-}

The hollyhocks are blooming, behind the bee balm near the daisies. The first wave of roses are done, and I'm looking forward to the rose hips I'll gather near the end of september. The lemon balm is SO ready for harvest. not certain when I'll do that. The air needs to be dry. I do like lemon balm tea in the winter though.

The golden raspberries and black bramble berries are in full swing, but the Boysenberries and the gooseberries aren't quite there yet.

I planted a Pineapple sage for the humming birds, I expect it will bloom next month sometime. But the plant looks healthy, as does the mountain mint. I hope to have enough to store for tea this year.

The pink Hibiscus plant is HUGE but Ihavent gotten close enough to it to check for buds yet.

Some images from this year and last:

Little Birdy Fast Food

2006-06-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

The birds born this spring are all teenagers now. The young purple martins too fuzzy still for iridescence, the cardinals still drab and clumsy, the blue jays looking fresh and crisp, but without thier full 'fledged' crest on top. I have a feeding platform (a peice of old ply set on top of two rickety sawhorses) right outside my studio window where I use the computer. The momma birds are bringing the teenagers over to the mound of birdseed I try to keep replenished. I think the parent birds look on my feeding platform as a sort of McDonalds. The youngsters still shake and cry with mouths open, as the moms plop seeds in thier maws. Every once in a while the youngsters will get into a territorial dispute, and the moms will fly away leaving them to fend for themselves. I'm not the only one in the family with this idea. Below is a picture of the birdfeeder my Dad built, for his land up in Gaylord.

New Currants, old anemones and some other stuff

2006-06-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Monarda and Lily

2006-06-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

RAIN!!!!!!

2006-06-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

Its RAINING!!!!!!!!!! I can feel how happy the garden is!!!!!

Pics: Primrose, Vinca (Periwinkle), and an 'orb' taken during a rainy halloween in the garden.

foam flower, painted fern, sutters gold rose

2006-06-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

Just some pics from the garden this week. I'm slogging away at the space for the gazebo, hope to have it erected on Thursday.

Photos: JapanesePainted Fern (including top view of foam flower), Foam Flower and Sutters Gold Roses.

Drudgery

2006-06-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a hard slog, but I managed to use the weedtrimmer to cut the greenery down where we plan to put the gazebo. Then I dragged the outdoor carpet over to hopefully kill the roots before Oscar can help me with the rest on Thursday, It took 3 hours, because I had to rest every 10 minutes (bad foot, bad bad foot)

It will be worth it, when I can go out in the back of the garden and write.

Sarah Bernhardt Up Close and Personal

2006-06-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

Last night's storms bent a few of the Sarah Bernhardt peony stems past repair, so I cut them to sit by me today, and what a lovely fragrance they gave. Here's a link to a page of info all about the woman after whom they were named: Sarah Bernhardt

Dream Garden

2006-06-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

Have you ever sat down and dreamed a garden? Thought about what plants you'd have, what special little nooks and crannies you'd add? When I was in elementary school, I dreamed about having a huge tract of land, made into an animal sanctuary, somewhere in the pacific northwest, with good views of the Pacific (and a mansion with a huuuge library).
When I was ill a few years back, during that long summer when I could do no dirt digging I had extremely detailed mental plans. I designed a maze, a Goddess garden, a sanctuary based on a pentacle (earth air fire water and spirit), an arbor surrounded with aromatic flowers, a dyers garden, A wildlife garden, a culinary herb garden, a medicinal herb garden, A water garden (including a stunning waterfall)... In reality, my garden has none of those things. Its nice though. And someday, when we're very rich, I may hire someone to implement all my designs.. Or maybe, a bit at at time, I might choose one of those gardens and implement it myself. In the meantime, I'm happy to dream, and I bet many of the books I write will have wonderful gardens.

Image: Kuan Yin from House Bonsai

This morning's blooms

2006-06-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

I slapped on some Bullfrog repellant (Mosquitoes are horrible this year! Where are all the bats to eat them?) and went for a small recon mission in the garden this morning.

The rose I've been waiting for bloomed. The description said Mauve, I swear it did! I like what happened anyway, but it was a bit different than expected :-}

The the Sara Bernhardt peony is in full bud.

And the wine-red peony bud bloomed a beautiful deep pink/magenta.

And this morning I spotted the spiderwort in full bloom back by the otter bird fountain bed.

The Cusp of Spring and Summer

2006-05-30T09:59:00.001-07:00

We're on our own tiny micro climate's cusp of Spring and Summer (that being my backyard). We had our first rose bloom. Its backed by a mirror to counteract its slightly shady location. The Johnson's Blue geranium is in full blossom, and the peonies are alllmmooost blooming. The briar rose I moved up from the shade is covered in buds, and the first flowers have opened. They are indeed wild roses, but small and white and of the most beautiful scent :-} Right next to them are the boysenberries, in full blossom, and nearby one of my favorite herbs to wildcraft, white clover. When dried, the flowers make a luscious honey-flavored tea. The Angelica is beautiful too. I've never used it, but I'm looking forward to learning. Anyone reading this have some hints?
Next week, I hope 4 more roses will be blooming, better warm up the camera!

Wild White Roses

The First Rose of the season

Wine Red Peony Buds

Johnson's Blue Geraniums

White Clover

Boysenberry bush

Angelica

Spring Garden Jelly Jam Syrup

2006-05-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to make Aeron's Violet Jam. (see link to Aeron's blog to the right) I also have to clear a square of ground for the gazebo, and there were several violet plants there, so I harvested the entire plants and picked off the violets. That saved strain on my abdomen :-} I wanted to make a double batch, but here weren't quite enough violets. So I had fun. I wandered the garden like I browse my spice cupboards, trying to taste with my imagination and create a pleasing blend of flavors. I added some phlox blossoms (oh they smelled sweet!) a little bit of lemon balm, a tiny bit more of mountain mint, and I had my raw materials. I cooked the blossoms in the simple syrup then blended with my stick blender rather than the container blender. I also used liquid pectin rather than powdered. The ony trouble was I had a bit too much liquid so its more of a Spring syrup than a jam or jelly, but I have to say, its delicious! I look forward to trying some on pancakes or french toast on a cold January morning.

You Temptress Garden You....

2006-05-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

It would be all too easy to be enticed by all the green outside my studio window today. The temperature is on the cool side, absolutly perfect for getting down and dirty with weeds and trimming and transplanting and preparing the ground for the gazebo.. but I have learned better. If I were to give in to my longing to spend the day outside, I'd be spending three days in bed recovering. So I will take small sips. I'll go out today and prepare some home-made pots by cutting and piercing water jugs, and then fill them with the sandy loam I'm lucky enough to have in our garden.
If I still feel good after the trips needed to do that, I might weed a little bit in the gooseberry/currant bed. Then tomorrow, I'll be all set to take small trips outside and take cuttings from the gooseberries and currants for a few friends.
Photos: Currants and Borage.

pineapple sage, roses, peonies, calendula

2006-05-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

Today I planted a Pineapple Sage plant ( Salvia Elegans rutilans) in the same bed as my roses and peonies, and where the calendula will surround the lipstick-red blossoms with golden discs this summer, after the peonies are gone. The colors should go well with the deep yellow-gold rose that's nearest (see pic below). Pineapple Sage is one of the few annuals I grow. Its a perennial much much further south than Michigan, but here its just an annual. Maybe I'll try and overwinter some cuttings in the house this year. hmm....
I found some recipes online that sound intriguing! Pineapple sage smells like pineapple (oddly enough ;-} but I found the scent doesn't last when I dry it and I ended up tossing the leaves I harvested last year. So these recipes were a surprise! They seem to use the leaves when fresh, and add the blossoms for color to teas, jellies and such. I added them to some herbal tea blend myself last summer, come to think of it. One site suggested lining a cake pan with the leaves, then pouring in the cake batter.. I wonder if that would add flavor to banana bread?
Here's a site with more ideas: Pineapple Sage Recipes

My pictures are locked up on a dead computer somewhere, waiting for Oscar to free them, but I found an image at plants.usda.gov .

Raspberry Rag

2006-05-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

I've been glorying in the sun today. Despite having loads of inside work to do (putting books up for sale on Ebay) I've managed to steal a few moments here and there for a few minutes gardening.

I've caved in and admitted there is no way I can mow our lawn myself and expect to have any reasonable use of my feet for the week after, so we've hired the grandson of a neighbor of ours to do it for us every few weeks. He did such a wonderful job! I saw him stop mowing and go forward to scout a safe path around the flower beds at least three times, bless him.

My first task was to tie up the rambler rose, who will be flowering for me for the first time. From the look of the buds, I may only have to wait another week!

Last year I moved a wild rose up from the bottom of the garden, where it got too much shade to flower. Its covered with buds too :-} Its placed where it will compete with the raspberry bushes, and I plan to cut it back each fall after harvesting the rose hips. I think wild rose hips make the very best jelly and tea.

I noticed our raspberries are all doing very well, I think I might have to cut them back this fall too :-} If any are left after we eat our fill, we may get some jam this winter.

A few minutes was all I could bear to stand for that session (I messed up my ankle yesterday, from over doing it) but I decided to continue the theme by listening to my brother in law's cd, Raspberry Rag. ( music available here) at http://heftone.com/ With the window open, cool ukelele music playing, my new blue gazing ball gazing back at me (thank you Sherri!), and the birds enjoying all the critters revealed in the freshly mown lawn, its a glorious day.

SUN'S A-COMIN' !!!!

2006-05-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Hurray!!! My favorite weather site (www.noaa.org) says there'll be SUN on Wednesday, just like my weather sense hinted!!!!

HURRAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rain... rain rain rain rain rain....

2006-05-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

It feels as if we've had the rainest Spring for years. It feels as if its been raining cold grey rain for months.. no sun expected until at least Saturday (I have a feeling we'll get a LITTLE sun on Wednesday, though) Mostly I don't mind rain, but the darkness is hard to deal with some times.

I decided I'd go out and take a few pictures anyway :-}
Heck, I'm an otter, the wet doesn't bother me much at all :-}

Garden Gifts

2006-05-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not feeling well today, so I decided to go outside and enjoy the garden. Of course I ended up pulling a few weeds, and wandering around to check on my green pals... and found some wonderful surprises!

I bought a paeony for my birthday 3 years ago (with money My mom sent to me) and spent more than I usually do to buy a special plant. It was October, so there were no blooms, but the blossom was described as deep red, with a thin edging of white at the outer rim of the ruffled petals... It never bloomed (see the April 18th Blog) so I adjusted the soil level earlier this spring... and I see a teeny tiny bud forming!!!!!!

Two years ago I bought an old-fashioned rambler rose, and pruned it too fiercly, as it never bloomed that year. I didn't prune it at all last year and this Spring the canes are going nuts, clambering over our wooden fence. Its supposed to have highly-scented lavender blooms, and I see some buds coming!!!!!!

Last year I moved a wild rose at the bottom of the garden. It was in deep shade and hadn't bloomed since we moved here in 2002 so I brought it up with my other roses, near the golden raspberry canes.. and it is rewarding me with buds!!!!! I especially want the rosehips, I think rosehip tea tastes best from wild roses.

I have a bed planted in an arc of Gooseberries and Currants. They are thriving in the partial shade. Inside the curve of the bed I planted tulips and daffys, a Lady's Mantle, and I also planted a variegated Japanese fern, and some Foam Flower... I thought the fern and foam flower died last winter, but where last week I saw nothing, today they are luscious!!! Hurray!!!!!!!

Here are some pics of some other garden lovelies (taken yesterday)

A spent tulip

Strawberries Coming (if the dog doesn't eat them first)

A cluster of Japanese Anemones

Some dotted Violets... My first summer here, I wished for some dotted violets.. two days later, they appeared in my Rose bed.. I still say it was the Fae...

Dead Nettle (The Yellow flowers in foreground) and Pulmonaria behind them. I love how the pulmonaria changes from Pink to Blue as the blossoms age.

Spring Busy-ness

2006-04-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Ah Spring, I always long for it, then the reality of the exhaustive tasks needed sinks in. I still love it, but it takes so much time away from other things. I am limited to standing 5 minutes at a time, which makes all those garden tasks a challenge.

This was the first week we needed to mow, and we had what I hope was the last frost of the season last week. Until I get the flower and herb beds marked clearly, I'm afraid anyone else mowing will accidently kill some of my green pals.

So, that's my main task this season, clearing weeds and edging the garden beds (and contemplating what to plant *happy sigh*).

Making room

2006-04-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

As most gardeners know, gardens change with time, inclination and events. A good friend ended up totally rearranging her beds when the city cut down three shade trees, making her forest plants VERY unhappy. She moved a few things around, and all is well again.

We are being gifted with a screened-in gazebo, and the best possible place to put it is in the same spot as a rather unsucessful herb bed. This week and next is dedicated to preparing what used to be the tomato and pepper bed for the herbs I wish to keep and possibly a few new herbs to fill in the spaces..

I've already cleared the bed, and moved some costmary. It will grow around the base of a huge-flowered pink hisbiscus (see pic below). I've also moved a clump of dotted mountain mint and potted up two starts for friends. If the germander and marjoram come back I will move them to the new bed as well.

I want to keep growing the lemon balm, but I don't want it taking over the space for the other herbs, so I'm still contemplating where I can grow it. We have very few full sun spots in the yard. Of course, providing the lemon balm with the challenge of partial shade may keep it from spreading over the entire yard. Then there's the comfrey. I'll move it to the back of the yard, and see if it stays there.

Our French Sorrel died over the winter, and I've gotten Oscar addicted to it in spring chicken soup, so I will be purchasing a start of that, probably from Richters. While I'm there, I might as well finally buy the Heliotrope I've been wanting to grow for some time. I've been wanting to get more vervain too..

Hmm. maybe I need to expand the bed JUST a little bit more..

all about the tulips (and 1 daffy)

2006-04-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

Sunny, Warm... all about the tulips and one daffodil.

Peonies

2006-04-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

I love peonies. I love the huge exuberant heads of them, I love the heady scent, and I love the way the deciduous ones die back each winter to be reborn in the spring.
I bought a special peony for my birthday a few years back but out of fear of losing it to the cold Michigan winter, I planted it too deeply, and it never bloomed.
This spring, as soon as the ground was workable, I skimmed off a layer of dirt to what I HOPE is the right level for the root system. I certainly hope it blooms this year.
On a similar front, recently I made the decision to seriously pursue a career as a writer. It has involved scratching off a few layers of my own protection.
Here's hoping the blooms are worththe risk.

Herbs and Flowers and Growth and Life

2006-04-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

I've decided rather than try and cram everything I'm interested in into a single blog, I'd divide my interests, and post them where most appropriate. This blog is for my interest in herbalism and gardening. There will be some overlap with the other blogs, just as there is in my life, but I will have fun posting where most appropriate.

This image is of the flowers of a vervain plant I grew last year. Vervain has long been used in magical workings. One of its other names is Enchanter's Plant. Among its many powers, it is said to increase creativity and lend success to artistic endeavors. I also love the lacy effect it has growing among my roses.