Bad Air Day

With an ozone alert today I couldn’t spend much time gardening but I could bring in some cut flowers for a little bouquet. The purple asters that came in a bouquet I bought at a gourmet grocery had to leave their main stem behind when I changed their water today. Changing flower water daily extends the life of flowers and prevents “bad air” indoors. So to the relocated asters, I added one of my “Becky” rudbeckia flowers, a stem of magenta and white Sweet Williams and some swirling, trailing lettuce flowers. For “greenery” I added some ferny yarrow leaves, leaves from a deep magenta shade plant whose name I didn’t catch and flat-leaved parsley. Oh yes, I cut a peppermint bloom to add to the mix. Using all kinds of things from the garden makes a bouquet more interesting.

Season’s First

These long-stemmed Sweet Williams make up my first garden bouquet of the season with flat-leaved parsley leaves for a fresh fern-like backdrop.

After weeks of record-high temperatures—even into the eighties, it’s suddenly cold again. Though the heat is switched off for the season, it’s warmer inside at night than it is outside so I’ve hauled the newer plants back in. Hopefully the frosty nights won’t last.

Singing in the Rain

A young mockingbird either sang despite the rain or fussed because of it; I don’t know which since it didn’t tell me. By the time I, camera in hand, realized that maybe I could actually photograph a bird it had flown. Nevertheless, the raindrops on the branches are beautiful.

In winter it can be a little harder to get green in one’s meals but parsley though small is stalwart. This flat-leaf variety I grew from seed has survived temperatures in the upper “teens”! It’s nice to have some fresh herbs for seasoning. And as a bonus—parsley contains several vital nutrients including the vitamin C I’ve been looking for!