Making the Best of What’s Left

I was recently away for over three weeks to be by my dad’s hospital bedside and then say goodbye. It was a very difficult time but there were good things as well, like being with family I hadn’t seen in a long time. While I was away, my husband did as well as a non-gardener could—probably saturating the plants. However, when he joined me at my family home for a week, the garden had to fend for itself. That was sad but I really needed him to be with me; he was grieving as well. The culmination of a week without water in outlandishly hot days caused a lot of death in my garden. More death was hard to come home to but I cut away the dead stuff—three bags-full and found that a lot of life remained. My garden would normally be burgeoning this time of year but though it’s diminished there are still signs of hope. I had to strip all the leaves from one plant but I could tell it was still alive; now tiny new leaves are poking out up and down the stems.

The Persian Shield and one of the Parrot Leaf plants didn’t fare well at all but I was pleased to find replacement plants at a greatly reduced price at the local garden center. A big box garden center had fuchsia and white-trimmed petunias and a large pot of trailing purple verbena. Though the petunias and verbenas each looked like one large plant in their large pots, I found that they were instead, several smaller plants intertwined, which worked better for planting them in the decimated hanging baskets. I spent most of yesterday moving pots around and sweeping dead plant leaves; it looked like autumn there were so many. The physical exertion distracted me from my grieving and might even help keep me healthy. But I was sore. Now I have more space and comfort to sit in the garden and write to you.

I had been planning to paint my pots in bright hues of red violet, blue violet, yellow orange and yellow green. I think I’ll do that soon—more color is a good thing; it soothes my soul. Stay tuned.

Hot & Cool

Last weekend, we got up early to beat the heat and take my coupons to the local greenhouse; the garden had a couple of open spaces that needed filling. My intent was to buy some of their small, brilliantly colored pots but someone else apparently had the same idea first so I looked once again to the flowers and foliage for color. I found something I had never seen before, a fringed, magenta/orange (together as though pooled in watercolor) coneflower! It looks like a Gerbera Daisy but the petals bend down in coneflower style. It was so cool, I couldn’t pass up the Hot Papaya Echinacea! Today, I repotted it to give it room to grow; as a perennial it should be around for a long time. The colors and shape go perfectly with my purple Angel Face Angelonia, red, orange and yellow-green Tropicana Cana and purple-leaved Persian Shield. As for the plain terra cotta pots? I may just pull out my paint brushes and paint them myself. The more color, the merrier.

Pushing the Envelope

Though a number of leaves have fallen—the pot dries out very quickly, this year’s Persian Shield has done better, longer than previous ones. Here in the U.S. Southern Piedmont the handsome purple plant is sold as an annual. For some reason they’re getting harder to find and can be a little expensive, so it’s good to be able to save money by overwintering it indoors. It looks a bit straggly now but in the spring I’ll prune it back—a little at a time since it tends to be slow to grow new branches and Lord willing, it will be even more handsome than before.


In looking on the internet I’ve found that the Persian Shield isn’t at all from Persia (Iran) but Burma (Myanmar). The common name likely comes instead from the shape of the leaves and maybe the metallic look (though I’ve been unable to locate any information on the internet about such ancient shields).

Apparently I’ve been “pushing the envelope” with these plants since they are classified as “tender perennials” and need to be brought in “when temperatures drop below 60 degrees F”, and I’ve found that they can stand up to a couple of freezes. I also read that I should let them dry out between waterings indoors—not unless I want them to completely wilt (http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/persian-shield.html)! The best thing is to follow the guidelines for plant care to a point, and then sees what works best in your setting.

*That’s an orchid cactus behind the Persian Shield.

Reason to Smile

The return of the sun isn’t the only reason I’m smiling—even laughing today. I’m moving quickly through my gardening and other activities today because I want to spend the bulk of the day reading the Bible and praying about the next step or layer in the revival the Lord has sent me. The fire hasn’t gone out—the embers are still glowing and sparking back into flame. Now that I know deep down in my spirit how marvelous and complete Jesus’ payment of the penalty for my (and your) sins is, I want to get the same level of understanding of how God wants his people to live here on earth. Salvation absolutely affects life on earth but is more about getting to heaven. I need to fully grasp the here and now as a follower of Jesus. Since love is the major command of Jesus and the reason he came, the next step is to really learn about God’s love and have it overflow to others.

Today in my gardening, I replaced ragged-looking cuttings of sweet potato vines with fresh yellow green ones and purple ones, planting the worn ones in a pot where they can cascade over the front landing. In the process of transplanting the cuttings, a purple mum branch (not blooming) and a yellow, green and red coleus branch broke off; I’m not sure why the branches are so brittle. It was however, time to refresh my flower arrangement. I added the broken branches, trimmed the other stems and poured fresh water. Since mums have woody stems, I had to lightly pound the end of the stem with a hammer so it can take in water. I was pleased to find that the Parrot Leaf had rooted, though nothing else had; it now has a new home in a front planter where its roaming tendencies can be admired. I had been looking for something colorful in that spot—I love it when I can fill a “need” with something I already have. (I also have a site on stretching money: http://www.stretchednotbroken.blogspot.com ).

See you later, I have more “blooming again” (reviving) to do! (I’d love to hear from you at leafyjournal@yahoo.com if you’re starting to “bloom again!”)

When Life Breaks Things

When life gives you broken stems—make a flower arrangement! Two of the Angel Face Angelonia stems were hanging at an angle, broken by the weight of the sheet that kept them warm.

I snipped the flowerful branches and put them in a vase with a tall, narrow neck. I added the smallest branch of Persian Shield and the straightest Parrot Leaf I could find. When I take cuttings, I always try to leave at least one set of nodes (growth joints) behind so the remaining stem will branch out (grow again or “revive”).

I needed a third flower to complete the arrangement since design, whether floral or art calls for an uneven number. The deep pink Penta’s color seems to be made for the Parrot Leaf’s beautifully “painted” leaves (a member of the Joseph’s Coat family), so I gave the star clusters the starring role. I stripped the Penta’s leaves before adding it to the arrangement, or they would have hidden the more colorful ones.

Much of art these days is made of things not often thought of as art, broken things, cast aside things. But this isn’t just modern art; in past centuries--even millennia as they are today, many artists’ pigments are made from soil/dirt. Pigments such as burnt sienna and burnt umber are made from baked dirt. We artists use what’s around us--granted, we have to pay a lot for art materials companies to process them, but we make something beautiful out of the ordinary, even the broken. God, the ultimate Artist does the same with people giving us—when we turn to him through Jesus, the most wondrous beauty, a reflection of his glory.

Elbow Room

This morning I noticed that my Persian Shield leaves are always upright when they normally spread to show their beautiful purple and silver markings (as in last year's plant in the photo on the far left).

Though it’s tempting to pack the plants into the space, they really do need some elbow room. So I moved the pots out a bit to give the Persian Shield some room to spread its leaves; that’s the beauty of a container garden—you can rearrange it to suit your design, and the plants’ needs.

Leafy “Flowers”

Flowers, in all their color, are my favorite things to grow. I’ve also painted them for years (I’ve actually been asked, in all innocence, if it would hurt the flowers!) Even these days as I paint pictures of buildings I’m still painting, in effect, flowers.

However, I’ve become quite a fan of plants with colorful foliage. These plants, such as the purple Persian Shield and magenta streaked Parrot Leaf pictured, are still colorful all summer and fall even when the flowers aren’t blooming, looking like stained glass when the sun shines through. They also root from cuttings. In my Piedmont climate, they’re annuals but they last a little while indoors when I bring them in before frost.

Always a Gardener

I’ve always been a gardener—from the first paper-cup-of-dirt-with-a-seed-in-it school project to being surrounded by my grandmother’s flower gardens to my own first garden made by my dad in halves of an oil drum to my garden on the go in my many homes. I love the color of a garden, the shapes. Tending it and watching it grow. I love the surprise of discovery when something new pops up—whether expected or unexpected.

This is one corner of my current “tree house garden” on our balcony.