Frosty Morning

On a recent frosty morning, a fog of white frost crystals flew into the air when I removed the garden’s covering sheets. This morning however, the wind had already removed the sheets for me leaving the plants shivering, though probably less so because of the wind. I guess it’s a trade-off.

The morning sunlight is increasing exponentially as the pear tree drops its orange leaves. The many plants gathered there at the windows have a happy glow. There are, after all, some good things about bare branches.

Snap, Crackle, Pop, & Stripes

Last night’s cold front brought more rain and much cooler temperatures. We prepared for heavy winds by taking the hanging baskets and wind chimes down but thankfully had no problems; sadly, others in the wider area had great damage.

After an initial snap, crackle and pop of rain hitting crisp autumn leaves, this morning’s rain poured at a rare angle, completely saturating the garden.

Tonight a hard freeze is forecast so it’s time to find an indoor spot for the Tropicana Canna. They crave lots of light, humidity and water so wintering this one indoors will be a challenge. A location where the sun back-lights the leaves would be ideal to show off their colorfully striped beauty. It will also need elbow room to unfurl. I will however, wait to bring it in until the rain has had a chance to evaporate so it won’t drip off the leaves onto the carpet—and me.

Firecracker Surprise

As I sat in the sunroom earlier this week reading the Bible and enjoying my surroundings, I glimpsed a spot of color behind one of my Christmas cacti. Was it a bud? I still have my sense of wonder and was delighted to discover two scarlet buds! Hmm, if this one is budding, maybe the other one is as well. Yes, it had a fully opened pink blossom with another close behind!

My Christmas cacti bloom sporadically and always on the side closest to the window; their firecracker blooms can burst open before I know it. The flowers don’t last very long so I have to enjoy them right away. I turned the pots so that the flowers face me; today I brought the scarlet one off its shelf into full view so I can enjoy its full glory.

Last night as I looked through a houseplant book I was reminded that many of my plants like high humidity. They’re getting plenty today with temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s and lots of rain coming!

The pink and scarlet “firecrackers” and a red hibiscus brighten the gray day.

A New Leaf

A garden book told me that cutting old, dull Tropicana Canna leaves off will provoke new growth. So I bid goodbye to the leaves with grasshopper holes and those whose stripes had faded. Now it has an abundance of new red and gold striped leaves! None seem hurt by the cold weather as long as they were covered.

The vendor I bought the canna from said that it will “die back” but to keep watering it through the winter and it will grow again in the spring—hers have for years. I think though that when it looks like the cold will triumph, I’ll find a place for the striped beauty indoors.

Red Trio

Yesterday morning, I was thrilled to spot not one, not two but three red hibiscus blossoms! On my bush at least, it’s not only unusual to have three blooms at a time but unheard of to have three blooms indoors—and on a cloudy day! The red beauties brightened the cloudy morning and gave me a smile.


What wondrous autumn colors we have in the countryside! We also had wonderful weather over the weekend to explore some new-to-us areas. I wanted to inhale the beauty into my soul so that I would have it over though winter’s colorless days. I love taking photos of God’s glorious creation but pictures don’t quite have the impact of walking in sunshine, feeling a cool breeze blowing across your face, looking out at a mountain vista, marveling at the reds, oranges and golden yellows of the backlit autumn leaves, crunching fallen leaves underfoot.

Autumn has also fallen indoors as I’m still picking up various plants’ leaves as they adjust to their new drier environment. It’s nothing to be concerned about though, since they’re still pushing forth new leaves.

The pear tree outside our window is finally turning red, orange and yellow. Our area foliage is at its peak of color. There’s a particular stately ginkgo tree in town that’s one of the last trees to turn. We saw it Friday in its full golden glory; what a crescendo!

Saving Seeds

The hyacinth bean vine and the four o’clocks have produced mature seeds for the harvesting. They can be planted next year for a new crop; until then, they, and the remaining ones can be saved for several years in a cool, dry place. Glassine envelopes are often recommended but I’ve noticed that many seed companies are packaging their seeds in resealable foil packs so I’m saving foil-lined tea bag packages. I once met the guy who invented foil-lined packaging—thanks Mr. B!

Saving seeds of old varieties has become an important endeavor as hybrids are quickly replacing them. Hybrids can only be grown from patented seeds that you buy from the grower. While hybrids will often produce seeds in your home garden and even grow, the plant will revert to one of its parents rather than the beautiful hybrid that you bought. Sometimes that’s good but it’s not usually what you’re looking for. When we lived in New England, we learned what a problem this is for farmers. They can no longer save seed from their harvest to plant for next year’s crop—they have to spend a lot of money to buy more seed.

I enjoy hybrid flowers but many hybrid flowers and vegetables are “designed” for a particular market such as tough-skinned tomatoes that can withstand long-distance trucking and a long shelf-life in stores, but are fairly tasteless—that’s why home-grown tomatoes taste so much better. While roses aren’t generally grown from seed, they’re an illustration of contrast between the old varieties and those grown “for the market”. The voluptuous old-fashioned “cabbage roses” with their full-blown petals and heady fragrance are unmatched in their style of beauty but they could never stand up to the rigors of the floral industry. The closely-wrapped petals and long, sturdy stems of the American Beauty–type rose are better suited to last for their trip from the greenhouse to the wholesaler to the florist to your home but lack much fragrance (you can make them last longer still by changing their water every day and recutting the stems at an angle). It’s a trade-off but our planet would suffer loss if the only plants cultivated were those of market convenience.

Besides, it’s fun to share seed with other gardeners. My friend R. gave me hyacinth bean vine seeds from her garden.

Sky Symphony

Pouring rain doesn’t deter the chickadees, cardinals and blue jays from chirruping and rushing from tree to tree. Another crowd of pilots are in no hurry at all but are taking a bug break on the lawn.

Now that the rain has stopped, sky water gurgles through the gutters sounding like a mountain brook.

Though the temperatures aren’t expected to climb out of the fifties today, the air is fresh…washed.

The pineapple sage blossom has developed a beautiful arch as it opened; another is beginning.

Garden to Art

Gardens and my art have nearly always intertwined. I grew up around my grandmothers’ gardens and at home, in a creative atmosphere. When I realized (later than most) that it was time to go back to college I began working in flower shops to help finance my education. Since art school was my goal and I wanted to draw flowers, it made sense to get to know flowers even more personally.

During my college years (there were many) I had the opportunity to plant a garden amidst the mature landscape of the older house where we lived. I yanked English Ivy out of the neglected soil until I fell over backwards. More than once, I came face to face with angry bees that left me with a souvenir of the encounter. But I grew the garden pictured here.

Okay, so all these flowers didn’t bloom at once--though most could have, but that’s the beauty of art. Though my painting teacher frowned on such romance, when I graduated from her excellent training I consolidated my reference photos to paint The Artist’s Garden.

Hmm…a small garden spider just hopped onto my mouse pad—definitely harmless to me…

Morning Sun

I love seeing the morning sun shine in; I even made a sitting area by the windows so I could drink it in and naturally, the plants came to join me there.

I’m hunting through thrift shops for small ceramic pots for my really small indoor plants since the terra cotta ones dry out much too quickly when they’re that small. If I don’t find any, I’ll go back to the blue and yellow box store—or maybe the orange one. I need good quality, color (the “right” colors of course) and a low price.

The afternoon temperature is forecast to be 70 degrees—I need to arrange my time and activities to sit in the garden to soak up the warm sun there while I still can. The stores and radio stations are already leading up to Christmas, “its right around the corner.”

Sun Effects

My arrangement of water globes definitely catches the sunlight—even if I did have to get on my hands and knees to photograph it (I learned to do this from a professional photographer). One of my favorite aspects of colored or stained glass is the way the sun lights it; it can be beautiful on its own but there’s nothing like the combination of light and color!

The arrangement of sunlight has definitely changed with clocks turned back to Standard Time; I think the plants in the morning windows will benefit most since we open the curtains early. Even outdoors, the east-facing pots have held up to the cold weather better since the rising sun dispels some of the chill.

However, over the weekend the combination of sun, furnace and our busy comings and goings left some of the recently migrated indoor plants in need of dried leaf removal. Oops! I checked and watered them before I went out but they apparently dried out before I knew it. Remember, they’re still in terra cotta pots. But thankfully, they’re not too much worse for the wear.

Leaves that droop or wither can often be revived as with the spider plantlet “Lazarus” but if they’re yellow or brown--they’re gone. Go ahead and cut them off since the plant will put its energy into trying to revive the leaves instead of making new ones—it simply can’t bring that kind back. (While this can be a parable for some parts of life, it does not apply to marriage or necessarily physical health because God is able to revive that which was dead!)