Explorations in Gardening

This morning I prayed for those who grow our food. The neighbourhood seems to have more vegetable gardens than in previous years. People explored ways of keeping busy during the government shoutdown because of covid-19. The weather has co-operated, a couple days of warm and sunny with rain late in the evening or ending with a full day of gentle rain. The peas have suffered because the temperatures have been too warm, but the rest of the vegtables are doing well.

As I walked the dog, I encountered two young people picking and eating raspberries in their garden. I asked if they were good berries this year. They ageed the berries were delicious and shared some with me.

Their mother asked, “Are you the tulip lady?” ”Yes,“ I replied. And she proceeded to show me her garden, all the volunteer tomatoes, tomatoes she got at her favourite garden centre, and the tomatoes she got from her Polish neighbour down the street who has an “amazing” garden. She and her young son (enamoured by my dog) walked down the street to see Irena’s (the Polish neighbour) garden. “Is Irena the lady with the white fence? I love her,” the young man exclaimed.

Bless you, I thought, and bless Irena for whatever she does that has encouraged you to love her.

Irena’s garden was one of those backyard gardens using every usable inch to grow something. It was, amazing, lush and flourishing.

I give thanks for the openness of people to enter into conversation and the places it leads. Earlier this morning I read there is an upsurge in youth gardening. I pray for them and their new found skills in self sustenance. May they discover their efforts brings joy in the intricacies and beauty of God’s creation. May the first time gardeners, back yard gardeners, hobby farmers, and large scale farmers have an abundance of produce to harvest this summer.

Genesis 1:11-12
Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.

In the Bulb

At the beginning of November, with the church bazaar approaching fast, I embarked on designing a nine patch quilt.  Something quick and simple to donate for sale.  I had a jelly cake roll that would fit the project perfectly.  This is the end result.

The layout reminds me of a map.  I added two other fabrics from my stash to make the quilt crib size.  The quilt was priced at $125.00, I donated my time, only wanting the cost of the fabric.  A deal!  It’s still available.

In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Flower Cakes and Charms

I have a soft spot for fabric lines.  I don’t have to make the effort to co-ordinate colours and patterns.  This was one of those lines I couldn’t resist.  I bought a layer cake, a charm pack, and a couple yards.  I separated them into blues and purples.  (Of course I want the latter for myself …)  I’ve wanted to do a sampler sort of lap quilt for some time using pinwheels.  I made them using the 5×5″ charms and bordered them with strips from the layer cake fabric.  Throw in a few modified nine patches and a couple log cabins and voila!  Very pretty.  I titled it “Song of Solomon 2:12” chosen for the flowered fabric and flower quilting.  It gave me a chuckle, people grabbed a bible to look up the verse and then asked, where are the turtledoves?!

This one I donated to our church’s annual bazaar.  It sold.  A congregation member purchased it as a baptism gift for her new grand-daughter.

Song of Solomon 2:12  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

Hostas la Vista

The hostas are spectacular this year.  The holes in the leaves of the first two photos are the result of a recent heavy hailstorm.  I adore the purple flowers.

Exodus 9:25

The hail struck down everything that was in the open field throughout all the land of Egypt, both human and animal; the hail also struck down all the plants of the field, and shattered every tree in the field.

First of Three, So Far

 Previously I mentioned we have received hail three times already this summer.  As a result the hostas are a mess, the basement and the roof have leaked.  The leaking stuff has been repaired, the drain in the driveway was unclogged and the roof has been reshingled.  The hostas, sorry to report, have not managed to repair themselves.

Psalm 105:32   He gave them hail for rain, and lightning that flashed through their land.

It’s Growing Well

December we took possession of our new house in our new community.  Winter seemed to take a long time to break as I waited in anticipation of what would spring up in the flower beds.  I knew there would be purple cone flowers, other than that, it was all a mystery.  Spring arrived and I gave all the beds some housekeeping.  There appeared to be some hostas, irises, day lilies.  Daily I watched to see what was to be.

The beds were quite the mess.  I wasn’t holding out too much hope, they appeared to have been neglected for a few years.  I told myself not to be too surprised if the plants took a year to re-establish themselves.  The bearded and flag irises did poorly.  Less than a half dozen blossoms on four bunches.  The one nearest the house was mush.  I had to removed a number of rotted tubers.  I expect to transplant it later in the season.

There was an abundance of hostas, they were late in the southern most bed which is quite shaded.  I’m going to have to thin them out.  All of them bloomed, beautifully.

The cone flowers began blooming this week.  They are fabulous!  One of my favourites, mainly because of the colour, of course!  There should be more than enough for some bouquets soon.

I didn’t plant too many annuals this year.  We got a couple of hanging  baskets for the veranda.  There were pair of tall pillar planters on either side of the bench that I filled with cala lilies, pansies and petunias in shades of purple.  The pansies are struggling a little, but those in the front flower bed are doing well.

The day lilies posed the greatest concern for me.  They, like the hostas, dominate the beds.  My fear was the colour they would eventually display.  The fear was realized when they bloomed orange last week.  I know orange is a good contrast for purple, but it is not part of my preferred palate.  They have redeemed themselves, the blossoms are glorious.  

I will be thinning them out, quite a lot.  There are a number of people volunteering to take the discards.  I have a fabulous white one as a replacement and some more bearded irises.  Plus I want room for spring bulbs, tulips, alliums, grape hyacinths, and narcissus.

The flowers have done very well, inspite of at least three heavy hail storms that punched holes in the hostas and beat down the pansies and impatients.  Still, the weather has been warm and there has been lots of rain. Perfect for a riotous display of colour. So grateful for the glory of flowers.  Praise God for the beauty of the earth.

Deuteronomy 32:2   May my teaching drop like the rain, my speech condense like the dew; like gentle rain on grass, like showers on new growth.

Those Were the Days

There are previous manifestations of my life recalled with fondness and a sad wishfulness to return.  I miss being a homemaker.  It was a good moment in time.  This photo of chokecherries amidst frost transformed leaves reminded me of then.

‘Then’ were days of harvest, late summer gathering of berries and fruit destined to fill mason jars with jewel bright jellies and jams.

‘Then’ was stewing tomatos, skins split with heat, acid scented steam rising, clinging to window panes as droplets swelling pregnant to burst in transparent rivulets coursing down to pool on dusty sills.  The tomatos became the the starting point for pasta sauces, chili con carne, soups and stews.  Harvest preserving gave way to Christmas baking, concoctions with butter, sugar, cherries and almonds.  Potatos emerged from the root cellar, moisture content reduced in the cool darkess, perfect for perogies and potato pancakes.

Evenings were spent knitting, stitching, creating, reading and dreaming.  Learning math and geography and history all over again at the diningroom table with boys yearning to be young men.

‘Then’ were days of planning and planting, growing and gathering, sewing and simmering.  The day’s effort could be measured in a glance, rows of jars on the counter, the glass clear cookie jar filled to the brim, cross-stitch framed on the walls.  Those were the days.

Ezekiel 16:19  Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with choice flour and oil and honey—you set it before them as a pleasing odor; and so it was, says the Lord God.

A Fist Full of Flowers

Wild Chickweed and Violets

I’ve always loved flowers.  Always.  Earlier this summer I was reminded of some of my first childhood memories of flowers.  As a very young child I soon learned as my father’s shadow, what flowers were in season.  We would go to the poplar forest as the leaves were just emerging from winter rest, the sun having warmed last autumn’s carpet, coaxing hepaticas to speckle the brown and gray with white, blue and mauve.  Usually that was consistently around Mother’s Day so we would return, fists full of tiny flowers, stems barely crossing the width of a palm.  Mom would find a shot glass to hold the crushed bouquets.  We never picked enough to fill it, our efforts always seemed so diminished by the empty spaces. I learned early that for flowers were best displayed and stayed fresh longer the longer the stems were.

The next offering of spring would be the marsh marigolds, then violets blue and white, followed by lilacs, buttercups, bluebells, wild anemone, something Dad labeled Kentucky Bluegrass, red clover, brown eyed susans, asters and goldenrods.  A bouquet would be barely wilted and I would be bringing Mom another from the fields and the woods.  Before I was taught to know better, I would bring bunches of daisies.  Dad held them in low regard because they were a weed, spoiling the hay harvest.  Plus they stunk, and brought tiny crawly bugs with them into the house that fell and littered any surface the vase holding those sunny faces set off with pure white petals sat on.  He loves me, he loves me not.  I spent hours trying to teach myself the art of daisy chains and consistently unsatisfying attempts at flower crowns to set on my white blond head.

Dad would take us to the spruce forests to search for Calypso Ladyslippers and the blueberry hills for Pink Moccasins and Indian Pipe.  There were excursions into the bog to seek out swamp laurel and pitcher plants.  We observed trout lilies, mayflowers, and never picked wood lilies, or irises.  Dad recalls seeing trilliums blooming just over the crest of the hill, on the east side of the field where we entered the bush to look for hepaticas weeks earlier, but I never managed to locate any on our place.  I enjoyed watching the bees visit the blueberry and raspberry and strawberry and chokecherry blossoms, leaving them alone in anticipation of sweet fruit and berries.  We would beg Dad to guide the boat into the lily pads to collect brilliant white water lilies and butter yellow spatterdock.

I was intoxicated by the scents of twin lilies and lilacs and goldenrods.  I’d search out Canada Thistle and whittle it down with my pocket knife because I had heard once that if you were ever lost in the woods you could survive on its pithy stems.

Flowers are perfect.

Luke 12:27  “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

Abundance

We have had an unusual amount of rain this year, a blessing because it greatly reduced the need to water the gardens.  The rose in the front yard benefited greatly.  Hubby cut it a couple of days ago because the weight of the blossoms had bowed it to the ground.  I have been unable to accurately count how many blossoms there are, at least eighteen or so.  I’ll let you know once all the petals fall.

2 Corinthians 9:8  And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

Tulip Surprise

I’m a sucker for those value packages of fall planting bulbs, especially when they are sold by colour, being of course – purple.  I bought two packages last fall.  With those packages you never know what you are going to get, they are just a mix.  A pleasant surprise this spring, beautiful two toned tulips in the front yard.

Admirael van der Eijck from the 1637 catalog of P.Cos., sold for 1045 guilders on February 5, 1637

The introduction of the tulip to Europe in the late 1500’s created quite a stir and within a few decades the tulip became a coveted luxury item.  At one point the price of certain tulip bulb in a much sought after variety cost 10 times the yearly wage of a skilled labourer.   Developed mainly in the United Provinces (The Netherlands) it became a status symbol which resulted in Tulip Mania.

The Canadian Tulip Festival occurs every May in Ottawa, a display of millions of tulips blooming in brilliant colour.  It was initiated in response to the birth of a baby girl during World War II.  In 1945, the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters for the preceding three years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, in the Second World War.

The most noteworthy event during their time in Canada was the birth in 1943 of Princess Margriet to Princess Juliana at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The maternity ward was declared to be officially a temporary part of international territory, so that she would be born in no country and would inherit only her Dutch citizenship from her mother. To commemorate the birth, the Canadian Parliament flew the Dutch flag over Peace Tower. This is the only time a foreign flag has flown over the Canadian Parliament Building.  In 1946, Juliana sent another 20,500 bulbs requesting that a display be created for the hospital, and promised to send 10,000 more bulbs each year.  While the Netherlands continues to send 20,000 bulbs to Canada each year (10,000 from the Royal Family and 10,000 from the Dutch Bulb Growers Association), by 1963 the festival featured more than 2 million, and today sees nearly 3 million tulips purchased from Dutch and Canadian distributors.

Tulips are the only flower that continues to grow in the vase after being cut. They can continue to grow up to another 3 inches. They also conform to the shape of the container, straight up if in a tall container, twisting to fit into a flat or irregular shaped vase.

The ancient Turks used to brew a love potion from tulips and many cultures consider tulips to be the symbol of perfect love.

In the early 1700s, A Turk by the name of Sultan Ahmed III was the first to begin importing bulbs from Holland. But it proved a fatal attraction. When Sultan Ahmed was brought to trial, his crimes included “having spent too much money on the traditional annual tulip festivals”. The sentence: He was beheaded.

In Japan, certain flour is made from tulips.

In times of famine the Dutch have eaten tulip bulbs when no other food was available.

Hans Gillisz. Bollongier, Flower Piece, Frans Hals Museum, 1644. The top flower was always the most expensive one and in this bouquet it is the tulip Semper Augustus.

William Morris 1875 design printed on cotton

Of course, a nod to my favourite arts and crafts artist, William Morris.

The tulip and the butterfly
Appear in gayer coats than I:
Let me be dressed fine as I will,
Flies, worms, and flowers exceed me still.
~Isaac Watts