Journal to a Muse

It doesn't take that much to get me excited.




This is really what got me started. I have planted Clematis roots two years in a row and nothing happened. THIS year, I didn't plant a new one... and look what is creeping and leaping over my mail box. I've forgotten what color it is supposed to be... Either purple or deep red, I think. It is twining about three inches up the trellis each day.

The ranunula on the right is a similar story. (oooooooh, I love annuals!) I planted some winter before last and had a few blooms. I really haven't done anything but neglect this garden patch... and I thought this bit o' green looked familiar so I left it. Today it is blooming!!!!
















The roses are thriving with similar neglect. The weather was SO strange I didn't prun them back hard, just took off what looked dead. The one on the right is marvelously fragrant. The one on the right is past it's prime, but the petal edges are turning purple! I thought pink and purple was an impossible cliche... but it is growing in. my. back. yard!!


And the Cilantro! It has gone to seed... literally. I love the delicate blossoms and the pungent aroma. Maybe after my teleconference I'll go and pick off the blossoms so there's more cilantro. I'm meeting my South American group of friends... and maybe they'd like some... There's only so much I can use in a week!

Next to the Cilantro is the rest of my herb garden.
DH wants to hang a lion fountain in the midst of the rosemary, which would be fine. (There's lavender
in there, too, but it needs our summer heat
to really get going. I'd been told that an
herb garden was an annual affair. WRONG!
Can you believe how much parsley there is?

And the vioilets are blooming! DH's ex planted them under the trees in the front. They get into everything! He's annoyed with them. but I love their heart shaped leaves and optimistic purple blanket that appears all at once out of what seems like bare ground. More perrenials! The bigger plant in the back is a Lenten Rose and right on schedule. (It is also called a Helliborus something or other. The new leaves come in a light plum color. They look like flowers but are actually bracts (like poinsettias...) I am glad the nurseryman warned us that they take 3 years to get going. They take a year at each phase: Sleep, Creep and Leap. I can't wait to see how big they are NEXT year!!

The Dutch Iris I planted one or two years ago ( and which I had totally forgotten also bloomed yesterday. Today there are multiple flowers and MORE buds. How can something as dreary looking as a bulb grow into something that has the elements of petticoats and trills and extravagance?

If anything else pops up, I'll let you know.