Pinewood Castle

East Garden

It's nearing full glory.

The perennials survived the mild winter. Most of the annual seeds planted in May sprouted and bloomed. The phlox will fill out the back when it finally blooms - if the deer don't graze off the buds again.

My entire Mother's Day was spent bringing this area back to life. Weeds were pulled, perennials added, seeds dropped in little holes, annuals planted, and all the empty spaces were mulched.

Balloon flowers pop open. Their star shape stirs my memory of the ones bordering the side walks of Lake Geneva, summer of '97. Morges, Switzerland. (Remember, Marie? The summer of chamber music, walking the countryside, and the fireworks across the lake on Bastille Day?)

Each of our children have a little garden area to call their own, but this one is all mine. I have to save something for myself. This garden is such a microcosm of me and my life.

I allow my children into this garden battlefield, but only on the little path of stepping stones, to protect both them and my flowers.

Challenged by weeds and situation, my little Eden needs some help along the way to fight the enemy intruders. I don leather gloves to pull thorny wild raspberry creeping through the gaps in the fence.

Automatic sprinklers add needed moisture, occasional fertilizing does wonders. I weed after soaking rains. I wish away the growing oaks that cast too much shade, wondering why we left them near a flower garden in the first place.

Nettles tempt me to pull them with bare hands, hoping I will forget what they really are.

Camoflouged spiders lie in wait for the next victim.

The hollyhocks envision lining the fence never come up, year after year of trying to get them to grow both from seeds and transplants. Towering hollyhocks would be so perfect here, why is this good desire never granted? Is it not to be? What am I doing wrong?

The amazing electric blue and violet of the delphiniums grow too tall and buckle under the weight of their own blossoms before I have time to stake them and preserve their performance. Their talent is prematurely snuffed out without proper support.

 

The zinnias I have had in past years were quite tall. This year's variety was hidden behind the phlox. We transplanted them to the front and they didn't even slump. Way to be strong, zinnias.

 

A pair of grey catbirds perch on the fence. They guard their nest, hidden in the tangle of weeds and conifers on the opposite side. Their grating call continues all.day.long until the sun sets and darkness pervades the evening sky. Finally, golden silence.

Thorns and blooms alike thrive before the Queen of Heaven. She watches, she waits, she asks her Son to be merciful. Grace.

I reflect on my life, and my garden. The parallels are not unnoticed.

I peer around the fence to search for the catbirds' nest and monitor the wild mess of weeds that threatens to invade this pocket of paradise I attempt to cultivate. 

My otherwise wonderful neighbors do not see this view from their windows, so the weeds do not bother them. They do not know how much comes through the fence, encroaching on my little oasis of color.

My garden (on our side of the fence) is is the view I greet each morning from my second story bathroom window. The sight of it strengthens me and fills my heart with hope and gratitude.

To see color and life each morning gives me inspiration as I attempt to give my own body and soul color and life. I pray to have a better day, to be a better wife and mother, to resist the weeds that invade my space, to do my best where God has planted me - shade or sun, dry or moist, fertilized or depleted, native or not, in weedy or weeded soil.

Be the Gardener of my Soul

Spirit of the living God, be the Gardener of my soul.
For so long I have been waiting, silent and still -
experiencing a winter of the soul.
But now, in the strong name of Jesus Christ, I dare to ask:
Clear away the dead growth of the past,
Break up the hard clods of custom and routine
Stir in the rich compost of vision and challenge.
Bury deep in my soul the implanted Word,
Cultivate and water and tend my heart,
until new life buds and opens and flowers.
Amen.

--Unknown

Flower Matching

Here is a little game I like to play with my preschoolers before Jack Frost arrives ~

:: wander around the yard and pick various blossoms

:: enthusiastically announce that we are going to play a Garden Game

:: give them a flower and ask them to find a match

:: talk about the name of the flower, the color, and the details such as the number of petals or shape

:: help search as needed ; )

:: collect them all in bowl of water and admire the beauty of God's creation

:: be prepared to do it again upon request!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mine is growing rather wild.

The black-eyed susans have taken over this bed.

The hydrangeas are going to get a serious pruning this fall.

 

I am realizing that gardening is like art. I have many elements but need to work on the composition. Like the right side of this garden is in serious need of some color right now -

The middle would have some color if the seeds we planted would have come up.

But the left side is not so bad with the help of some annuals that finally filled out. This is what I see out my bathroom window every morning to help get me perked up for the day.

 

Tomatoes are finally ripening - time to look for sales on fresh mozzarella!

 

So how does your garden grow? 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

There are a few more spots of color this week -

The garden we see while sitting on the porch is blooming with blossoms that butterflies love.

Just in time for the Monarch caterpillars to hatch -

 - and the Red Admirals to emerge.

This year's snapdragons are like red velvet -

 - and the balloon flowers popped. I fell in love with these in Switzerland. The gardens along Lake Geneva were packed with them.

So how does your garden grow? Feel free to share on Fridays. It's never to late to join in! Check out my "shared items" to get a sneak peek into other blogger's gardens!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

The weekly garden report is a bit sparse this time. The best is yet to come, right?

The morning glories have run out of trellis -

The shrub roses have small but strong blossoms -

Balloon flowers are close to popping open -

Cherry tomatoes have formed and just need to ripen -

I never realized before that potatoes flowered - they look like a nightshade blossom of course -

And the best part of the garden this week was the Little Prince's first time in the swing. He loved it!

So how does your garden grow?

How Does Your Garden Grow?

How is your garden growing this week? We have had so much rain there has been no need to water. Everything is green, green, green. Well, except for a few patches of dead grass in the lawn.

I am trying to make the Marian names of flowers stick in my head this year. Seems I have to re-learn them every year so I will include them in this post to exercise my failing memory!

Here are the morning glories (Our Lady's Mantle) this week - still making progress.

New blooms this week are the day lilies (St. Joseph's Lily)

Daisies

Scabious (Mary's Pincushion)

Shrub Roses

Spiderwort (Our Lady's Tears)

All the dampness has fostered the growth of these cup shaped mushrooms

Also in the garden - the remnants of the fairy tea party and outdoor ballroom the children assembled for Midsummer's Eve. The table is set -

 

a bark path leads to

 

a fairy ring for dancing

 

I've been refreshing my memory on Midsummer traditions as well with All Year Round: a Christian Calendar of Celebrations. In a nutshell: Midsummer's Day is not on the solstice, but on the birthday of St. John the Baptist.

At a time when nature rushes on, relentlessly pursuing her goal of fruiting and seeding, we are challenged by St. John to pause, reassess our intentions and the direction of our life. He asks us to straighten and balance the landscape of our soul.

And the fairy connection?

The summer entices us into a fairyland of lazy, dreamy days, of sweet fruits and carefree living . . . Many folk tales warn of the danger of getting caught up in the Midsummer revelries of fairyland. If we are to avoid 'Midsummer madness' we must not stray from the path that keeps our feet on solid ground.

So we let the fairies have their fun. We watched the moon rise and went to bed.

Summer joys are transient: the days grow shorter and the year's path leads on towards midwinter and Christmas - the Festival of Birth.

Other customs include bonfires of purification (we lack a backyard fire pit), lunch in the garden (too hot and humid that day), fruits (we did make a fruit bread pudding), and allowing children to stay up all night (never in this family!).

There are instructions for making a gold spiral mobile that I would love to make if I can ever find double sided gold foil. Gold like the sun, the motion of outward moving inward - a reminder that the days will now grow shorter and lead to Christ's birth. Prepare ye the way of the Lord!

So how does your garden grow? Leave a comment if you are posting and check my shared items box for posts by others who are joining in and sharing garden photos on Fridays!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

So you like the Friday Garden Tour idea? Some do, I know from some kind commenters. Others, not so much if spikey monsterous weeds outnumber their blossoms this summer. It's ok, Margaret. I love you weeds and all. If God didn't give you a green thumb, He has blessed you in numerous other ways. And you know what? It's not my thumb that is green this summer. I am gardening like the queen of the castle, holding the baby and graciously instructing the royal gardener (my dh), "Please plant that here, move that there," etc.

So what's bloomin' in Minnesota? Here is our weekly update:

The morning glories are coming along. I am having fun moving the vines around so they travel up every path. Can't wait to wake up to heavenly blue bursts of joy.

My twin petunia pots are soggy but bright.

The mint is filling out. Mint Mojitos anyone?

Ok, we finally spotted an oriole and I went out that very day to purchase this cool feeder and now - nothing. He has yet to return. In the meantime the oranges are growing moldy.

The yarrow is twice as big as last year.

Day lilies by the mailbox are almost ready to burst like fireworks.

The bluebirds have grown. Will have to leave them alone soon.

Cherry tomatoes are blossoming.

Tomatoes are standing tall.

DH's potatoes-in-a-trash can are looking great. No bugs yet.

One of my favorites - delphinium. The hints of blue are electric.

These are the shortest zinnias I ever did see.

Foxgloves are doing great. We do have a fox or two in the neighborhood should one of them need some paw protection.

I don't know why my camera would not focus on this geranium. When my daughter saw it in the nursery she hugged it. Who can resist buying a plant a child feels compelled to hug?

Lamb's ears make great fairy blankets!

The children made dad put up the flag on Flag Day. They are in a patriotic mode after memorizing the entire Wee Sing Patriotic Songs CD.

 

 

So how does your garden grow? Join in any time!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

My gardening efforts this year will be minimal (with a new baby and all) but there are a few items of eye candy I just could not live without.

Like the half-a-whiskey-barrel. This year it is filled with impatients and morning glories climbing the trellis.

Our yellow-loving princess gets her own pansy garden again. The white thing in the middle is our well head, bty. The climber is, I think, a clematis but it always grows so far before it dies. I think it wants to climb higher. I planted some nasturtium seeds that will take over before too long.

Never have much luck with strawberries. My husband did spray these after the leaves were devoured.

About the only thing blooming in my east garden right now is the Jacob's ladder -

These are the square foot gardens my husband built last year filled with all kinds of vegetables and herbs the children helped to plant. We are trying some upside-down tomatoes too. Yes, we do have deer in our neighborhood but a few applications of Liquid Fence seem to keep them away.

The peonies are little early this year - they usually just in time for Father's Day. I need to move at least two of these this fall but I read that they do not like to be moved.

Not really a part of the garden, but part of our backyard experience are the bluebird happenings. Their eggs finally hatched! I got this photo but the next time I came back to look the mother was still  in there staring me down.

This is my little problem spot for the summer. It began it's life with some Russian sage and coreopsis. Then we planted daffodil bulbs to make a great statement of yellow in the spring. Right now, however, there is nothing blooming and the grass wants to take over. It is miserably hard to weed grass. Never can get all the roots. So I have a little eyesore. See, we bloggers do keep it real sometimes!

The front bed is best in late summer. Right now there is one brave lupine -

And whatever these purple spikes are - salvia? Veronica speedwell? I forget. The echinachea and obedient plants will be blooming before long as well as bee balm. We let milkweed grow here too so we can transfer Monarch caterpillars to a butterfly house just before they make a chrysalis.

 

So how does your garden grow? Would you care to join me in giving tours of your garden on Fridays this summer?

Late Spring Layers of Bliss - A Cumulative Song

I have been enjoying . . .

Afternoons outside by the big twin oaks.

Afternoons outside by the big twin oaks while the toddler plays happily in the sandbox.

Afternoons outside by the big twin oaks weeding the lilies of the valley while the toddler plays happily in the sandbox.

Afternoons outside by the big twin oaks hearing the children sing "White Coral Bells" in a two part round, weeding the lilies of the valley while the toddler plays happily in the sandbox.

Afternoons outside by the big twin oaks hearing the well tuned scale of our new wind chimes as well as the children singing "White Coral Bells", weeding the lilies of the valley while the toddler plays happily in the sandbox.

Afternoons outside by the big twin oaks creating a new fairy house while hearing the well tuned scale of our new wind chimes and the children singing "White Coral Bells", weeding the lilies of the valley while the toddler plays happily in the sandbox.

Speaking of Fanciful . . .

This one's inspired by Mirabelle by Astrid Lindgren ~

Dancer's imaginary friend, Clementine, evidently gave her a doll seed. Because Dancer is content with her beloved doll, Sarah, she passed the seed along to Sunshine who proceeded to plant it and water it faithfully every day.

After two weeks of watering, Sunshine was beginning to wonder if the doll would ever sprout.

A good soaking rain did the trick:

Sunday in the Garden

The Sunflower House!

Sunday in the Garden

Have a blessed Sunday!

Eggs in the Morning

Chicks at noon!

The 2nd batch of bluebirds this summer!

Butterfly Garden

Near our new library (but not close enough, IMO) a volunteer gardener in town planted a most fanciful garden in the shape of a butterfly featuring, of course, flowers that attract butterflies such as these.

Camera in hand, we walked from the library parking lot over to the garden most likely inspired by a chapter in Sharon Lovejoy's Sunflower Houses.

Is this not darling? Makes me wish we lived on three sunny acres to do a different garden project every year from Lovejoy's books!

Sunday in the Garden

Recent blooms ~

Phlox (Christ's Cross Flower)
These are the ones the deer did not get to!

Lavender
My all-time favorite herb. I aspire to own and read The Genus Lavandula

Cosmos (St. Michael's Flower)
I love looking at these out my bathroom window every morning when these are in their full glory!

Balloon Flower - see the balloons ready to pop?

Mallow - new this year. Can't wait to see the "fairy cheeses" when they form seeds!

Nasturtiums filling out

A Morning Glory (Our Lady's Mantle) growing up a sunflower

The Sunflower House - now taller than the children!

Sunday in the Garden

The mid-summer blossoms are starting to show their stuff this week. We have been blessed with a moderately cool summer - only a handful of days above 85 and some rain here and there. I think it's so thoughtful of God to arrange the blooming of butterfly's favorite flowers just before they emerge from their chrysalis!

Black-Eyed Susans are here (Golden Jerusalem)

Bee Balm (Sweet Mary)

Coreopsis

Obedient Plant - you know why it's called that? You can move a blossom left or right and it stays put!

Daisies - Dino's favorite

I totally forgot what this is!

Sunflower House Progress

Nasturtium - I've been letting the kids eat these as they bloom with a dab of cream cheese in the middle!

Cedar Waxwings gathering nesting material

Named for the tail feathers that look as if they have been dipped in wax

Sunday in the Garden

This week the snapdragons are going strong. They make the best toys.

The sunflowers making much progress.

The main event is the milkweed. The whole monarch/caterpillar/butterfly mystery is clearing up for me. And the children. And even my husband. I mean, we know the basic process - it's just the details of the monarchs in particular that have been demystified!

• When the Monarchs return, they lay their eggs on milkweed.
• The striped caterpillars hatch and feed only on milkweed. It makes them taste bad to predators.
• They eat and grow and shed skin several times until they are about two inches.
• When they are ready to form a chrysalis they go to another plant nearby to do this rather than staying on the milkweed. The naturalist at the nature center tipped us off to this!

Of the three caterpillars that were munching away on our volunteer milkweed, one of our stripy friends is camouflaged on the underside of an obedient plant leaf. The spots of gold are amazing.
 

One caterpillar is MIA.

The third is kidnapped. We cut the milkweed he was on, wrapped wet paper towels around the stem and covered that in foil. He is now in last year's butterfly cage and will hopefully attach himself to the top of it in a day or two for our viewing pleasure!

Sunday in the Garden

I once heard an older gentleman complimenting his wife on her garden, saying that she planned it in such a way that something would always be in bloom. At the time, we lived in an apartment, but I remember that the remark stirred in me a longing for such garden!

New flowers are blooming each week here at Pinewood Castle, though not all at once. No particular flower bed looks great right now, but some individual blooms have brought us some cheer.

These daylillies (St. Joseph's Lily) by the mailbox added a burst of sunny yellow. I think of these as a gift for the mailman.  I always wonder what kinds of flowers the mail carriers see by all the mailboxes on their route. When the morning glory comes up I always hope that the mail arrives early enough for our mailman to see the blue blossoms!

Blue flowers have always been my favorite. Many purple flowers are considered blue, but the shades of true blue in these delphinium always amaze me.

We have some volunteer milkweed that blew over from the path with three monarch caterpillars on them! Here's the fattest one:

There are buds on the echinacea, black eyed susan and bee balm - full of promise!

Sunday in the Garden

Because my garden beds were neglected last summer due to our little blessing I am extra eager about sprucing them up now while the baby can entertain herself with sticks and mulch while I weed and plant some new additions. It won't be long before she will be walking and I will be chasing after a little gingerbread girl!

Despite the ants, I find the peonies (Pentecost Rose) wonderfully refreshing. The feel so cool and soft and fluffier than a rose. I just want to jump into one on a hot summer day and take a nap!

The shrub roses are out after a needed treatment of bug spray on the leaves - our BVM statue used to reside here until we moved her so we could see her out the kitchen window -

When my daughter first saw this cranesbill geranium (gentle virgin) at the nursery she literally hugged it. How could I not take it home?

This achillea moonshine (yarrow) is new this year. I love the intense yellow blooms. It obviously wants to be noticed!

Although the seeded sanpdragons (Infant Jesus' Shoes) are growing slower than slow, these from the "hot house" bloomed this morning! The children will have fun picking the blossoms to use for earrings!

I totally forgot what I planted here. Can't seem to find it in my book! Do you know?

(While I am asking for help here - what's the best way to photograph flowers outdoors on a Canon Powershot A570? The normal flower setting doesn't focus like it does indoors. I am having more luck with the "foliage" setting but not 100%)

What a convenience to step out to the patio and snip some herbs rather than paying $3 at the grocery store! Some fresh dill topped our salmon supper last night -

And the herbs in this ensemble are waiting patiently to be used

The baby bluebirds grew up and flew away. One cracked egg was left behind.

Maybe a little irreverent, but we were curious and so were the kids -

And last but not least, the Sunflower House is coming along nicely!

Have a happy holy Sunday, hopefully with a good portion spent out of doors. Don't y'all be cleaning your basement this time of year unless it's a rainy day!

Mondays in the Garden

Not much new this week. The Salvia that gets the most sunshine burst out.

 

We found this wasps' nest on an exterior light and promptly zapped it with the appropriate spray!