Monday, August 31, 2015

The colors of the spirit



Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.
                                            Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wowee…my favorite weather this week: A high of 90 each day, all week long. Ugh. The last batch of 90-degree temps we had was when I received and planted my Moonflowers. They made the trip with my daughter from South Central Pennsylvania and landed in a bucket of water for days because of the nasty hot weather. I finally braved the humidity and dug a hole in my concrete yard and plopped them in. Remember this?
                                                                      

As sad as they looked they had little green tips that said to me……….”Feeeeed me!".....like something right out of The Little House of Horrors. I fed them a gallon of water every day during that heat wave.

The Moonflowers rewarded me triumphantly with this below, and even with a flower. There’s another bud getting ready to bloom nearby. I know they will absolutely LOVE this weeks high temps and humidity (unlike their caregiver). I bring you this photo now because who knows if the sweet bloom will make it to tomorrow given the multitude of wildlife that cavorts throughout my yard. I think they party all night long. They're out there at 5:30AM when they think no one's watching....
                                                                                  

It’s late in the season, so my Moonflowers really need to take off in order to make it through the winter. I think they are fairly cold hardy and will keep growing well into the Fall and early Winter depending on the temps, so maybe their will to live will guide them through. I'll make sure I mulch the living daylights out of them to give them half a chance.
                                                                               
Here's a photo of a large pot on my deck to add a little color to this post:
                                                                                    
My favorite flowers are combined in this pot - impatiens, coleus and ferns. My new favorite flower are the white ones which for the life of me I can't remember their name...help? I love them because they aren't as messy as impatiens, are bigger, and have larger flowers. But I don't think they have as much of a variety of colors as impatiens. Notice my adorable watering can solar light I bought at CVS on a trip I took with a friend to Fenwick Island Delaware last April. Of course the flowers are blocking the solar unit so it's not glowing but when it does it's so cute!

Yesterday I attended my Master Gardener Harvest Banquet and received my pin from West Virginia University Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program. I am now a Certified WVU Master Gardener. What does this mean? It means that I took 30 hours of instruction, did about 30 hours volunteer work and 30 hours of further education for the past two years. Each year I need to do volunteer/educational hours (much less) to maintain my status. I have been telling all my friends I’m finally certified….and of course their response was “I could have told you that….”

Peace out. Stay dry or stay cool, whichever applies.

                                                                               


4 comments:

  1. Lovely blog post, Ann! I think your moon flowers are doing great and they should be fine over winter with a good mulch. They do come up late in the spring though.
    Great pictures, too. Congratulations on your Master Gardener Certification!

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  2. Thank you, Sue! Do you know the name of the white flowers in the red pot? It's right on the tip of my tongue - and they're very common....

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  3. Moonflowers were my late MIL's favorite.She always had them in her garden.The weather is one thing we gardeners cannot control.I learned that,again,this past summer.I think your white flowers are vincas.Congrats on the Master Gardener.

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  4. Thanks, Chris. I knew they were vincas, but for some reason had a mental block about their name....doh. I do love them, and the white ones are gorgeous! Sorry you're having such a terrible rainy time down there. I hope your Fall is much better.

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