Sidetracked Charley

Pink Hollyhock Our strange winter resulted in the death of the poppy bed. And BoBear and Boca cooperated in totally overturning the Hollyhock bed. In their defense I think voles had taken up residence. So this season has been about restarting established beds. The poppy bed I fell back to Icelandic poppies which bloom the first year. I know better than to try for roses which seem to do better in green houses. And I bit the bullet and bought several two year old hollyhocks to plant in that bed. One double ruffle black hollyhock survived the scourge and a friend bought me four blacks she found in Taos. Two of them were planted in the devastated poppy bed. I also had seeds left from my previous bed, and while I probably won't see the results of those for a couple years, it felt like I was on my way to re-establishing the bed under my studio windows. Sunflower seeds also planted but like much of everything in this year without a summer they seem slow. The old red orie...

First Summer for Deck At least now there is sunshine and green and garden and vistas to divert my attention. But there is also meltdowns in the White House and totally non-functioning GOP congress, firing of the director of the FBI. I try to focus on the positive in my life as the United States gets mired in a constitutional crisis. I keep YouTube news to the hours before dawn and in the evening when I am too tired to work outside. Yesterday I went to an Arts Council Round Table and got the news that funding for 2018 is currently save but who knows about 2019. If we still exist as a nation by then. Meanwhile it has been a wet May which means no stress about wild fires in the neighboring forests. Course Thing One could sell it off to Exxon for oil exploration. But you have to take your fears one at a time. And with gardening season I can at least sandwich them between joys like moving out to my new deck from last fall. Today I plan to sit down and enjoy my efforts. Well, after...