Good Morning Glory

A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his client to plant vines. -Frank Lloyd Wright

 

What a perfect sight to start the day with – a rogue morning glory climbing up the telephone pole in the back corner of the garden!Surely the relative of one I planted last year, but until today , unnoticed by me. I was taken back to another morning, several years ago, when my next-door-neighbor met me at the fence that separates our two gardens .It was late summer and the fence was smothered in bright blue morning glories, glowing their finest in the early morning coolness.“Your morning glories made me cry” she said. Flowers can indeed bring out strong emotions in us, not to mention memories, and I will forever think of that neighbor when the morning glories greet me, as I hope they always will.

This pure shade of blue just longs for the color orange.  I decided to pick one blossom and bring it in the house to enjoy with my breakfast.  I had fun with paints also, serving it up on a "Bridgewater" plate with a glass of orange juice ! By the way, DO NOT eat the Morning Glory except with your eyes!

Color to the Rescue

August is not the shining time in my garden, and after a week of cutting back and cleaning up, the results were much neater but certainly not beautiful! How I longed for some color, some bloom! The long, hot dry midwest summer had taken it's toll, not to mention the Japanese beetle, so I was feeling somewhat resigned to what I could not control this year, and with that stubborn optomism that only gardeners can understand, I consoled myself with taking mental notes for next year.

When I arrived at the Botanical garden to tend the Herb Garden there today I was greeted with an astounding display of bloom and color.  While my own garden at home was languishing in the throes of summer's end, this garden was putting on a display to dazzle my garden clogs off!


I left the Herb Garden with a new and fulfilling sense of  gratitude, and while the typical understanding of the term "volunteer" is working without pay - I have never felt so wealthy.

Everlastings in the Dye/Crafting section

Nicotiana - the wild and the cultivated varieties existing together in harmony

From garden to harvest - globe amaranth destined to adorn a wreath soon!

Red and Purple . . . did you ever think? In case there was ever any doubt, nature does have a sense of fashion.

Hey Sailor!

I'm not in the habit of picking up men, but this one had me at "Hello". He was on the floor in the island cottage when I walked in, doing what a good doorstop is suppose to do, so I picked him up and carried him outside to the porch where he could see the fantastic ocean view. As he was obviously a fisherman, it seemed like the right thing to do. Who knows how long he was down there on the dusty wooden planks, longing for the sea. I knew from the start that we shared something deep - deep as in water. Not to mention the fish thing , I am a Pisces after all. After an all too short time together, I said goodbye to my sailor and left him there where I found him, promising we would meet again. Who knows, maybe same time next year?

The View my sailor was missing

Fish Beach on Monhegan Island

BRINGING IN THE FISH  by James Fitzgerald, my favorite Monhegan artist.

Who's The Boss?

If you think being small means you cant be effective, you have never been in bed with a Mosquito - or in the garden with a cranky Jenny Wren

Well, I have to admit that  my presence out there in that little corner of my garden might have been unfamiliar that morning, and the vacation that took me away for what seemed like a very quick week to me probably seemed like  a lifetime to my little feathered friends.


I barely stepped into the shelter of the lilac bush when the scolding began- and I was informed in no uncertain terms that I was not welcome.  I could see the bird hoping frantically about between the branches,  and I assured him in my softest voice that I meant no harm and just wanted to work
quietly along side him.  But my words did not offer any comfort, so I began my weeding chores and waited for him to get used to me.


I love the Jenny Wrens, and they have favored me for years with their presence, settling into the little houses I scatter about for them. They are protective of their territory, and the volume and consistency of their warning call is so out of proportion to their size that I cant help but be amazed over and over again. They have my admiration, but I can be just a determined as they can. They have their work and I have mine, and we never fail to settle into an unspoken agreement eventually.