They Bring Their Own Light

There are some blooms that seem to create their own light.  I'm not sure if that is why I'm so drawn to them, but I can't seem to ever get enough.

Bee Balm (Monarda)

Other than how they draw the light, these plants don't seem to have much else in common. They certainly aren't all a certain color or take any particular form.  The Beebalm is a native perennial, the Grandpa Ott Morning Glory is a reseeding annual vine, one of the original plants offered by the Seed Saver's Exchange,

Granpa Ott Morning Glory -  "Bavarian Style" 

and the so-called Dwarf Pomegranate bush represents the hazards of buying a plant off the back of a truck from an unknown vendor.

I'd been shopping at one of my favorite local nurseries when an unmarked truck pulled up to deliver a shipment of plants. They had several extra pomegranate trees in pots supposedly "left over" from another nursery that had declined to take more than they'd originally ordered, and I inquired if I could have any. Marked "Dwarf Pomegranate" in chalk on the side, I figured I had just the spot for two and we quickly struck a deal.

As it turns out, the pomegranate trees grew to about eight feet.  It is the fruit that is small, not the trees themselves.  Details, you guys, details.

It matters not.  Though it means I'm trimming off suckers from the base for weeks each year, I chose to clip them up into a mini-canopy where they arch gracefully over the cobalt blue birdbath.  It is a vignette that puts a smile on my face nearly year 'round, especially this year when both trees seem to have gotten whatever they needed weather wise and are putting on an impressive display of flowers.

Speaking of impressive displays of flowers - the Opuntia ellisiana, or spineless prickly pear, are pulling out all the stops this year.  These blooms are amazing - they just glow.  I didn't pay a penny for any of mine - I got my first pad off a pile curbside from another gardener who was trimming her plants down.  One pad led to another and pretty soon I was the one with piles of pads to give away.  Spineless prickly pear - the Mother of All Passalongs.

And this last one, well, I actually don't know precisely what it will look like when it fully unfurls but, look!  My very first cholla blossom-to-be!  I've had this plant for years but I'm like a child with a new toy watching it bloom for the first time.  I can hardly wait to welcome it and see who else shows up to admire it along with me.

On writing

A very dear friend of mine recently remarked she had stopped by here and read every post I'd made since the first of the year.

I found myself feeling a bit bashful about that.  My friend is one of the smartest, funniest, most accomplished women I know, and at times blogging feels so...I don't know....ordinary?  At least my blog posts seem to me to be that way.  [By "that way" I suppose I mean whatever the opposite of smart, funny or accomplished might be.]

And yet, writing here is something I cannot help but do.  Whether I have readers or not, blogging in this space is something I miss when I'm away.

Which I have been a bit lately.  Away, I mean.  I've been taking advantage of the return of local air to breathable without sneeze-able status by cracking the whip on getting a few last major jobs done before the death star returns with a vengeance.  More on all that in future posts.

But for today?  This alluring shot of one of my current favorites in the garden (Lemon Bee Balm/Monarda citrodora) , plus a bit of wisdom from another smart, funny, accomplished woman, Anne Lamott:

"….publication is not all that it is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do — the actual act of writing — turns out to be the best part. It’s like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward."

Anne Lamott

Happy National Wildflower Week!

I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said about the wisdom of using blooming native plants in your garden spaces.  To my mind, choosing wildflowers is its own reward.

Pink Evening Primrose and Winecup

Pink Evening Primrose seed pods

Purple Prairie Verbena and Pink Evening Primrose

The flowers make everybody happy, bees and birds and butterflies included.

Lemon Bee Balm

Native flowers push up and carry on through drought, and most of them laugh away deer.

Mexican Hat

There's one to survive in just about any microclimate you have on offer.

Yellow Coneflower 

Bluebonnets

Bluebonnet seed pods

As if that weren't enough, many natives either set easily gathered seed or multiply happily in place, creating an opportunity to share passalong plants with your family, friends and neighbors.

Hill Country Rain Lily

Rain Lily seed pods 

The next time you are considering adding a plant to your mix?  Do us all a favor.  Go wild!

Pokeweed

Happy National Wildflower Week everyone!  And Happy Mother's Day!  When you garden, it is no exaggeration to say you are mother to millions.  Here's hoping you will be feted and celebrated as you so richly deserve.