Trash or Treasure?

Serendipity visited Auntie K’s Garden yesterday. It came in the morning and stayed all day.

Neighbor Nancy came by early to see the new “path” I put in next to the raised bed. She admired the irises that were blooming nearby. I thanked her and said I had some short ones I needed to either move or get rid of because they weren’t happy in their current location. She perked up at the word “short” and said she was looking for one more short thing to add to her boulevard garden. “Sold,” I said. “I’ll dig them out for you later on.”

Nancy hadn’t met the couple who moved in across the street from me, and they were out in their yard, so I walked over with her to make the introduction. On the way, I mentioned that I also wanted to get rid of some Spring-blooming anemones that had begun to take over one of my shade gardens. She said another neighbor was looking for some and I should call her. I made a mental note to do that later.

As we arrived at the new couple’s house, the woman dumped a load of old bricks into a collapsible dumpster. After I’d made the introductions, I told the woman I was looking for some bricks for a project in my yard and asked if I could rescue the old bricks from the dumpster. “Of course!” she said enthusiastically. “If I’d known you were looking, I would have brought them over!” I brought my wheelbarrow and garden fork and hauled home 3 wheelbarrows of bricks!

And, as I was dumping the last load of bricks, Teresa, the anemone-seeking neighbor walked by on her way home from an errand. I pointed out where she could dig and told her to take what she wanted. She was thrilled to get them! And, to my surprise and delight, she said she had too many strawberries and would be happy to dig some for me.

It was definitely a day of “one gardener’s trash is another’s treasure,” or “one gardener’s weed/cast off is another’s sought after gem.” Mia’s trash-bound bricks became my garden treasure. My unhappy mini irises were Nancy’s glad addition. And, Teresa and I traded things we each had “too much” of. I love days like that!

Do you have a story about a great garden trade? If so, post a comment and let me know!

Beautiful Bouquets

There’s nothing like a bouquet of fresh flowers to pick up your spirits.

One of the reasons I love the flower gardens here at Auntie K’s is they provide cut flowers throughout the growing season for bouquets. I enjoy taking a bouquet of fresh flowers to a dinner, or friend in the hospital, or to my office. I like having fresh flowers at home, too! People seem to like getting the bouquets as much as I like putting them together. I collect vases and jars at garage sales and save all my glass containers instead of recycling them so I can give the bouquets without having the recipient or me worry about the vase. I also pick up ribbon if it’s on sale to dress up the neck of the jars cum vases.

A few years ago, I received a bouquet that included a hosta leaf, which I thought was both beautiful and creative. Why include only the blossoms from the garden when beautiful greenery abounds as well?! I’ve been including them in bouquets ever since.

This year, the spring bouquets included tulips, trollius, iris, lilac, bleeding heart, anemone, chives, polemonium, and centaurea. Roses, poppies, peonies, lilies, and sprigs of salvia were featured in early summer bouquets. Now, I’m using the coneflowers – white and purple (I lost the golden ones to a mite), rudbeckia, roses, sprigs of Russian sage, and garden phlox. Later in the year, the asters get added to the mix.

The roses are in full bloom again and I think they’ll make a great foundation for a couple of bouquets.

p.s. I had a mishap with my computer earlier in the week and don’t have the ability right now to post photos. Hopefully, I’ll get things figured out in a couple of days and can post photos again.

Gee, That’s Fun to Say!

My neighbor, Karen, and I were walking to the coffee shop the other morning. We needed a little caffeine boost before we started a mega-weeding project for another of our neighbors. On the way, we passed some moss roses, or portulaca. Karen told me a story about how her nephew REALLY likes to say “portulaca” because it’s so fun! I thought that was a good story and told her that I had been saying the word ratibida almost all day on Tuesday after having purchased one that morning. I couldn’t get the word (or the plant) out of my head! It was fun to say!

After our weeding project, I thought about the other botanical names that are fun to say. My list includes some plants and some plant families. Here goes: Ranunculus, Agapanthus, Taxus, Buxus, Oleander, Tiarella, Rhododendron, Plumbago, Polemonium, Anemone, Brassicaceae, and Solanaceae.

I found a web site that not only shows you the phonetic pronunciation for botanical names, it pronounces them for you when you click on a name! How cool is that?!
Note: The site includes pronunciations for plants only – not plant families.

Do you have a plant name that’s fun to say?! Post a comment and let me know!