Whoops, wrong tune.

This is one of the things that helps to pass the time while folding laundry at the new house. We do not have TV hooked up and therefore, I watch some old VHS tapes of my daughters favorite comedian. Normally I would be folding laundry in the evening and gardening in the daytime. We are going slow on the gardening since it is the worst time of year to plant things and we are only there on the weekends to maintain and watch the plants.

This is another reason we are not rushing into planting the landscaping. We spend most of the time moving the sprinkler around the yard to keep what little lawn survived the bulldozer tragedy. In a few places my husband's rush to mow leaves pockets of grass near the house that we ignore. He was going to turn on the hose next to the house yesterday when he saw the grass quivering and upon closer inspection saw this little bunny shivering against the back wall of the house. (We were thinking it would be a snake.) He wouldn't leave until hubby moved the sprinkler one more time and he got caught in the shower!


I was wrong about the tiny tunia that I saved a week ago and it is a regular petunia. The water and fertilizer helped it recover from a neglected tiny plant into a full size petunia. In the center you can see that the alyssum is starting to bloom as well if you click on the photo.

FINALLY, the plant in the pot in the post below is an ornamental oregano. It smells wonderful.

A final clue

Well, either no one is playing this game with me or anyone who comes across this blog is really clueless...not true now because you have a very good clue above!

OK, A clue

This is a photo of a more traditional version of the blossoms of this plant. Can you guess it now?

Mystery Plant -- 1

I certainly do not need to be babysitting potted plants these days. Most of my plants are down at the new house and I make every effort to get there on a weekly basis to water and check on them. BUT, I was shopping at the local yuppie food store this evening and found (and purchased) this lovely plant which I had never seen before. (Upon researching I found there are several varieties of this, each unique and intriguing.) At first glance I thought it was related to a hydrangea...but it is not. Not even close.

Do you know what it is?

Tiny Tunia or Life Finds a Way

This Calibrachoa which is sometimes mistaken for a 'tiny petunia' was found blooming in this abandoned pot next to my new garage door. The pot had been unloaded from one of the many boxes, and because there was still dirt inside, it got set against the garage door outside with some other empty pots.

There also appear to be some white Allisum plants sneaking their way through the earth.

Why is the pot so special? This pot was grabbed at the last minute over three years ago when I had sold my house and it was thrown into the rental house metal shed with soil and all. It was a hanging pot on my deck and I wanted to save the plastic pot because it was in pretty good condition. With the rush of moving and grabbing things and being on overload the dirt in the pot was ignored. It was stored in the metal shed through very high summer temperatures and very cold winter temperatures and no sun and no water for over two years!

Then last Saturday this little red flower bloomed and caught my eye. I brought the plant inside and put it in the laundry room sink filled with water to let it soak for several hours, weeded the clover that was choking out most of the plants, and then I took it outside into partial sun on my deck. I am hoping that it will be OK until I get back there on Friday evening. My husband may be driving down on Thursday and maybe he can check on it.

I feel a lot of responsibility for these little plants now.

The Wild Queen

Chancy suggested I plant a wildflower in my new yard landscape, Queen Anne's Lace. The Queen Anne referred to is Queen Anne of Denmark (1574-1619). This plant which came from Europe grows throughout the United States and I have partiality to this plant because of memories of picking it when I was a little girl and bringing bouquets home to my mother. This plant is actually the original plant from which we derive the garden carrot. If you break the stem or leaf it has a smell similar to parsley to which it is also related and the root looks a little like a tiny carrot root but it is tough and woody.

While it can be somewhat invasive and some refer to it as a weed, I have never had a problem keeping it under control. I think it tends to be less invasive in our wetter East Coast climate than it seems to be in a dry prairie field. I can remember early fall hikes in Colorado where I came upon plants that were three feet high with the primary blossom being fives inches wide. The leaves are also delicate and compliment the lace of the blossoms.

I like it because it is a wonderful addition to any bouquet in the house when the fall is beginning, although there are blossoms to pick in the later summer as well. It is one of the last plants to give up when the cold nights start. I remember a quote from the TV series Anne of Green Gables where Anne Shirley writes about the last few blossoms of the Queen Anne's Lace on P.E.I. before the winter sets in and that image has stayed with me all these years.

When the blossom fades it folds into itself and has the shape of a small birds nest which is another name it sometimes is given. I have read that the root is a diuretic and can be eaten, but never needed that aspect of the plant. I also read that it can be used as a morning after pill---but I don't need that anymore.

Therefore, I will get a packet of seeds next spring and scattered them along the woods edge at the front of the house where they can get plenty of daytime sun. Then I will try to remember to take a photo of the first bouquet from these.