I deadheaded yesterday and this beauty is the last of the reblooms. But, there are new buds so I’m super excited for the 4th set of reblooms this season!
Sharing to bring a little joy to your day today. Thanks to Cee for hosting the Flower of the Day prompt.
Strolling through a public garden on a promenade and came across this beautiful pink hibiscus — it’s deserving to be today’s Flower of the Day, hosted by Cee.
I picked up gardening this summer when the lansdcaping company I hired was a no-show. We had laid out the plan but when spring ended and May rolled around and they were nowhere in sight I said to myself, “Self, you can do this”. I had no tools and I had no idea about flowers—I just knew what was aesthetically pleasing to me.
I researched nurseries. I researched flowers. The workers at the Home Depot and nurseries became my buddies—“What tools do I need for this and that?” “Which potting soil and fertilizer is best?” “Mulch?!” And pretty soon google was auto-directing my searches to all things “garden”.
But somehow “deadheading” didn’t come up till a kind blogger, Eliza Waters, in her comment on a post advised me to deadhead the tickseed to encourage rebloom. Back to google I went: “What is deadhead?” “How to deadhead …?”
I clipped with careful precision, following the google-advisors to a T. All the while praying I’m doing it right.
Over the weeks following I kept checking for signs of regrowth. And then one morning, after a night of summer showers, there they were—new buds!
The roses were about to re-bloom.
Suffice it to say, I was elated! With my trusty iPhone I began documenting what to me—the accidental gardener—is a feat.
On a nature trail this flower stopped me dead in my jog track and I turned back to freeze it in a photo-memory. Later when I zoomed in on the photo realized I inadvertently captured a bit of nature in motion—this ant and his worm dinner served up on a tessellate-like multi-petal platter! Bon appétit mrAnt. (58 words)
The challenge from Sammi Cox is for us to write a 58 word post using the word “tessellate.” Well, I learned a new word today and was able to use it in a sentence. Yeah me!!! Thanks Sammi!!! I love a word prompt challenge and you delivered. 😊
One of the positive things about movements being restricted by this pandemic is that it freed up time and so I picked up new hobbies. In addition to blogging (you may like “Why I Created This Blog”), I also started gardening over the past 2-3 months and it’s been pure JOY!
So before I lose them all, I froze the remaining ‘blooms of my labor’ in photo memories which I’d like to share with you.
Space 1: The rhododendrons now have the company of a range of other perennials like fox gloves, roses, daisies & tickseeds. Space 2: For this space I had to take out a couple evergreens, broke my heart to do it; but, that gave the room needed to add color, texture & dimension to the space.
Today’s photo reflection is a mix of photos accompanied by quotes from others who are equally captivated and inspired by nature as I am and said things I’d say myself but they got to it first so now I get to quote them😉😉.
David Hobsongot it right when he said— “I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.”Phyllis Theroux— “I think this is what hooks one to gardening: it is the closest one can come to being present at creation.”George Bernard Shawyou nailed it— “The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for Him there.”“God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.” —Francis BaconGertrude Jekyll got it right when she said— “A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.”“Life begins the day you start a garden.” —Chinese proverb [my life has just begun 🥳]Alfred Austin, the only thing I’d add is “sweat on your brow”— “The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”Rudyard Kipling, it’s tue— “Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful,’ and sitting in the shade.” —Gardens are made by heart-work!❤️Many evenings I just sit still in the garden, and you’re right Ruth Stout— “Working in the garden gives me something beyond the enjoyment of the senses. It gives me a profound feeling of inner peace.”Stoufer I absolutely agree, a garden must be like heaven on earth— “When heaven falls to earth it becomes a garden.”“Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.” —Elizabeth Murray“The home gardener is part scientist, part artist, part philosopher, part plow [woman]. [She] modifies the climate around [her] home.”
—Thank you John Whiting! You totally get it!! A garden has powers to shift the atmosphere.
Last year, around this time, NY was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. I ventured out the house for only the essentials and sadly, but smartly, that didn’t include gardening supplies or plants. So, the garden languished all year—doing its best to be splendiferous with the remnants of what survived from the year before and without my TLC.
This year, it’s been tilled and manured, mulched and watered. With a few new perennial additions and some fixtures of smiley frogs, and the like, the garden is coming back to vibrancy.
Rhododendrons, Cat Mint, Lilies, Roses, Hydrangeas, Meadow Sage all bursting in bloom and fragrance.
The Hydrangeas, Azaleas and Syringa won’t be outdone—they too are exploding in vibrancy of color and splendor of fragrance.
Spring feels more like summer which bids and welcomes me to enjoy the outdoors. An umbrella for a little shade, and the garden is the best place to repose.
Even the butterflies are returning.
The beauty of creation on a tiny-tiny-tiny plot on this vast-vast-vast eARTh. And, the garden is exhibiting all kinds of happy vibes again!
It rained all last night and most of today. At the first sign the rain was abating, me and my trusty iPhone headed down the stairs and across the street to the walk path and river to capture nature in her glow.
First I encountered the hydrangeas on the steps as I’m heading out, they’ve perked up to the thrill of spring showers … …then the Tulips, this one awash with rain drops and hugged by Bleeding HeartsSoon I got to one of my fav spots in the park—the Bronx River. Today it’s swollen, gushing noisily over this short fall …I must sit for awhile and bask in the beauty surrounding meThen it’s off for a stroll along the BronxRiver Walk Path—it’s the epitome of serene, today enhanced by variance in the shades of spring-time green …ending where I started, Bleeding Hearts & Tulips
It took me awhile to get the hang of growing them. In fact, I literally killed 9 … no that doesn’t sound good at all, let me rephrase … 9 orchids died while under my care (lol 😂). So this bloom is a HUGE deal—it’s from one of the orchids that is re-blooming under my care and it’s MY 1st FLOWER OF THE SEASON.
I’m so happy.
I’m proud to say I now have 11 orchids and ALL of them are set to re-bloom. All except one have sent out new spikes and all have new nodes (some of them multiple nodes). I’m ecstatic and filled with anticipation waiting for all the plants to flower.
A collection of writing by Dominic Riccitello — intimate conversations, personal essays, and poetic reflections on relationships, loss, and self-discovery.