Going Green

Today's theme: Going Green. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Green is the color between blue and yellow on the spectrum; colored like grass or emeralds. Symbolically, according to Emily Gems, a gemstone web site, green represents fertility and life, well balanced people, learning, growth, and harmony. I have painted our bedroom and the guest bedroom a green color that we used at the old house, Peaceful Jade because I love it so much. Many of us because we garden,  we love nature and respect Mother Earth.  As gardeners, we want to create, preserve, and protect our environment. We "go green" in the simplest ways ranging from refusing those awful plastic bags at the supermarket, instead using reusable bags (if we can remember to get them out of the trunk of the car before we go into the store); we find natural ways to control weeds and pests in the garden. We recycle our glass, paper, and plastic. We reuse, re-purpose, redo everything from clothing to furniture.

However, I did not set out to write about saving the earth tonight. I thought instead that I would take you for walk around the Garden Spot while it is at its peak of Spring green and then for a quick drive down the road to see the green fields of Northern Colorado. Come along.

On the north side of the house, we have two snow ball bushes with the blossoms still that limey green as they grow.

The front circle is full of wild chamomile. Not just green, but what texture with the spiky leaves and the broad petals and the mound of yellow. Mom Nature knows her stuff.

At the front of the house the clematis is loaded with wonderful full buds ready to burst out in pink. A nice color combo: bright pink and limey green.

Green and Purple make a great color combo: 

Alliums

And Iris

And lavender lilacs

The Garden Spot is home a few cottontails that munch the green grass in the lawn and the pasture. They seem to live in peaceful coexistence with dog, cats, and even the local fox family. One of my evening routines is to go out front and count the rabbits in the horse pasture and watch them chase each other.

Gray and Green: Not a favorite color combo, but the pasture with all of the moisture is green and lush.

From the lemon yellow of the chamomile and the lime green of the snowball, pasture green also goes well with palomino gold.

I love this color combo: Green and White

Red and Green aren't just for Christmas.  

Green And Brown: Sprouting corn that by the 4th of July should be knee high.

The farmland palette Black and white cows (Holstein steers), green grass for hay, and a newly tilled soil with the blue silhouette of the mountains in the background.

 Green Eggs and Ham? I love our hens' green eggs. 

Spring Green has to be a favorite color: Yes here at the Garden Spot we are at peace, well-balanced, and we try to live in harmony with nature in an eco friendly way. 

Tomorrow we will plant the garden. The camera will be close by. I hope you enjoyed our little walk-about and a short Sunday afternoon drive.

We are truly blessed to live in this great country 

and today we remember our brave veterans. 

God Bless them 

and 

God Bless America.

Have a great holiday and wonderful week. 

Sweet Success

Hello? Hello? Is anyone out there? Yes. I know. I have been MIA for several days. Do you worry when you haven't blogged for a few days--okay, over a week or more --that you have lost all of your followers? Well, I do, but I also know that that my kind followers have had the same lapses in time and space and we are always waiting for a happy return. So here I am, now an officially retired English professor.

The sweetest sound of spring:
the male gold finch singing to his his Lady Love

The end of the semester is always stressful, and this last one was not any different except for the long faces of friends whom I will miss very much. Five of us had dinner the week of finals, not to say good-bye, just say "see ya soon." One other friend is also rearing, so with the two of us leaving, we ate good food, had a bit of wine, and did the 'remember whens. There will be a huge hole in the English department with the two of us gone. My final words to my dear friends were simple: We may not be working together anymore, but we are friends forever.

I did really get tired of everyone asking me "What are you going to do now that you are retired?"   The list is a very long one; here are the top two:

1. Spend time with our dear, sweet grandchildren who are growing up so quickly:

Lucy graduated Pre-School.

2. Spend time in the Garden with my sweet Head Gardener (who happens to be off on his annual fishing trip).

Sweetness in the Garden

Meet Sweet Sensations who will join her sister roses; a Weeks Hybrid Tea rose, she will grow hardy and healthy. And what fragrance she has. 

Today I gave the roses sharp pruning. I had pruned them mid-March, taking only a bit of each branch since they had already begun to leaf out. Then April weather turned ugly with record setting cold, freezing rain and a lot of snow, killing all of the new growth.

Today the roses look hardy and are growing a new, strong leaf foundation. Originally I left one long stem on the red rose, but post photo, I snipped it off, too, to give the rose a nicer, more uniform shape.

I love these three little guys clustered by the David Austin. They are supermarket roses--you know, those pretty little potted roses that are great gifts, but if left potted in the house they die. I plant them outside and they do very well. In fact, they will be the first roses to bloom. I think I paid 5 dollars for two of them on the sale shelf last summer.

The three David Austins on the other side of the garden wall are doing well. They required little pruning. They seem to be such easy keeper.

Peony Beauties

We have been adding peonies every year. I had beautiful, huge plants at the old house that were pretty much left to fend for themselves, but here I struggle get them to do well (just as I am struggling tonight to upload the photo of the 3 planted with the David Austins in the front of the house.) We purchased one last summer at the iris garden along with 5 new irises and it failed to thrive. Hubby dug up the rhizome and just threw it in ground by the hen house, and while it did sprout leaves, it really needs a more suitable home. But look the these two healthy plants above. The lady at the iris patch said to feed them rabbit food in early spring. We did and look at the results. The ones out front are tall, healthy and all are full of buds. Can't wait for these beauties to bloom.

Sadly Raspberry Sundae isn't doing so well, much like the alum planted in the same garden bed. I have decided that the plants in the entire bed which have turned yellow don't like the horse manure top dressing we gave them last year. The peony were all fed the same, only this one got a dose of pooh, too. She apparently does not like it.

The alum was going to be spectacular this year with two new sprouts. She was going have 3 gorgeous  giant purple spheres. Guess we will be scrapping away the manure.

Just Peachy

North Star Dwarf Cherry

Covering the fruit trees during the last cold spell paid off. The newest peach tree planted last summer is loaded with blossoms, while the two year old tree had only a sparse flowering. Hopefully we will have fresh peaches. The cherry tree will have to be netted to keep the robins off of it once the cherries begin to show a bit of red. I really like the this tree. Who does not like cherry pie? While the tree looks pretty skimpy, the dwarf produces an amazing amount of cherries that are easily picked. 

More Garden Success

Remember my blog last year about daughter Heather redesigning the front water garden? We made a trip to our favorite wholesale garden in Ft. Collins--the one that supplies High Country Gardens Nursery. This little iris is not one those plants, but Heather did give it to me last summer.The first iris to bloom this season. I did lose a few new plants around the pond, but more survived than died.

Success in the Vegetable Garden

Three varieties of potatoes have been planted: Red, Yukon Gold, and just plain white spuds

Even more exciting: the asparagus lives. Pretty skinny, though. I have not decided if I will cut the spears or not. The plants are entering their second year, planted from gallon containers. So I don't know if I should harvest them or let them go to seed. There is one teeeeeeny tiny spear poking through int the trench of 16 asparagus roots planted a few weeks ago. Hopefully more will grow. Patience. Lots of Patience. 

The berries are coming out of their winter funk too. The strawberries are blooming, the raspberries that were transplanted are alive and growing, and the blackberry has vibrant growth coming up from the bottom. I don't know just how much of the cane that we tied up to trellis is alive. As the roses, it had good, hardy leaf buds before that freeze. 

Be careful What You Wish For

Our wish was for rain instead of snow--we were sick of the late spring snow. Last Tuesday it rained; boy did it. According to the rain gage, we had almost 1.5 inches in about half an hour. Our water garden project has stalled for various reasons, but the hole collected a nice amount of rainwater. 

Even the hens had a bit of puddle. They were not too sure just what to do about it either.

And Sundance took a mud bath.

The sweetest of All

The Saturday before Mother's Day, late in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. Expecting to see my 6ft. 2 nephew, I was shocked to see the little guy, Nathan. "What are you doing here and how did you get here," I asked my four year old grandson? Then his momma appeared from behind the courtyard wall. In short, she brought a mother's day dinner and Jen and her family came for an early Mother's Day Surprise. Really the best of all.  Ellie presented me with a bit of gift. She knew I had a collection of bird nests that had fallen from the trees last summer, so she asked for one. Later she brought me a nest of chicken eggs--freshly laid--decorated with a pit of purple weed flowers. I love the colors and treasure the moment.

And they want to know what I will be doing in retirement? 

Top of my immediate To Do List: catch up on my blog reading. I have been reading randomly, but not commenting much. I am now using an iPad instead of my lap top and I am thinking that I need to add a keyboard to it so that I can type more accurately. I have missed my blog friends, but I am back in business. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. My great nephew graduates from high school Sunday then he is off the to Marines. Congratulations, Austin. 

And thank you dear ones who offered sweet sentiments on my retirement and encouragement that there is life after a wonderful career.

Keep Bloggin'

Two For the Price of One

The semester has ended. Next week is finals week, so I still have work to do and then freedom. I am quite behind on both blogging and reading. I have had plenty to do to finish up school. Tonight I am posting two blogs. So get a cup of tea and settle in for a long story that I will tell in collages.

Daffodils--at last

Spring finally arrived as the old snow melted, leaving behind lots of moisture, but with another storm on its way, so I took photos of my lovely daffodils that survived the last storm. Then I cut a healthy bouquet so that I could enjoy them inside. 

Ponding

Our pond project finally got started. Removing lilac stumps was challenging, but as hubby learned how to use the mini backhoe, they came out. Let me tell you, a man in a backhoe is a dangerous thing!

Digging

With the backhoe work done, it was time to work the back. We had good help: Jennifer dug in, Heather scooped out, and Jacob got his first lesson on how to use a shovel. And even better lesson we hope: That it is better to work your brain rather than your back.

We, of course, are not done. Next the sides of the pond have to smoothed out and the liner put in place. Perhaps this week.

Boys and Men and Big Toys

All little boys need grandpas who live in the country. I have taught Jacob how to drive the EZ-Go, so he loaded up the lilac stumps to dump in the dump pile. He has learned his driving lessons well. He is one of those city kids who loves his video games. What grandchild doesn't ask grandma "Do you have any chores I can to earn some money?" He got more than he bargained for, didn't he? He really wants a  particular video game. I think he should read. So I told him that I would pay him for book reports. He has to read 10 pieces of literature and write a 100 words book report for each one. His mom says he is reading. We will see if he keeps his end of the bargain. 

And then there is Nathan. He is his mother's little helper in the garden and boy did he love helping grandpa run the backhoe digging holes for the two new trees that will replace the Russian olive. Like I said: Men and backhoes: a dangerous combo.

Really? More Snow. Come on. It's May Day! 

Percale for you. Flannel for you. And lucky you, you get the 300 count.

And then it snowed--again. This time around we were warned to cover our plants, so we covered the two peach trees and the North Star dwarf cherry tree. They were just ready to bud out. We put the box that our freezer came in around the peach trees and then covered them with sheets. Good thing because it did snow--lots. May 2nd Colorado set a record as the coldest night in history  For us it was 17. 

Who wants cake?

And Finally. A finality. I have known all year that this would be my last year teaching. The English office ladies had a wonderful celebration not only for my retirement but for one of my colleagues who had been at UNC for 42 years. She is a noted Margaret Atwood scholar and really quite deserved the accolades. I was--am--year to year contract. So there was cake and flowers and hugs and tears and wonderful sentiments and a beautiful clock to help mark the time. 

I will really miss my friends with whom I have worked for eighteen+ years. I started graduate school in 1989. I was 43 three years old. Heather was in 9th grade, Jen in 6th grade. I had been out of school for nearly 20 years when I decided that I wanted to teach again after being a substitute teacher and a stay at home mom. After grad school, I taught at Aims Community College than went to the university. I never expected the job would last for so long. I can honestly say that I never once dreaded going to work. My colleagues were the best; the students were the greatest. I will say my final good-byes to them next week. I don't think that I will tell my students that I am retiring because I probably wouldn't be able to do it without a few tears. I may go back in the fall to tutor in the Writing Center, but I want my time to be mine now. I want to sew and scrapbook, travel, spend time with my own little ones, take pictures and, yes, spend lots of time in the garden with the head gardener. And of course blog about it all the while. 

Keep reading. Last week's blog follows. I'll be back to reading blogs and writing when I have my grading done and my grades posted for one last time at the end of next week. Grading--the one thing that I will not miss. Oh and getting up at 6 AM and driving to work in the snow. Won't miss that at all.

Now read about Asparagus. 

Signs of Spring

The snow has melted, replaced by signs of spring. The early spring bulbs like the daffodils and the tulips took a serious beating, but some survived the freeze and are bringing some color. Another of my spring favs alums struggled with the cold, but I noticed today that their bloom stalks look strong and healthy. The grass is starting to green up and, yes, there are sure signs of spring, finally. The last couple of days have been gloriously warm and sunny.

I am, however, behind in blogging about the goings-on around here. I'll start with last week-end in between storms.

As a kid I grew up on a small farm west of Denver. My brother and I had free roam, spending many hours entertaining ourselves with little but our imaginations and the wonders of country life. One of my little chores was to collect wild asparagus along the ditch banks. We grew up eating the fresh, sweet spears. The asparagus was abundant enough that mom was able to freeze some for winter. We never saw it in the stores, so all I ever knew was the wild asparagus. No longer a delicacy, it's abundantly available and expensive. So I decided to grow my own. Last year late in the summer I bought two gallon containers on sale. The plants delightfully survived a dry winter and a cold spring. Two plants, however, are not enough to keep us supplied for the summer, let alone preserve for the winter to come.

On one of our early spring garden center tours, we picked up two packages of asparagus roots.On Sunday it had warmed up enough to actually do some garden work. It was one of those days: take your hoody off; put your hoody on.  The Head Gardener began to dig a hole to plant the first package of asparagus, while I began to read the directions: Dig a trench 12 inches deep and plant 20 inches apart? "What?" I hollered to him, "Hold on a second. There are 8 plants per pack. We have 16 plants." And so he began to dig, once we decided where to plant 16 asparagus roots.

He dug.

They watched

And he dug some more.

And they got bored.

EEEEEk! HAWK. DID SOME ONE SAY "HAWK"?

Digging done.

Spread out the roots, cover with 3 inches of soil. Water. (It snowed the next day).  Gradually mound soil around new shoots as they grow. Wait two years to harvest. 

The neighbor's horses had been confined to their round pen, so bored with their own existence, they watched.

Billy Goat Gruff across the way stared, too.

With the asparagus nicely placed, we went on to to other chores.

There is more to plant, but we will wait a bit longer, not get into a rush. We will plant garlic for the first time. I have been hearing that most of our garlic comes from China. Enough said.

Sooooooo. This post ends unceremoniously because I just didn't get it finished, as earlier explained.