Wednesday, June 11, 2014

in honor of...

First, in line with the suggestion offered by commenter, I did acquire a plant today, though not a cedar pot.

The plant (or actually three)? Day lilies. A careful reader of the newspaper might worry that I am inadvertently paying homage to one Mr. Sharp, a 90-year old drug mule -- featured in the Magazine section of the NYT this week. I am not, though reading about this old man who went from being a famous and beloved cultivator of day lilies to being a major transporter of cocaine to Detroit reminded me of the place day lilies hold in my own heart.

I began my now thirty year love affair with perennials by being completely wowed by this flower. Two virtues stood out: first, even though each bloom lasts only one day -- one day! -- the plant can keep on flowering for weeks on end and indeed, the species hemerocallis "happy returns" can carry a show from late June all the way into September! That's very impressive.

Too, its second virtue caught my attention. My very first garden was in a spot with a variety of trees and shrubs not too far away. I worried about planting flowers with fragile roots close to these big guys. Until I read that a hemerocallis  can stand up to tree roots any day! None of this flimsy stuff! Day lily roots are powerful!

And so my first garden had day lilies. As did my second garden. And right now, at the farmette (my third garden in life), where I grow hundreds of flowers, I would say that the day lily is the favorite. It appears many times in all beds and indeed, in the first large bed fronting the farmhouse, it is the dominant flower.

I love day lilies. Thus a fitting end to this year's ambitious planting season would be to put in just a few more of them -- targeting now not the wedding week, but the weeks of July,  August and even September, when there is very little to rave about in a summer bed. I have to thank the writers of the article on the arrest of Mr. Sharp for the reminder that deep within every person, there may be a day lily hiding in his soul.


The title of the post was prompted by another set of "honors": today I received (in one packet) three certificates,commending my 25 years of service for the state and for the university. That is, Governor Walker sent me a certificate of commendation, and the chancellor sent me a certificate of service, and then there was another certificate of commendation from Governor Walker: a duplicate of the first! Does that mean that my work was commendable enough to warrant twice the certification?

Of course, all of this is silly anyway. I have never hung any certificate on any wall -- office or home -- so I am deliberating why it is that anyone would even keep any of these papers. Perhaps because it feels disrespectful to the institutions that churn them out to simply toss these papers in the recyclable bin. But it surely is tempting to do just that.


Not too many photos for you today. We spent the afternoon chasing down my day lilies, then buying a faucet valve and paint at Menards. And, too, I had a dinner out with my old work friends. Late night, camera tucked away for most of the day.

And yet, there is always a photo from that early morning walk to and from the coop. Today of Oreo -- looking around for a hen to love...


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And breakfast, which I know looks like yesterday's breakfast, but still, it was a good moment.


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And let me post a grateful nod to the peonies in the garden. I have some half dozen plants blooming profusely right now. Theirs is a short burst of color. But they're greatly appreciated.



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And to the campanula: how reliably perky these bells can be!


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Finally, evening. I return home just as the sun finally triumphs over the clouds and asserts itself over the western edges of the farmette, as if to say -- you managed well enough without me, but I can tell you're glad I'm back.


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9 comments:

  1. I just want to thank you today for sharing your thoughts and photos. Every morning I go first to the NYT and then Wash.Post, not for long, just to check in with the rest of the world, and I can't bear to stay for long before I'm off to Nina's corner of the world today with an audible sigh. So thank you for that centering exercise every morning.
    Yesterday in the late afternoon I went back to the papers to read in a little more depth, and again I fled to Nina's place! This time I went to the Canadian Rockies with you. What a VERYCOOL life you lead! And really, you convey so much with a relative economy of words.
    Now, my day gets going: Aqua-aerobics, library, garden, reading time, happy hour, going out to see our son tonight playing in a blues bar. Hurray for summer!

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    1. What a kind person you are! (And your life sounds pretty cool as well!)

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  2. Like JoyD, I also find excitement and enjoyment out of a random click on one of your links to the right of here... your travels, they are so extensive and well-documented. Anyplace in the world I'd like to visit, you have been there! I've loved so many of them, and I also must say a heartfelt Thanks! for your diligence in the daily blogs and stunning photography.
    xxxx

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    1. Thank you, Bex! As you know, I'm looking forward to my next trip for the both of us!

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    1. You made me take another look at it! Thank you!

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  4. i know someone recently retired from UW who gleefully put the certificate from Scott Walker on the bottom of her parakeets' birdcage. Since you have two of them, you have twice the possibilities.

    - Barry

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    1. ...it's funny that someone actually stuck TWO of them in an envelope. In special separate red folders!

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  5. First, I was going to write that the first photo of Oreo was my favorite today, but then that last one is a stunner, so I guess it's a tie. I love the double certificate story (and from Walker to boot)!

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