getting ready

I was not unhappy that the number of slipped lilies this morning went down to 831. These peak days are very beautiful, but the work of cleaning up the garden each morning is grueling. Not boring (Ed asked -- how can you count to 831 without being bored?). Just hard. The bugs, the tall wet plants, the soggy snipped flowers -- you love doing it until you don't. I'd say that right around the 400 count, you switch from "lovely" to "ugh."

And yet, just because it's tedious stuff, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop. Flower growing is like that: lots of excitement, pleasure and visual rewards, alongside tedium, exertion, frustration. If you are in the business of creating gardens, you are agreeing to both sets of emotions. [I remember the first person I met -- aside from my grandparents out in the Polish countryside -- who loved plants: her name was Carol and I was her au paire, taking care of her little girl for several summers and months in between. Carol had a room full of plants in their summer country home. Each morning, she would spend some time trimming or watering them, picking out those that needed replacement. For a long time, these were my images of a gardener: a person with a lovely little watering can and a pair of special snipping scissors and an account at a plant store. Until I got my hands on real soil in a couple of balcony flower pots, and soon after -- a patch of dirt by a small house. Then I understood -- the challenges, the sweat, the joy. A lifetime of learning how to do it better, knowing that you never really are guaranteed a good outcome. A thousand things might, and will go wrong. And yet you continue.]

Today's photos were of a cloudy morning, with a hint of coming rain. And yes, there were bugs. The frogs were ready for them!

(the secret path)

(the "porch lilies: where it all began...)

(a glance at the peach orchard meadow...)

 

 

(a glance out the mud room window) 

 

 

Breakfast? Right here:

 

 

 

With a view to the flower fields.

 

 

 

(Dance had an unusually long morning amble outside; this is her, after breakfast)

 

I then made many attempts to do some weeding, always interrupted by either drizzle or excessive bug presence. Still, I pull some weeds. That's always a good thing. It speaks of not giving up yet!

 

(Big Bed) 

 

 

(flower field by the parked cars)

 

 

The day is otherwise devoted to making very detailed plans for the week before me. Tomorrow, my younger girl is here with her family and on Sunday, they're leaving Primrose at the farmhouse with me for a week of Grandma Camp (or Gaga Camp, depending on whom you ask). My mornings will be with just Primrose, my afternoons and possibly evenings -- with all three older grandkids. I expect that Ocean posts will be brief!  

In the meantime, allow me to take a 72-year old's nap in anticipation of the week ahead.

 with love... 

 

still more?

More flowers to snip, more bugs having a July field day, more storms on the way, more work to do.

But, too, we have come to a point where moderation is called for. Take the job of deadheading lilies: I snipped off 886 spent flowers today. I'm pretty sure that's an all time record. I took a long time to get through all the fields and of course, those spent flowers are a gloppy, sticky mess. I've been dumping them in the old orchard because Ed tells me that the compost pile isn't the best place for them. He tries to mow down and shred all our organic matter (mostly weeds) before adding it to the compost heap and you cannot shred wet lily heads. Halfway through my lily snipping I wondered -- when will I have time to do this next week when I have a house guest who wakes as early as I do? And my next thought -- I wont be very upset if the numbers start moderating.

The bugs came under temporary control today as we bought ourselves a brief reprieve by allowing for another spraying of the "natural" (whatever that means) stuff. It never lasts more than a couple of days, but it will allow me to work outside tomorrow without bugs biting me all over my face (their latest favorite territory). 

Moderation: I'm also noticing that my weed control at this point is not so perfect. I'm letting some of the stuff remain in the flower fields. Sure, I can blame the bugs, but realistically -- I just haven't the time for it all. Right now the garden's appearance is of paramount importance and that's where I put in the most work. What grows at the base of the fields? Well, I go after some of it, but not nearly with the dedication I had just a few weeks back, when that's all that I had to do.

Given that these days are most definitely lily days, let me post some photos of their beautiful faces -- alone, in groups, with other flowers. They're all magnificent!

Breakfast? On the porch. Of course.

And just before noon, I head out to pick up the big two from their Shakespeare program for lunch and play at the farmhouse.

Because it has been a while since they've spent their afternoon here, everything seems fresh and satisfying. Toys, games, books, foods -- all wonderful. Kids... it's so easy for them to find pleasure in very ordinary moments.  

The evening is stormy and wet. I hope it all passes quickly enough. We don't need more weeds, bugs,  or rainy days. But of course, our storms are small stuff compared to those that do very real damage. And I have to admit it -- all those drizzles and downours really did give the lilies a stellar season of blooms. Shall we slow down now? Just an idea...

with so much love... 

lily heaven

I never know which day is the peak of the year's lily bloom until the day has passed and I do the count of spent lilies the next morning. I'm wondering if it was, in fact, yesterday, because this morning I snipped 763 faded lily heads. That would be on the early side of July. Last year's peak was on July 18th and the count (the next day) was 707. Ocean does not lie! 

It was a very buggy garden cleaning session. I was in the fields at 6:30 (again, good light, but horrible mosquitoes!) because I had an early breakfast date with my New Mexico friend (the last such date -- the era of frequent Barbara visits comes to an end for me, as her mom no longer needs her here). I wanted to be done with garden work before taking the morning off. Again, to my delight, the sun was gentle, and I want to believe that the lilies were grateful for my efforts.

Here's one day-lily plant before I snipped off spent flower heads:

Here's the cleaned up version:

As for the bugs -- well, I'm getting tougher. I do use a strong spray on my clothes and then I just suck it up and plunge into their la la land. I'm not going to not clean the beds and so I have to put up with it. Yes, I mind the buzzing and biting and I especially hate it when they get in my ear, eye or mouth (I count out loud to not lose track -- a dangerous game in a buggy field!). But I try to ignore all that and find pleasure in the utter beauty of an early morning garden. 

Photos from this morning:

(the "secret path" weaves through this field...)

And then I zip over downtown and meet my friend at Wonderstate Cafe on the square.

What she has had to do (with the help of her sister and daughter) should be a fair warning to all of you senior types -- the three of them (and sometimes with the added help of others) have had to go through the parents' stuff and get rid of most of it and allocate the rest. And here's the thing: if you find it tough to get rid of stuff which has generational sentimental value, believe me, it is even harder for the kids of newly deceased parents to get rid of that stuff. They're running on memories and their sentimental quotient is at an all time high. (Mine wasn't -- but that's another story.) Why do we keep so much stuff? I told my friend that my own reasoning as to clothes I haven't worn for years is not "do I really need this" but "might I ever wear it again." The answer to the first is no, the answer to the second is always going to be yes. You never know when I may need to dress up and attend a wedding or a funeral, right?? 

Having little sentimental attachment to things, I'm making it easy for my kids down the line. But I could do better. I swear, I will do better! I am motivated! 

After our morning breakfast, my friend and I took a walk to the weekday farmers market off the square. That was splendid! The bouquets of flowers were lovely, in my favorite pastel combination!

And they had the season's first corn. Fabulous!

And there was one more stop for us -- in the flowered patio of the senior living complex where her parents once lived. I'd been talking about this to my friends, to Ed, to my daughters to some extent. The question is -- will I ever end up in a place like that? And of course the answer is -- who the hell knows what disabilities will plague us in another handful of years? It's not precluded! And with that in mind, I put myself (and possibly Ed) on the wait list. (There is a long line of people waiting to get in.) Because I am fully aware that today I can still dig up the entire farmette garden, but tomorrow, I may not be able to.

 

And again I have a day of two B's: in the afternoon I am on a Zoom call with my Warsaw Bee, reviewing plans for my summer visit to Poland. I'm not there until mid August, but stuff needs to be done in advance. Time to get that project rolling.

 

In the evening, Ed is to do his bike ride, and I take out my bicycle as well, except that his ride is two hours and hilly, and mine is twenty minutes and not hilly.  We've had quite different days -- his mainly on the couch, mine mainly off the couch. But when I return, I find him in the kitchen. I forgot my water -- he tells me and so here we are, on the couch, together, eating leftover pizza and fresh corn, reflecting about the flowers outside, the animals -- both wild and tame -- that call the farmette home.

If ever there was a happy place...

with love... 

lily rama

They are hitting their big moment, their peak, the height of their majesty. I snipped off 589 spent lilies this morning, but of course that was yesterday's flower display. Today's is even more abundant. I expect I'll need two hours tomorrow to work my way through the fields. Will there be mosquitoes? In abundance. Will they deter me? No they will not. Lilies want admiration and they need help in putting their best face forward. I will give them that help.

This morning, I was in the fields by 6:30. I just barely finished by 8. I'll say this much about my early start: the light is so much gentler then. The flowers, too, are freshly opened. Vibrant, but gentle at the same time. You're probably skeptical. A lily is a lily. Except, for me, it is not. And photos are so important here! How else do I make peace with the fact that their beauty is so fleeting? Here you go then, my lilies and their bed-mates, on July 8th:

I was especially happy to see the beds at their finest today because my two friends who periodically share breakfast and actually a whole morning with me, are scheduled to come over today. For once, the flowers have an audience!

We sit out on the porch. It's just barely tolerable -- a bit warm, a bit muggy, but I put on the fan and we linger at the table for a good many hours. A privilege and a pleasure to spend a morning with these two!

And in the afternoon I go for a walk with my daughter. How is that for an unusual activity! We meet up at Owen Woods -- a nature conservancy area in Madison. It has a forest, it has a prairie, and it has paths. Enough to allow us to walk and catch up on details of the young family's week away. 

To me, this constitutes a busy day. So much so that I announce to Ed that I have little interest in making dinner. I pick up a couple of pizzas for us  -- a rare treat!

One last glance outside: at the phloxes, the gaura, the allium. And the lilies.

 

 

 with love...