Cool Mornings

geranium

This morning its quite lovely in the garden. Cooler air, the plants flush from all the rains. The asters are at least 2 feet tall, and the buds are growing on the lilies. Like clockwork, the evening primrose is holding off till its time -I think it flowers by day length. The allium buds are set, geraniums in full bloom, grandma's tea is blooming more than ever, and New Dawn is about to explode.

I'm up early today -well, early for me. My wife is moving sculpture up to Rochester, NY. It was a fiasco trying to get a vehicle that would fit her odd shaped objects and fit into our budget (its the mileage charges!). We ended up renting two vehicles because the first couldn't hold her things without severe damage to the car and her sculptures. I was all over town yesterday, finally finding a rental place with an available mini van at that moment.

We have been looking into buying a used mini van, but our savings are just not enough to find a van that is decent enough to trust taking on these regional art deliveries, not to mention our Minnesota trip twice a year. My mother is moving to Florida in the last week of May -all the more reason to seek out a vehicle. But the truth is that renting a car is still much cheaper when we factor in repairs, insurance, and the cost of the vehicle, inspection, registration. It's simply the convenience of having the van available when we have to move art that is compelling us to look. Practicality has reigned as well, having to chuck my wish for a 60mpg vehicle, and a new one -can't do that.

Everything I have looked at from Craigslist has been a bomb, or a cheat, in our price range. The city really is the worst place to look for a variety of reasons. So, I will march on looking for a vehicle -because in two months we'll have to pick up the artwork from Rochester.

Grandma's tea.

The iris never like being transplanted in the spring, which I did because we re-arranged the space along with the patio. This rotting flower is the result of that and the rains. Better luck next year.

This morning I weeded the seedling bed, removed the mesh too. The cat's will shit and the squirrels will dig, so they're on their own now. At this stage, its easy to tell the weed sprout from the cultivated sprout because I am really familiar with the weed colonies in this spot.

The dame's rocket in front of the ever spreading mint (in its pot!). Wait -don't shoot! That's what I say before I photo the dame's rocket and put it on the blog. I'm taking the middle ground until our two plants croak -religious deadheading of the flowers. It has become "naturalized" in the lower Hudson Valley, and has been banned in CT and MA. Still, J&L has two for sale in gallon pots -and the question always is: "are these phlox?" To which I say -"four petals hesperis, 5 petals phlox, spring blooming hesperis, summer blooming phlox." And then -"you probably shouldn't buy these, but may I interest you in some pink phlox?"

Tradescantia, or spiderwort, likes the cool, wet days. In summer heat, it fries -yet comes back aggressively every year in my garden. I end up pulling it (but it breaks at the ground -must dig it up!).

The herb pot. Chives, oregano, thyme, and the cup of tomatoes I got from a neighbor.

The flowering chives.

Up close.