Midsummer Morning
One big white peony enough
for a bouquet.
by Carol Purington
My tree peony blossom is pink, but it is big enough for a bouquet. Carol’s haiku are so evocative that I must include another on this Muse Day Monday.
End of the row
The child’s strawberry basket
still empty.
This haiku seems to me a perfect depiction of a child’s innocent greediness and the sweetness of summer. Thank you Carolyn Gail for hosting Muse Day.
This is not only Muse Day, it is time for my Monday Report. A sad tale. My squash and cucumber plants were killed by last night’s cold temperatures. It didn’t get down to 32 degrees but the cold and wind were too much for the seedlings. Now I’ll be planting seeds, and by hurrying the planting, I have the lost the time I thought I would gain. Never hurry. How many times do I have to learn this?
Happily there is good new news in other people’s gardens. Jerry Sternstein’s 300+ rhododendrons are just coming into bloom. He had just visited the Heritage Museum and Garden, home of the Dexter rhododendron collection out on Cape Cod, but his own collection, which includes many Dexters is stupendous. Scintillation is one of Dexter’s most famous hybrids, and as you can see from Jerry’s specimen it is worthy of its popularity.
Dexter’s hybrids are known for the size of the individual blossoms that make up each flower truss.
Jerry collection has flowers of every color from deep reds to pale shades like this yellow Capistrano.
Jerry also has a large collection of deciduous azaleas, sometimes growing with the rhodies. Local nurseries have only a small variety of the rhododendrons that are available. Jerry has bought his from a number of mail order nurseries including Rare Find Nursery, and Greer Gardens.
Other friends in Charlemont, Ray and Esther Purinton, have been encouraging a lupine field along their long drive.
Lupines bloom in shades of pink, blue and purple. Right now, most of the Purinton’s flowers are blue.
There is a lupine field in Hawley that enjoys a local fame. Another friend said when he is out picking raspberries in July, before a thunderstorm, he can hear the lupine seeds exploding nearby. That explains how lupine fields grow and continue. Self seeding just before a rain.
Don’t forget you still have time to sign up for the Sundial drawing. Just leave a comment here or on the previous posting before Friday at midnight. The drawing will be Saturday morning and I’ll notify the lucky winner and Teak, Wicker and More. Good luck all.
What a beautiful peony! And I love the haiku. They look deceptively simple; it’s not easy to capture a vivid image in so few lines, but Carol’s are so descriptive.
So sorry about your squash and cucumber plants, but it does seem we can’t hurry the garden. Every year I think I’m late getting in my tomatoes and peppers, but in the end they seem to catch up to the early ones anyway. I just came to visit your Muse post, but I’d love to be in the sundial drawing, too!
Rose, you are in the drawing. thanks for visiting. Carol is a local poet and I have written about her in last month’s Muse Day post.
Pat
Thanks for your comment on my blog. It’s fun to see who is reading, especially when it turns out to be a local person. Love the lupines. I’ve got a little lupine nursery going right now, hoping to create a field myself!
I have ONE lupine plant this year! They are so beautiful. I’m hoping to save some seeds and start a few plants this Winter. 🙂 You’ve shared some beautiful photos!!! You are having a Beautiful Spring! Have a great day!
Your tree peony bloom is magnificent! Isn’t it wonderful to see all the flowers blooming after the long months of cold? I have fewer lupines this year too (I was just reading Shady Gardener’s comment) but the few are beautiful. I’ve started some from last year’s seed so hope for more colors next year.
My hubby is just finishing up with the planting of pumkins in our veggie garden. Spring crop work and a wet garden forces us to wait. Planting early in our cold soil is fruitless anyway, and those late frosts are so destructive. We’ve learned our lessons the hard way 🙂
Happy gardening!
I was not as wise as I should have been. Too impatient with my garden extension. I lost 2 plantings of squash seedlings. I planted seeds last week and I hope to see action in another day or two.