Stephanie in the Garden

Fathers in the Garden

2010-06-19T19:41:00.000-07:00

Some photos of a photo of me and Grandaddy Frye from April 1986; framed by nature, near the area where this very garden once was. In fact, he planted the oak that is the frame for the second shot, its age now is around 50 years old. I just wanted to post this picture especially for Father's Day, of the two of us working in the garden. I wish I had a few pictures of my Dad's and my other grandfather's gardens to post here, but I didn't think ahead to this post. Regardless, I love this picture of that time together and I love each and all of these fathers in my life, my Dad and my two grandfathers (one living and the one below living on).

Baby Birds at Blandy Farms

2010-06-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

Most of these pictures were taken on my round at Blandy today monitoring the Quarters section of birdhouses. Blandy Farms and State Arboretum are interchangable names for this place to me, to everyone really.

The baby birds are very noisy and chirp-y in their boxes until I come tapping on their door. Then I open the box and they look at me like this, steely eyed, and unimpressed.

These other three pics are blooms that are open in the gardens at my Aunt's place. A gorgeous Poppy, a Hollyhock and some other awesome plant that shall remain nameless (because I can't recall it).

The Burn Pile

2010-06-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

The burn pile was burnt Saturday evening. I was hoping to see a hellaciously huge towering inferno, unlike I have ever seen before, but it wasn't like that really. Look at the size of this burn pile...

It's big. Dog silhouette is the scale. Dog = 2.5 feet

I didn't take enough pictures of the fire. This one doesn't illustrate how it did not spread, to the untrained eye. It ate through just one section of the pile, and the rest of the brush, including huge limbs, had to be untangled and then thrown directly into the Ring of Fire (for the Johnny Cash fans). It burned like this because it had rained pretty heavily about an hour and a half before it was ignited. I guess. And the next day...

It's a straight shot down the fairway. Par 3 for the win. With the smell of charred pine still detectable in the air, a wayward wanderer approached the scene.

She wandered through the charred remains of where her childhood home once stood. Searching for any sign to indicate that once a proud and noble family had lived here. It was utter desolation. An identity had been stolen from her. She eventually trod away from her impoverished identity and transitioned with remarkable placidity, assuming a position she had once practiced, oceans away, in a remote ashram in Dharamsala; a saving grace...

the single yoga pose, Adho Hind Svanasana, the Buttward Facing Dog. She held this pose for 3 seconds and was rejuvenated.

And that's the story of the burn pile. It sat there for like, 3 years and it was burnt down to the ground in a matter of hours. I'll remember you burn pile, I'll remember... you.

Memorial Day Weekend Beauty

2010-05-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful Saturday on this memorial day weekend. It began oddly enough. I was sort of hungover from the night before. From just 4 beers. There was a day when I used to beer bong three beers at a time. Ok well almost, two at a time, on special occasions. Special as in a day ending in "y". But anyway I am older now, 27, and those 4 took a toll on me. I made myself a great breakfast with many of those delicious little different colored tomatoes, mozzerella, tortellini, and some fresh Basil, just picked. Fresh herbs man, they make a difference. I have to use them more! I've used them before but I keep forgetting about them. Anyway my mother and her boyfriend had company over. They were playing Wii and I was told that they had gotten a good deal on some flats of plants. So I bypassed their gaming and went outside to look. I was planting within ten minutes.

I'm so into container planting. If I had a budget for it, I'd do it all the time.

I planted this Coleus and Angelonia in with Astilbe. Normally Astilbe stands alone but I just like to try different things out. It looks kind of pretty at this point. We'll see when it gets bigger.

Stuck some of these strange plants in with some Hens & Chicks (Cat & Kittens).

On the tabletop underneath the pergola sits this lamp.

Gigantic pile of brush and tree trunks and limbs. Need to have a bonfire. For now this is where I pull wood from for my fire pit.

I just found out that these are Mulberry trees and that there are two in our backyard. These white ones taste like pear to me.

Red Mulberries

The two old man dogs. Little wiener: Thor, Big guy: Sammy

My friends daughter. I picked and arranged these flowers and snapped this pic by chance. I love it!

Then I started a fire in the fire pit and brought out some musical instruments. My friends daughter, took them up and played them and we sang, she sang mostly, about the campfire and the stars and the planes. We shouted Yee Haw a lot and then she broke into some solo Hannah Montana jam and I just tapped a beat, tried to, on the drum. Now my clothes are saturated in wood smoke as I'm posting this, but it was a wonderful day today.

Midnight in the Oasis

2010-05-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

This creeping Wisteria played us a tune.

The Stumpkin

2010-05-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

This is the stump pumpkin. Last October I laid my rotting Halloween carved pumpkin out on a stump so I could watch it break down. In the last part of April I noticed that it was somehow lifted off of the stump, it normally laid flat, dried up and rotten. I thought maybe someone had come along and kicked it or something. Today I go in closer to take a look at it and I see its been pushed up because there are pumpkin sprouts growing up under it.

Don't know what to do with these pumpkins yet. Let them grow right where it sits is what I'd like to do. That would be kinda magical if it could grow to be full size there. And then I could only let one of them grow and hopefully it could get to be the state fair kind of size, a giant.

I haven't grown pumpkins before.

Also in the garden today...

A purple Globemaster getting ready to globe.

Saturday in the Garden: Blandy Experimental Farm

2010-04-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today was my first scheduled date this season to monitor the birdhouses at Blandy Experimental Farm. Blandy is in Boyce, VA and shares the property with VA State Arboretum. 100+ birdhouses were placed there to revive the Eastern Bluebird (EABL) population. All bird activity in the boxes is monitored by volunteers several times each week. Nests come and go throughout the spring and summer season well into the early fall. Things to keep track of is nesting material, size of nest, species identification and recording egg, hatching and fledging dates. At the end of the season this research gets sent to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I've done this monitoring for four seasons; this year, last year and two seasons several years ago. Records show the EABL population is growing. But honestly I don't pay attention to the results or the purpose of what I do there (though I do the work correctly). I just like to work outside at the arboretum with nature. So I was excited today when I was out monitoring and found a nest that I hadn't encountered before along my assignment the "Back 20" section...

This is the box that held the new nest. This is what every Blandy birdhouse looks like. They are setup the same with several predation guards.

I knocked on the side of the box to let anything inside know I was there officially. I did not know what to expect when I opened it as it was recorded as being empty just a week ago. I found...

the box was full of densely packed moss and clumps of animal hair.

It was awesome! So pretty.

And this is the kind of bird that makes this kind of nest...

The Carolina Chickadee.
(Picture taken 04/07/2010 at another location in VA)

So that was what I did before I went to work today. It is always an adventure working on the BBT, Blandy Bluebird Trail. I also saw Tree Swallow and Bluebird nests today. 4 EABL eggs total, 3 in one nest and 1 in the other. I had six Tree Swallows swooping down at me from all directions when I was looking in another box on the trail that held the parent Tree Swallows' nest. They haven't ever hit me but they come so close that they seem to just about graze my hair. Bluebirds will do that too, team up and swoop at me when I'm looking in at their eggs or babies. I try to hurry up and move along. It always makes me laugh nervously out loud.

Also I caught the sunrise this morning from my bedroom window. This one was very beautiful. Makes me want to see them more often. I usually only catch sunrises when I have a job that makes me get up early in the morning. That shouldn't be the only time a person sees the sunrise, in my opinion, on their way to work.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy Nature. Enjoy your Garden.

Everyday is Earth Day

2010-04-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from 04/21/10.
Taken in my Grandmother's backyard.
Charles Town, WV, USA, Earth, ...

Redbud tree

Iris

Japanese Maple

Peony

Tulip

Purple Chive

Today in the yard
light caressed leaf and bloom and
sought the source the sun

The Tale of the Happy Tree and the Dead Bird

2010-04-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is why you should do your tree cutting in the fall...

The tree came down quickly. Tree Service+ Chainsaw+ Happy whistling worker=

The stump said...

"You found me!"

Fat Buddha was pleased,

but there were mother birds hopping around on the ground amongst the fallen branches and this was no true happy ending.

Remember...

Do not cut your trees down in spring or else birds necks you'll wring.

By the way, this was not my choice to cut this tree down in the spring season. My mother has for the past two springs had trees cut down to the ground with bird casualties and homeless situations ensuing as a result.

High Water Everywhere

2010-03-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

It has been raining intermittently since the evening of the 11th, the day I began this blog. Low areas in yards and fields have formed large pools for ducks to rest on. Some pools are so large that they have small waves that break onto the gentle rise of the land or the middle of roadways. All waterways are flooded with rushing water heading swiftly to bays in the distance. Everything is saturated that can be.

Gardening hasn't been something I've been participating in the past few days though when I walk to my car or from place to place I notice that green is emerging everywhere; from tiny nestled families of Sedum, Daffodil, Hydrangea, to Crocus that are ready to open on the next sunny day. The rain is working well for these plants and for the many buds that grow fuller everyday, softening each tree's black silhouette.

Yesterday I did some artificial landscaping. I bought four separate pieces of artificial flowers and a cemetary stand for them at the Dollar Store and arranged them together at home. I took them to a friends gravesite and stuck them there in the ground. Here they are right after I arranged them. They look almost pretty enough for a wedding.

After the trip to the cemetary I drove to Harper's Ferry National Historic Park in West Virginia. This is a place that has been through several high flood levels in it's past, including twice since I was born in '83. I have never before seen it like this with my own eyes though. It was cool to see the river full of gigantic rapids and running well over it's usual shore; the C/O canal was completely filled to the brim. There were a lot of people walking around the town taking pictures everywhere and just kinda taking in the flooded view with their friends and family. It's unusual to see so many people there on a rainy, grey Sunday evening in March; it was only the interesting rarity of the water level that drew the crowd. I rolled up my pants to walk around and take as many pictures that I could in the dwindling time I had before Sunset. Didn't get any award winning photos and those of you who haven't been to Harper's Ferry may not get the gist of the situation from the following pics, but I'll post them anyway.

Sediment at the flood line.

One view of the C/O Canal running over.

Where the tree line ends in the distance and several feet further is where the bank is normally for the Shenandoah river.

The B/O Railroad cuts through the Appalachian mountains beneath Maryland Heights and travels above the place where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers merge.

A U.S. Rte. 340 bridge over troubled water. :)

Happy Birthday to me! March 13, 1983 was the day I jumped into this world and sounded off like I didn't have a pair. March 13, 2010 is the day I celebrated that fact with a commemoration of yellow cake and chocolate like icing, sugar on sugar basically. Here it is!

Even my cake has gorgeous yummy landscaping.

My First Day of Spring

2010-03-11T18:56:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of 2010 that I took advantage of the warming early change of season and stepped outside for several hours to work in the gardens. I also worked in the yard, clearing away leaves and fallen tree debris. If you're a gardener or a John Denver fan, j/k, you know how high this can make a person. Everywhere I worked I was surrounded by a rapturously gorgeous world that was working to emerge; to bring itself into this time of warmth and rebirth, just as I have felt this same call to stretch and shake off the dregs of my stuffy winter shelter. I dug, I pulled, I came down with heat and precision with my rake, clippers and three pronged cultivator. I ran my hands through the cool damp dark earth, I smelled the earth. I lay down in the yard underneath of a tree with it's buds bursting open and just took a long time out. It was marvelous.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.

I began to work in flower gardens in 2008 and in 2009 I completed several outdoor projects for family and loved ones. I knew that as I anticipated my love for and participation in gardening and landscaping to grow, that I wanted to keep a gardening blog this year and see how it went, so this is it; no better time to start then the present. Spring is happening here in Zone 6b and I'm moving along with it. If you are like me, you always take the chance to peek and perhaps poke around in someone else's garden. Here is your chance to peek and poke around at mine. Welcome to my, Stephanie in the Garden, Garden.