May Day

One of the Celtic cross-quarter days, May Day occurs half way between the Spring equinox and the Summer solstice. May first is the day on which children deliver may baskets to their neighbors front door, ring the doorbell or knock then run and hide. When the door is opened, the person can hear the giggles erupting from the deliverer. I remember doing this and having such fun! Young children growing up in small towns in Iowa, as I did, learned with ease how to entertain themselves.

My May Basket for 2023

Now that I am older I deliver no lomger deliver may baskets. This past Sunday, however, I did purchase "may flowers" from Singing Frog Farm at the Sebastopol Farmers Market. And when I go out to my garden, I see "may flowers": 

Viola odorata (Wild violet)

Lonicera involucrata (Twinberry honeysuckle)
which was Dwight's all time very favorite bush.
There were a half dozen planted
in the creek bed at MuRefuge.

Penstemon heterophyllus
(Blue Bedder penstemon ‘Margarita BOP’)
I learned a funny (well to me)
thing about this name, principally 
that "BOP" stands for  "back of porch".

When I am out in the front, watering the thirsty plants like the Sisyrinchium californicum (Yellow eyed grass) and the Twinberry, I often have a frequent belly

Native Plants

Perhaps you would like to check out how the California Native Plant Society is celebrating California Native Plant Week? For those of you who follow this blog you know that the author is committed to native plants whether in Sonoma County, California or in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While living in Sonoma County I have been a member of both the state Native Plant Society as as the local chapter. One benefit is a discount on plants purchased at California Flora Nursery where most of the plants were purchased for PageRefuge. 

During this post what is blooming in PageRefuge's garden will be featured. The first featured is in the West side yard:

Aristolochia californica (Dutchman’s pipevine)
with both flowers and fruit.

Strawberries in bloom

Moving North towards the backyard: 

Pink Pearl apple tree:

this is the tree that 

produces the pink

applesauce I make

with the ripe apples.

Fava beans adorned
with their stunningly beautiful flowers

Viola odorata (Wild violet)

Then walking East one encounters an area covered with lovely green tile. An antique wheelbarrow and various sizes of clay pots are located here. 

Viola tricolor (Johnny jump up)

I love these pansy related plants. They have a tendency to vociferously reseed anywhere and everywhere. Come each year about this time I walk around and pull out those that have relocated where I do not want them. Yesterday when I was delivering tomato plants I had started from seed, I dug up some of these, placed them in an empty 4" plastic pot and delivered them as well.

Then walking towards and through the East most gate to the front yard, and across the minuscule driveway:

Three Sisyrinchium californicum (Yellow eyed grass)

are near a down spout since these love water.

Lonicera involucrata (Twinberry honeysuckle)
is along the West side of the garage.
This is my and Dwight's all time very favorite native bush!

In the foreground 
Ceanothus (California wild lilac ‘Dark Star’)
and in the background 
Sisyrinchium bellum (Californian blue eyed grass)
Sitting near the house is Dwight's
sculpture he created in Santa Fe.
She is honoring the spot on Mother Earth
the pueblo peoples
came from below to above.

As I walk about my garden marveling at the transformation of the plantable space and growth of the plants, I

2023 Spring Activities

Shasta and I walk by this Amiot sculpture
almost every morning.

At start of spring I open a trench

in the ground. I put into it 

the winter’s accumulation of paper,

pages I do not want to read 

again, useless words, fragments,

errors. And I put into it

the contents of the outhouse:

light of the sun, growth of the ground,

finished with one of their journeys.

To the sky, to the wind, then

and to the faithful trees, I confess

my sins: that I have not been happy

enough, considering my good luck,

have listened to too muchnoise,

have been inattentive to wonders,

have lusted after praise.

And then upon the gathered refuse

of mind and body, I close the trench

folding shut again the dark,

the deathless earth. Beneath that seal

the old escapes into the new.

                    WENDEL BERRY

The transplanted tomato plants
in their 4" black plastic pots now sit on the heat mattress,
presently set at 80 degrees,
in the mini greenhouse Dwight built for me.
The target date to plant tomato plants
in the ground is Tuesday, May 09.

Calendula transplanted from the
large 6 cell plastic container
pictured in the greenhouse.

Comfrey for the herbal
vinegar I make to abate my osteoporosis.

The strawberry plant are blooming
and setting very small, green berries.
I love picking fresh strawberries
which often go immediately into my mouth.

Sisyrinchium bellum (Californian blue eyed grass)
Ceanothus (California wild lilac ‘Dark Star’)
both blooming now in the front of my house.

The garden at my house is beginning to come alive with flowers and new growth. It is just so exciting to see the product of my labor since Dwight, Shasta and I moved to Cotati. As I do a bit of this and a bit of that outside I have a big belly

 

Impatient

Well, I certainly lacked patience when I posted previous pictures of Ribes sanguineum var. glutinosum (‘Heart’s Delight’). As you can see from the two pictures below, the fully open flowers are now stunningly beautiful. This bush seems to have grown faster than of any the others planted in the front yard. Shasta and I walk past it every morning as we begin our morning walk. I so very much enjoy!

This bush, along with other bushes and a Buckeye tree, planted between the road and my front yard, will hopefully sooner than later offer a beautiful buffer. They were planted parallel to my very short driveway and continue to the wooden fence which delineates the West boundary of my property.

The fava beans seeds I planted late last Fall in the backyard are flourishing. Some of the plants even have flowers which I find so pleasing. Once the plants are stripped of their beans I often lay them atop of my raised beds to slowly decompose. This adds beneficial nutrients to the soil where food is grown for my health and well being. Dwight and I use to enjoy the beans shelled and combined with organic broth for a very tasty light evening meal. Our main meal was, and still is for me, midday when my digestion is more "top notch".

Sisyrinchium bellum (Californian blue eyed grass)

This "grass" I grew at MuRefuge as well now at PageRefuge. I have planted six plants in front of the West front corner of my house. Each plant has a slightly different shade of purple flower. Each is lovely to behold. Purple has always been my very favorite color.

The maple tree that borders my West fence
is now leafing out. Dwight loved maple trees
so this is one of the few trees remaining 
from when we purchased this property.

The tree has branches from which I can hang the wind chime Dwight gave me long ago. During the warmer months the branches also hold  three pots of Epithytes, each with a different color of flower.  Since the Winter has been exceptionally cold at night (often below freezing), the pots were moved in November to sit against the back of the house. This location is a bit warmer than hanging exposed from the leafless maple tree. 

As puttering outside in my garden on this sunny day I enjoy a belly

Spring, 2023

Annually the vernal equinox occurs on March 19, 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere. The vernal equinox happens when the sun crosses the imaginary line, AKA the celestial equator, from South to North in the sky above the Earth's equator. Spring, 2023, begins Monday, March 20 and continues until Wednesday, June 21. 

03/17/2023: My dear friend Rosa shared this picture from her place near 
Villanueva, NM, which is mostly East of Santa Fe on I-40.

Does not look like Spring at Lake Tahoe
where Dwight's niece lives.
She sent me this picture taken from
her dining room window.

 

The almost daily rains has battered 
the white blossoms on
the Santa Rosa plum tree in my backyard.
Hopefully the bees are finding the
flowers so they can produce an
abundance of plums this year.

A few days ago on Shasta's and
my morning walk I took this picture.
Magnolia trees in various colors are
livening up the neighborhood.

   Lamprocapnos spectabilis (Bleeding heart)

Last year I noticed these plants were not doing well where I had
planted them. I believe it was too sunny so
I moved them to shady spot.
They seem contently thriving where I transplanted them.
They are even beginning to bloom this Spring.  

Sisyrinchium  bellum (Californian blue eyed grass)

Ceanothus (California wild lilac ‘Dark Star’)

Ribes sanguineum var. glutinosum ( ‘Heart’s Delight’)

A close up picture 

of the lowest hanging flowers

is above.    

and the entire plant on a
lovely sunny day
a rarity these days.

Frequently I notice that the Wild Birds Unlimited  
Woodpeckers cylinder is covered
with Bushtits. I simply love these cute little birds!
I am hoping as the coyote bushes grow
and produce more flowers hence seeds
they will visit those.
At MuRefuge they certainly did.

I have noticed when I am out and about in my sweet little town that the rosemary bushes are covered with bright blue flowers. I have a very small bush that also has has many blue flowers. I have ordered a pink flowering rosemary which I hope to plant in the ground soon. At MuRefuge I had three of these. I thoroughly enjoyed the pink in contrast to the glossy green leaves.

As I survey my garden bursting into Spring I have a frequent big belly

Flowering Now

"As I enter this new space may I see and be seen.

May I touch and be touched.

May I speak and be spoken to.

May I feel and be felt.

May I experience and be experienced

that we both may become whole.”

        by Carol Milligan, radiation oncologist

Recently when I was out and about "running" errands I stopped by the Rohnert Park Library to pick up a stack of books I had requested. As I was crossing the street from the parking lot to the actual building I passed by this flowering Manzanita. These types of bushes all around Cotati and Rohnert Park are featuring their flowers in varying colors from white to very dark pink.  

Unfortunately the lone bush (Arctostaphylos bakeri (‘Louis Edmunds’) I have planted in my front yard is too immature to bloom. Near the driveway I have also planted two Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (‘Point Reyes’ bearberry) but they are low growing rather than an upright bush. Presently I am searching for Arctostaphylos densiflora X Lutsko's Pink. 

Oh my gosh, it was just raining now it is hailing. Today the weather here at my house is "wonky" as my now late brother would say. We desperately one  need more moisture so I am grateful for whatever form it falls from the sky.

As I sit and look out the North window behind my computer, I have a whole hearted belly

Stunning Beauty

 “All our efforts are temporary. They borrow from preexisting forces, ride the current of natural events and disappear according to the dictates of the situation. It is best to realize the transitory nature of things and work with it. Understanding the world’s ephemeral nature can be the biggest advantage of all.” 

from 365 Tao: Daily Meditations by Deng Ming-Dao

No leaves on my California Dutchman's Pipevine (Aristolochia californica) just stunning beauty to behold. Each and every flower is shaped just like a bowl of a pipe. The color of each one is just a bit different from its nearby neighbor. Every day I go out and enjoy this stunning beauty only to be had here in Northern California at this time of the year.

I am so looking forward to watching
this California Dutchman's Pipevine expand
onto the two side trellis recently added.

Tree of Light by Amber Husar

Unique and individual, not one is the same,

A source of nature of which it came.

Strength to grow and remain still.

Through adversities and the cold winter’s chill.

A symbol of knowledge and oftentimes peace.

But with only one branch the tree would cease.

A connection it needs to thrive and flow.

Unity and light is what makes it grow.

An image of family and memories made.

Some happy, some sad, and often some fade.

As we come together to honor those gone.

We look to each other for strength to move on.

If one tiny star can bring light to the dark.

Imagine what the power of love could spark.

Recent years have brought sadness and peril

But coming together we can light up the world!

As we honor our connection with nature and move forward with our lives, may we each partake in a frequent belly