Fullness of the Season

06/06/06
A date that will never be again.. Some refused to do business today. to me it was just another day in June. I guess my family didn't believe in superstitions and I'm thankful they planted that seed in me.

There always seems to be something blooming, no matter what the weather. The red pentas blooms seem to have lasted so long. They are supposed to be a big butterfly and hummingbird attractor, but so far I've seen niether of them. Its okay, their beauty is more than enough reason for their existence.

I had planned to have mainly whites, pinks, blues with just a touch of yellow in my gardens, but finding that hummingbirds are mainly attracted to reds has changed that drasticly. I resurrected some red impatiens from Christmas and now they are blooming beautifully. I remember the hummingbirds coming to the ones behind our house in Port St Lucie. It surprised me as I didn't really consider them a tubular flower.

Reading on the garden web forums gives you so many good idea and such desire to have those gardens now.

I love these lilies. I think they need more fertilizer. Someone threw out so many bulbs.. I need to prepare a bed in the right spot for them to show off to their best. There were some pink crinum lilies and some fire engine red amaryllis among the bulbs also. I think I've planted some much to deeply and there are no signs of flowers. My daughter said the ones that did the best for her were the ones that were just set on the ground, forgotten and never planted. They sent out roots and bloomed beautifully.

Its so important that things are in their right places, otherwise they never reach their potential. Some of the things I planted under the fringes of the big oak did beautifully last year, but with the extending of the canopy, there is no too much shade


The plants are getting lush in some areas, particularly in the deeper shaded fern bed. In a way I wish I could protect them from the freeze, but it was equally exciting to see those small fiddleheads unfurl. If they hadn't frozen back we would lose that miracle. Plus, the leaves are pretty weatherworn by the end of fall and need refreshing. It looks like there are far more leaves than last year.

One of Suzi's horses isn't doing well. He's a most beautiful white Egyptian Arabian named Ferrari.... Silver for short. He's 27 years old and has had a wonderful life.. even attaining National Grand Championship for his former young owner out west in her age class. There were very few steps that he couldn't do. A trainer came to 'put him through his paces' and said that he was an amazing horse. He's had a great 10 years or so in a great pasture with two companions, Andre and Charmie. Andre is an Arabian also, a retired police horse from New York. Charmie is a Saddle Bred horse.. nice gentle ride, but not terribly willing sometimes. She is definitely the matriarch of the group. Silver is very spirited, but with children amazingly gentle. He seems to know that when he has a light load he's to step very gently. His very favorite food is watermelon chunks - followed by orange or green popsickles. His favorite drink is licks of gator ade. My daughter, husband and son have been taking turns with him every hour around the clock.

To everything there is a season. Animals seem to move through their seasons so much more easily than we do. If this is his time, we'll all be sad to say goodbye.