Riffing a bit on this Thursday morning:
The scent of phlox is everywhere these days as more and more blooms appear. This is David Phlox, which grows very tall and is quite striking in the garden.
I see photos on blogs and on Instagram of flowers that have been plucked from a garden and are now inside the house in pretty vases. I love these photos, but I am not one who picks flowers from my gardens. I only do it when there is danger of frost or when, in the case of peonies and rain, the flowers are soon going to be on the ground. Or, as I had to do this summer, when Japanese Beetles are about to destroy them.
Otherwise…no.
Why? I’ve been thinking about that. I like seeing the flowers in the garden beds, blooming where they’ve been planted. I like the landscape of plants that I see each day. I put them there for a reason and that’s where I want them to be. I fully realize I am most likely a weird exception in this particular area. The fact is, when the gardens are in full bloom, I don’t need flowers in the house. I can see flowers everywhere when I look out the windows and, better yet, I can go outside and smell them and observe them and marvel at all the splashes of color. They are out there, not just for me, but more importantly, for the butterflies and the bees and the bugs that need them to survive.
Cutting the flowers also shortens their life and I want them around as long as possible.
If I’m desperate for flowers in the house, I can always buy an inexpensive bouquet from Trader Joe’s. But I’m really only desperate for flowers inside when the seasons change; when autumn heads into winter and winter takes over for several months. Or when I’m on the road and a bouquet of flowers makes a strange place more like home.
At times, I’ve toyed with the idea of a cutting garden, but I know what would happen. I’d set up the cutting garden and then I wouldn’t want to cut the flowers. They’d stay where they were planted. So the ‘cutting garden’ would become another garden bed.
I tend to be this way about things I really like. I want them to remain in their ‘pure’ state. (I determine whatever the heck my concept of ‘pure’ is, of course; it’s all in my head.) It’s a longstanding joke between Don and me. Don: “How about if I add this and this to French Toast?” Me: “Not for me. I like it with butter and syrup.” Don: “What about powdered sugar?” Me: “No.”
Don: “How about sour cream on that baked potato?” Me: “No. I like it with butter and salt and pepper. Nothing extra. I don’t want to mess with it.”
We just went through this yesterday, although in this case, Don agreed with me. We toyed with the idea of making pancakes with the black raspberries and then we realized we like them the way they are. We didn’t want to bake them, or warm them up, or add them to batter. On our cereal? Yes. Maybe a few of them added to some plain yogurt? Sure. But otherwise, we’d rather eat them out of our hands and get that pure burst of taste from the berry without anything else added to the mixture.
All female casts in productions of Shakespeare? Not my thing. All male? Not really, but there’s a precedent for that since the actors in Shakespeare’s company were all male. But that was because women couldn’t do that sort of thing back then. Now, they can. Nowadays, it tends to be a directorial gimmick to change things up. I don’t think Shakespeare needs any gimmicks. Likewise, radical changes in the text – no and no and no. Tell the story that Mr. Shakespeare wrote. Don’t mess with it.
Oh, I know I’m quirky. And opinionated. I sort of like things that way.
But I’m tolerant as well; if Don wants to add things to his baked potato, have at it, I say. If he wants to add things to his French Toast, go for it – just as long as he doesn’t mess with mine.
He is not allowed to pick flowers from the gardens, however. That’s where I draw the line.
On to other things: I ran some errands yesterday (gathering supplies for the dollhouse build) and I had to stop at Target, where I found myself adding this $23 lamp to my cart.
I needed a lamp for this section of my desk, which is the section where I work on miniatures. It’s in a lovely shade of seafoam green and the brass matches the brass trim on my other desk lamp.
I like it a lot.
How can it be July 21st already? Summer is passing much too quickly, don’t you think? I’m trying to savor it while I can.
Happy Thursday.
I find I don’t cut flowers in my garden either. I don’t have a lot right now but I enjoy them in the garden beds and that’s where they can stay! I love to see how quirky we all are about things. I have my ways of doing things and I don’t really change much, but I am open minded if that makes sense! Black raspberries sound so good!
hugs,
Linda
Me too. I finally understand my mother’s insistence on having certain ways of doing things!
I like the lamp. I need a lamp that gives me better light at my desk and $23 sounds like a good buy.
I’m a purist when it comes to chocolate. I don’t like it messed with by adding mint or berry flavor to hot cocoa, or even caramel to a chocolate bar. Just the chocolate, and my favorite ice cream is vanilla so I can savor the taste of the chocolate fudge on top;)
It’s a good buy, Karen.
Come to think of it, I’m that way with coffee, too. No flavored coffees for me. Just coffee.
I don’t like to change things I like either. I might be up to try it but I usually go back to the original.
Love the garden. My dirt/clay is just to hard to mess with. I’ll just enjoy yours.
I saw this on FB and thought of you. Two of your favorite places rolled into one. You might have already seen it but I’ll pass it on to you anyway. Pam
http://www.boredpanda.com/buenos-aires-bookstore-theatre-el-ateneo-grand-splendid/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=BPFacebook
It looks like a neat link, Pam. I’ll go check it out. Thank you!
I don’t have a garden any more, so I enjoy your garden vicariously every day!
I’m glad, Melanie.
Yes, we all do have our quirks. I am very particular about loading the dishwasher…it’s my way, period. No discussion! I did cut my ‘bird planted’ sunflowers, only so I could enjoy them better…I couldn’t see them otherwise. But, normally I don’t cut my flowers either. And french toast…leave off the powdered sugar and the syrup! Syrup was only for pancakes…that’s the way I was brought up. And I passed that on to my boys…because they don’t use syrup on french toast either! It’s rather humorous when you think of all of your individual quirks! Enjoy your day…going to be a hot one! ;)
So what do you have on your French Roast – just butter?
Just salt it to taste! It’s fried in butter…so no more added! Quirky, I know…my hubby teases me all the time…but that’s the way I like it. All that good egg and bread goodness with just a hint of salt! ;)
You salt it??? Hmmm. I salt my eggs and fried eggs and scrambled eggs, but I just can’t salt bread, I guess! If it makes you happy, that’s what counts!
;)
Also: probably influenced by the way my mom made it!
Oh definitely…my grandmother made it that way….she was from Czechoslavakia, from a family of 12 kids. She came over in 1908. They probably couldn’t afford syrup….that’s my guess anyway. ;)
xo
My grandmother loved phlox and won a garden contest for a newspaper many years ago. Her garden was featured and she was very proud. I grow phlox in my garden in her memory and I can’t cut the flowers either. I admire them and stop and smell them everyday thinking about her. The bookstore Pam showed us is beautiful. Your new lamp fits perfect on your desk.
Love phlox – wonderfully old-fashioned, don’t you think? xo
Interesting. What about dollhouse builds? If they come with a picture on the box, do they have to adhere to that?
Are black raspberries another name for blackberries?
No, they don’t. Witness the TSP, which looks very different than the photo on that box. I’m all for bashing dollhouses, though I don’t have quite enough skill for that yet.
Black raspberries are raspberries. Blackberries are entirely different.
I’m going to try our local farmer’s market this Saturday to ask about black raspberries. The grocery stores only sell red raspberries and blackberries. My daughter says I was a fruit bat in a previous life, so black raspberries sound super yummy!
They are really delicious, Barbara! I hope you find them.
Claudia, your garden pictures remind me so much of my Granny’s little bed of Caladiums and Zinnias. They surrounded a large oak tree in her front yard and I clearly remember seeing her standing at the screen door gazing at them. Yes the summer is flying by. We don’t have much of a fall here but I sure am looking forward to cooler temperatures. My uncle came home from the hospital today so today my heart is full.
So glad to hear about your uncle, Janie! Good news!
Quirky people are my favorite! I’m quirky, too, but not with food, I guess, unless it’s quirky to want to make things a different way every time. I guess recipe developing comes naturally to this girl, who married a plain food, vanilla ice cream kinda guy. Thank goodness he likes gardening, because I enjoy gardens…but through my window, mostly. Every time I go outside, my first thought is to get back inside! Quirky.
Don is much more daring with food than I am – and he’s the cook around here, so that’s great for me!
I totally agree with you, Claudia. I do not cut flowers from my gardens. I love to sit outside and gaze at them, and to move through my house from room to room and see them in all their glory through the windows.
Same here, Valerie! It’s good to know I’m not the only one!
So funny…. I planted 3 different masses of zinnias this year throughout the yard. They are beautiful, and as we planted them I talked about doing cuttings to bring inside. Not one has been cut. I just can’t do it. Kind of crazy, I know. I am much happier looking outside and seeing them at this time of year. Maybe it is because I know what my view will be in 4 or 5 months, so I love seeing the flowers out my windows when I can.
Really really HOT here. It is a day for reading inside in the AC today. And I am OK with that!!!!
Enjoy your day!!
HOT here today, too! I just went out to water and now I’m back inside in the A/C ready to do some reading.
You brought up a good point – the view outside my window will soon become devoid of any intense color – except white, when it snows!
I never have enough flowers outside to pick for the house. Although I do bring in a small sampling for my library, sometimes only one flower. I just got back for visiting one of my girls up in NH, she has lots of flowers( planted by previous owner). A large white stoneware pitcher filled the kitchen table it was beautiful. Ladies mantle, daisies and bee balm and astilbe! I am with you RE: messing with the Bard, I do not like in modern dress or modern speech either! But again that is just me. I have to agree with Don I like lots of stuff on my potato, make it whole meal.
I don’t mind modern dress if it works – I coached one production of The Merchant of Venice (for Darko, many years ago) that was in modern dress and it worked. But, and this is a big BUT, it usually doesn’t work!
Your flowers are so pretty. Funny thing, I was at target yesterday with my daughter and looked at that same lamp and thought about buying it for reading. I really liked the color. The bunny pics you post are my favorite. My son has jack rabbits in his garden. They are huge and their ears crack me up. Have a wonderful day!
Oh goodness! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a jack rabbit (in person) – how neat! The color of the lamp is what sold me, I’m pretty sure!
Yes summer is speeding by. Summer is always too short in Minnesota but I guess that just makes us appreciate it all the more.
It’s fairly short here as well, but not as short as in Minnesota. Too fleeting, Carolyn Marie.
I love cut flowers, but I can’t have them in my house…..curious, mischievous cats. I love the flowers in my garden, and I only cut the lavender to use. My transplanted hydrangea is much happier in its new place, but no flowers until next season. It needs to grow strong again.
Glad it’s doing well, Wendy. I will transplant that peony this fall and hope that in a couple of seasons, it does well again.
I absolutely agree with everything you have said about gardens,flowers,food, Shakespeare and letting husbands do what they want – up to a point! Also can’t stand it when they re-make old films which are classics and perfect the way they are. I think your black raspberries are what we call blackberries here in the UK but am not sure,delicious whatever they are called.I didn’t know much about miniatures before I found your blog and now I discover that we are to have an exhibition of them right here in Llandudno in Wales so am really excited to be going only I am trying not to get into another “collecting” hobby or we won’t get in our small seaside cottage any more!
Black raspberries and blackberries are apparently different. The core of the black raspberry is hollow (like raspberries) and blackberries have a white core. Blackberries are a bit more tart and sour, as well. So next time you look at a blackberry, look at the core. I learned all this a few years ago when I discovered the berries and assumed they were blackberries. They aren’t!
Have fun at the exhibition, Megan! I look forward to hearing about it. (A seaside cottage in Wales sounds like a bit of heaven to me!!)
Well, I’m the opposite; I can’t wait for summer to END; I do NOT like heat and humidity. We won’t see ‘cool’ where I live in SoCalif til November (cool enough for me, anyway). We don’t get your severe winters, though; I imagine it’s never fun to shovel snow (not something to be looking forward to!).
LIKE you, however, I rarely cut flowers from my yard; I enjoy them most on the vine, where I put them. I do rescue a perfect rosebud here and there, when I know it will suffer in extreme heat.
I’m not crazy about the heat, but when you live where I do, you don’t look forward to winter. And the end of summer means winter isn’t far behind!
I am like you also, I have worked long and hard to plant and watch grow and bloom…I just cannot cut the flowers to take inside, I want to see the product of my hard work (and theirs) on the plants! I only cut, when a bird has landed and broken a stem/limb, or when storms are due to cause damage.
I just dug a whole new bed to put Hydrangea’s in…a big bed…and I just put my first one in it…I hope to plant 2 more next year when funds allow (they are expensive here!), and they are back in the plant nurseries.
I just had to take up my 4 Zucchini plants – they were not producing any more and bolting fast from the heat (has gotten up to 111 degrees here so far). I didn’t plant any tomatoes this year – they didn’t do too well for me last year, and anyway, the Zucchini chugged slowly along due to the heat and dry conditions.
Everything else is thriving and doing well — I have roses, dianthus, milkweed, passion vine, hyacinth bean vine, wisteria, hostas, gladiolas, daylilies, mums, daisies, alyssum, lithadora, stone crop, morning glory, gazinia, ice plant, society garlic, mint (chocolate and sweet mint), petunias, moss rose, lavender, basil, begonia, potato vine, geranium, and my precious gardenia and hydrangea. I raise flowers in the back and like a more sedate front beds that have just bushes, hawthorn and crape myrtle and privets. Our grass is suffering a big (Bermuda) due to the dry heat, but we water when we can according to our city’s watering day for us.
The birds come to eat every day and splash and bathe in the bird bath, and we keep chicken wire around our trees when we see nests in them to prevent cats from climbing up and hurting the hatched babies. It is sheer joy to watch them hatch and grow and hang around for a while until they fly off to make their way in the world. We do not poison and have a great eco system. But…I miss living in the country…city life is too hectic and crowded…but…it is where God planted us, so we also, will do our best to grow and thrive here…just like our plants.
Happy Day Claudia! :)