Lace and Stollen

It's only  three weeks until we leave for our anniversary cruise so I decided I better get back to the lace jacket post haste.. Except for the front I thought I  had it all basted to the bobbinet but on closer examination there are several areas that I need to beef up the basting.   White on white is as difficult as black on black.  As I hold all the pieces together it is much heavier than I thought it would considering it is just a bunch of string and air...and I wonder how practical it is going to be in April.  If nothing else I'll just wear it to dinner in the evening.  I was also concerned that the detail on the lace wasn't that visible but I think that is just my eyes...

Spring rains are rapidly turning our road into a sea of mud but the snow is disappearing rapidly as well.  I did get to play in the dirt (mud) yesterday to start repairing the pig damage which is overwhelming.   I had made wire guards for special plants and I'm finding  smashed wire guards and empty spaces so I'm trying to figure out what is gone. Luckily some perennials I can divide from elsewhere in the garden but most of the plants and shrubs they targeted  are just destroyed.

One perennial missing  is my bergenia cordifolio . It was among my favorites that needed extra protection and extra fussing. I say I won't replace those kind of plants but who knows if I happen on one at a plant sale. I was grateful that they didn't get any of the new clematis I planted last spring.  They were all still under too much snow... Now they are exposed and vulnerable but haven't seen pig since the sheriff went over there. 

I'm also hoping that some that look destroyed like my honeysuckles will come back from the roots.  I did order another today just in case.  One cannot have too many honeysuckle vines.



I have the scones quest pretty much mastered so I am pursuing the perfect stolen recipe. Since it was heavy rains today I  worked on that today...a cold grey day indeed. I'm looking for the recipe that will be reminiscent of the stollen my husband's beloved Hungarian grandmother made for him as a child...   A German friend gave me three German cookbooks with stollen recipes and I chose the one using the most butter and the fruit was soaked overnight in rum... we all know more butter is better...and the rum can't hurt.

Happy husband tonight!!

Yet another "operation rescue" plan...

Each summer I find perennials I want to rescue from the wild garden and tie a ribbon on them.  I make a list and in the spring I do move some if I can find the list but mostly I simply cannot find the plants or the ribbons.  So my new plan this year is to mark them with a huge  neon ribbon and move a lot of them in September.  In addition I have been taking pictures, making notes, and documenting where they are.  As you can see the wild garden is like a jungle when everything is blooming.

It is especially critical because many of the plants along the greenhouse (100 ft) have survived because any drop of moisture during the summer drained off the roof of the greenhouse and kept them alive... but now that the big storm took the roof off the greenhouse I doubt many of these perennials will survive...  

I have a lot of red maltese cross but this is the only surviving white one.. It is high on my list to rescue.  There is a gorgeous apricot one that I would love to have but I am resolute in never buying another perennial..

This isn't a particular favorite but it's an oddity because it has bright yellow flowers on its purple foliage

When I was marking this lysimachia I discovered a lovely small pink achillea right next to it... I have the perfect spot for it.  I used to have a red with yellow centers achillea called "Paprika" that I have been searching in vain for.

This is all that is left of a large clump of  Joe Pye Weed and it is so great for butterflies..


All in all I found and documented the position of about 30 perennials to move this fall.  Hopefully with the photographs and the locations documented this new plan will work...  If not, I am great at more new plans...

But some I will never find unless I clear a space around them immediately before all the weeds grow up.  One is this delightful dwarf, double perennial geranium.  It is a tiny plant (about 10" high) and the only double I have.  I had marked it in the spring but I could hardly find it yesterday so I will clear around it today..

And another one is a struggling little clematis buried in a huge clump of roses.  I especially want to save it but have no idea where to put it.  All the clematis  I bought this spring are doing beautifully.  I can hardly wait for them all to mature.

I am so grateful for all the perennials that not only survive but THRIVE with no water and no care and bring me great joy.. This is a large patch of knautia which is not particularly showy in the garden but it is a wonderful cut flower.. It is so unique and I never see it offered.

 Behind it is a big showy patch of perennial geraniums and a monster of my least favorite lavender, "Jean Davis.".  It was advertised as a pink lavender but is closer to dishwater grey...but it lives, thrives,  and smells wonderful..

And as a positive last thought.... The chain saw guy finally showed up unannounced one day.... covered in tattoos and in a massive pickup and he had to spit after every 5th word. ...but he worked like a demon for two days and got most of the downed trees cut up...  He would have finished but late in the second day he cut into an old apple tree and hit a yellow jacket nest.  He wants to come back so we will have him in the fall.  It will take DH until then to cut   all the branches up and haul them to clean green.. The larger stuff we will burn in the wood stove in the winter. 

Plants that are survivors!!

Too survive in my garden is a challenge.  We have harsh winter, hot dry summers and plants have to be survivors... Here are a three of my favorites...

First are these rugged, aggressive lilies which grow anywhere and choke out all weeds.  Often called "Ditch Lilies" or "Roadside Lilies" because if they fell off a truck they grew wherever they landed.  They are a bit aggressive for a perennial bed but dazzling when given their own stage and their handsome foliage is a bonus...

Aggressive plants can be great assets if you take great care on where you plant them..

Next is this yellow rose... the Harison's Rose. sometimes called the yellow rose of Texas, the pioneer rose, or the Oregon trail rose.  It is often found by derelict farms.  The people have died, the house has collapsed and the rose survives with no care..... It is extremely difficult to get going as it does not root from a stem cutting and even if you get a root cutting it is still iffy. But once it's established, it is there forever.

I have a huge bush at the back of the property and have been nursing this baby along by the house for three years and I think it is going to make it.

You will see it listed in most mail-order catalogs but it most likely says "out of stock" and if you do order it you will most likely receive a "crop failure" notice at the time of delivery.

Once it is established it needs LOTS of room and can be killed with kindness.

It is my conviction the most underused and undervalued perennial in America are the perennial geraniums or Cranesbill geraniums.  The thrive in shade, part shade and full sun.  They can tolerate wet soil or dry soil.  They come from tiny 12" plants with lacey leaves up to  24" plants with large handsome leaves.  They are available in many colors of whites, pinks, purples and blues.  Here they are in my garden as ground cover in full shade and are just budding up to bloom but I would grow them just for their foliage..  They get no water and no care and happily choke out the weeds.

And here they are in part of the garden that was abandoned.  Most else has died but they thrive. Many have beautifully scented leaves.  There is a nursery in the UK that specialized in only these hardy geraniums and sells over 200 varieties.

As I was walking around taking pictures I found this old copper rooster I did many years ago... Both his head and tail feathers are long gone and he is listing badly.  I put drastic restoration for him on my summer list.  When I tore down the  potting center there was an old roll of tarnished copper.... perfect!!!