Posted in Flowers

Zinnia Love (in my yard and photographed by me)

I

have zinnias right in front of my house and in an overgrown patch in back of my shop. The leaves have moldy mildred and spots since I garden with Mother Nature with no help from herbicides or poisons.We are past spring time rains and into hot and humid temperatures.

Zinnias are not fussy so tolerate both. Plant them in the sun in poor to average soil, keep them watered and watch them grow.

Posted in Flowers

Spring Yard Work

I garden with Mother Naure, with little interference, so my yard is wild. I plant flower seeds and perennial plants. This week I have spent hours cleaning out two large beds. Underneath the grass and leaves, I found lilies, irises, yarrow, poppies, vervain, Sweet Williams, and coreopsis.

In the summer, the now brown beds will be in full bloom. Almost all are perennials which come back each year. I will plant zinnia seeds.

I have been in a weird songwriting space. I had much rather be digging in the dirt (soil). All the photos were made in my yard — Florence, Alabama.

Posted in Flowers

Circles

Indian medicine wheels, Stonehenge, cave drawings, the wheel – when has there not been circles? My own life has come full circle in so many ways. I have named several companies, groups, and events with circle in the name: Circle of Friends, Song Circle, Circle Round.

All humans had to do was look at flowers to know about circles.

Posted in Flowers, Journal

Planting Seeds like My Grannies Did

Zinnias, coreopsis, black-eyed Susans, daisies, echinacea, larkspur, cleome, sunflowers, four o’clocks, butterfly milkweed, cosmos, asters, marigolds, poppies, phlox, bachelor buttons, amaranth – in abundance in my yard each spring, summer, and fall. I plant seeds; Mother nature does the rest. Nurseries sell these plants in pots ready to put in the ground. I can not afford buying plant at a time. Why would I when I can buy and save seeds resulting in an abundance of plants?

Some years I have hired someone to break sections of my yard with a rotary tiller and then planted seeds. The last two years I have not connected with anyone with a tiller who will work for me, so I have pulled weeds and grass and dug spots with handheld garden tools. I either knell or sit on the ground to accomplish this much harder step. If I could find hired help, I would not do it all by myself. I am seventy-five with some aches and pains. Starting with grass or weeds to get a spot ready is hard but not as hard after a rain.

Look what grew from seeds in the spots I dug. I would say a huge return on the investment of my time and energy. I garden with Mother Nature. I use no marketed insecticides, herbacides, or poisons. I do water on a very limited bases until seedlngs are well established. I use egg shells and coffee grounds as fertilizer plus some marketed ones.

I asked friends what I do well that they would like to know how to do. One answer was growing beautiful flowers. If I offer a four week online course teaching you how, would you be interested? Let me know.

Posted in Flowers

Beautiful Alabama Fall Day

65 degrees Fehrenheit at 10:00 this morning. Light breeze. 73 degrees high today. I love Alabama in the fall. Years ago someone from Florida came to visity my family in November. They had heard me go on and on about trees, especially in the fall in with the gold, orange, red, and so many shades of green leaves. They were disappointed since almost all of the leaves were brown. We do not have those gorgeous fall colors yet, and they will be gone by November. Maybe that is why I love them so; they are here for a short time. Butterflies are still on my summer flowers, but fall iis in the air.

In the meantime, here is a gallery of today’s flowers.