Sunday, May 4, 2008

Flagrant Tulips, Flash On!



There he is, the yellow fellow in my yard. I think I've disturbed the tulips enough that... their number seems to be diminishing. Whether its my weeding (no weed killer here! Killer *of the environment* being *not* the clue!)... or my lack of fertilizer... whatever they ain't there so much any more. And I kinda like them. Next fall I'm going to randomly plant a bunch of tulips and daffodils. Keeps me on my toes. And prods Spring along.

Spring needing an occasional prod I suppose... Here's a picture of the most recent manifestation of my earthy ineffectual obsession... the digging up of a yew hedge. Jeesh. At first I liked the pink of that rhodendrum... Having bought all my bushes on sale at Fall's edge, I wasn't sure what colors would express themselves this Spring, let alone live. But, ah, whatever.

Another shot of my yard. A Daphne (how sweet is that name?), a Dogwood (earthy and dependable), a rhodendrum (a color like acrylic surviving unfaded), and ferns, cautiously unfolding.

When buying marigolds at "X"... I saw some honey bees on the plants in the industrialized homogenized impersonified space that is the "X" store. And that made me feel good. I buy marigolds the way some people wave flags. I buy marigolds the way I take my place in a grocery store line or sweep my driveway. Its just one of those things... endemic and intrinsic to a sense of self. Along with the marigolds... there were those freakin' bees. How much better can it be? Spring has sprung and I'm there with a shovel.

When planting... I watched a lone honey bee weirdly dig into the ground. The honey bee was obviously diseased, obviously dying.... I couldn't bring myself to kill it. I love those freakin' flyin' sugar packets of spring! I hope that the severe problem our environment faces at this time doesn't lead to just drink, or hyperactive profit management, but to solutions that can bring more... ya know... those colors!

5 comments:

CSD Faux Finishing said...

Awesome post! Daffodils are my favorite flower, to me they just signify spring and their sunny yellow color makes me happy :) There are such problems with bees dying off right now, the polination of flowers and production of honey could be seriously impacted in very short order. I will admit they kind of freak me out when we meet face to face in nature but they should be able to buzz around without harm. I'm sure I freak something out but so far humans are still roaming around. Here is to many more generations of marigold planting peeps :)
Happy spring!
~ Jenn

Rosebud Collection said...

Wow, things there in your garden sure look nice..You at least have a tulip..ask me how many I have? Yep, you guessed it, zilch...I think they are so beautiful and I kill every one. You did very good...

GalleryJuana said...

I have no green thumb, whatsover. I did not inherit that sense from my parents. In saying that, I think I will try again this year.

Poor bee. I steer away from pesticides too. Now to find a plant that will survive my poor soil.
Gallery Juana

AuntDsHandcrafts said...

Can you come and weed at my house? lol :)

Chris Stone said...

auntdshandscrafts... I totally admit I'm lucky to have a small yard!

Honey bees are suffering from what is called "Bee Colony Collapse" disorder. Which is, essentially, colonies of bees suddenly dying off. They found that the bees are infected with many problems... its not just one disease. No one knows why this is happening. Its a serious problem affecting the food crop in this country. I've tried writing about this... but its tough. What is there to say but "oh my!"?

Under the Blog links is one called Vanishing Bees. The people doing that website are making a movie about bees.