Musings

Hibiscus: turns out this genus also includes cacao and cotton, plus baobobs. Who knew? (Which is to say, my ignorance is boundless.)

Jennifer Steinhauer’s NYTimes article on Ray Bradbury includes this quote:

I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money.

He makes a good point: the knowledge is there in the library. What the university offers, I think, is interpretation and intellectual motivation. At least for some.

I agree with Bradbury that “The Internet is a big distraction.” However, like the library, it contains (or can be persuaded to yield) considerable knowledge.

Again, the piece that most people need is the motivation and guidance. Mentoring, of a sort….

Teachers may well disagree. Enlighten me….

Posted at 10:30 AM | 1 Comment »

We walked early enough today that the shadows were still interesting.

In this city, I think the greatest biodiversity is in the insects (of the critters you can see), although their biomass—not so much.

Posted at 12:00 PM | Comments Off on Watch the shadow

I feared that our extended out-of-town jaunt would keep us from enjoying the lovely scent of the gardenias. They were just coming into bloom when we left. Certainly, the high-point came while we were absent. But, there are still a few blossoms around, and I can glory in the scent for a few more days….

Posted at 10:19 AM | Comments Off on I’m so glad…

TY, jcb!, for this image….

Muggy!

Still, we had a nice walk this morning, although a bit sweaty, all the way to Piedmont Park. I can happily report that Lake Clara Meer’s levels* are up and we saw lots of (ordinary) birds, including swallows or something flying across the lake nabbing insects—breakfast, I guess.

The mimosas are in bloom, and dramatic, right now.

* Lake Lanier’s levels are in pretty good shape, too, compared to the last two years or so—about 4.3 feet below the summer pool (ideal) level, and far better than the 20 feet below we did have…. This webpage has a useful graph of Lake Lanier’s levels, and also shows total rainfall for the SE for the last week.

Posted at 9:19 AM | 2 Comments »

Contrast this pair with their May 9th scale.

Also, none of the other tomato plants I put in have any fruit this large. And none are blushing, either.

The cherry tomato has nice modest marble-sized-and-a-bit-more tomatoes, but the six Rutgers at this stage are all floppy plant with a few blossoms.

But first, I need to pick some herbs (sage, thyme, etc.) to go in the split pea soup I made over the weekend, and transform it into a fresh, summer version of what most people consider a winter dish….

Posted at 8:48 AM | Comments Off on Blushing fruit

It seems to me that as I wander along through life*, I find proof of this or that less often than I had thought would happen in those starry-eyed days of my youth.

But here’s proof that my mystery plant is NOT a jack-in-the-pulpit. The JITP is on the left. It was labeled, and in a garden with a knowledgeable staff. This specimen also matches the plants IDd as JITP all over the web (and beyond!). Our mystery plant is on the right, once again making seeds. Maybe I should save some from the squirrels this year?

Oh, yeah, BTW I’m sticking to its identification as Arum maculatum (interesting details on that species here).

* Yes, I changed the picture….

Posted at 2:37 PM | 1 Comment »

I haven’t yet taken a picture of the stand of lilacs. One year we were here at just the right time, and the floor of this stand had so many morels we picked a loose grocery bag-ful. Believe it or not.

This year…no morels in the lilacs. But the Hunter-Gatherer has been finding them here and there, particularly when he’s been mowing the grass…. And, kindly, he’s shared them with us a time more two. Yum.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Towering lilacs

…and smells super, too! The orchard is in pretty much full bloom, and the microenvironment is heavily perfumed, in a good way. And the bees are happy!

Posted at 2:33 PM | Comments Off on Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous…

Laurel came over, trimming floral specimens as she walked, and then we picked some rhubarb, which isn’t as floral as the lupines and lilacs and jonquils (that are probably something else). They’re just so pretty in her basket that I had to (with the help of a decent Internet connection, which I’ve not had in, what?, two weeks?) make a second post of the day….

Posted at 4:22 PM | Comments Off on Laurel’s floral bounty

The Botanist found this exceptional rhubarb somewhere and planted it here in the Northland, and it is as tasty as it looks. I promise, there’s no food coloring in this sauce—just rhubarb, sugar, and a little water. The red continues through the heart of the stalk most of the way up to the leaf, instead of just at the base, as with other rhubarbs I’ve examined.

Posted at 11:16 AM | Comments Off on Rhubarbing days