Orchid Encore

Today, we gathered at Manzano Del Sol where my mother, Rose Lee, and Norm's mother, Dorothy were honored for 63 years of motherhood.  Over the years they have been given a lot of things to mark Mother's Day, but now, as they are in their nineties, they assure us they don't want one more thing.  However, last year's gift is being re-cycled.  We gave both Moms orchids, and after they finished blooming, they were a bit of a burden for them to care for, so I brought them home, put them in a south window and watered them.  They have bloomed several times for me and now they are blooming again just in time for Mother's Day. So back they go for an encore until they finish this bloom cycle.  Then, I will foster care for them again until next year.


Speaking of bloom cycle, my rock garden is doing well after two days of rain...such a surprise for this time of year (the rain, not the garden).  

Yellow iris and blue flax (flax planted from seeds gathered at my friend, Susan's house).

Blue flax, Centranthus (Jupiter's Beard), and yellow broom.

Originally from my friend, Susan's yard, divided when the parent red hot poker threatened to take over its spot.

Pink Penstemon (grown from seeds picked alongside the road up to our house) maybe Penstemon pseudospectabilis 'Coconino County,  Nepeta 'Walker's Low' (blue catmint)

A gift to myself was this iron topiary frame that I found when out shopping at thrift stores a couple of weeks ago. For $12.50, if is about one fourth of the price of buying the same size at retail.  Because we have no soil around our house, I grow tomatoes in pots, and I plant plenty so that I can take some to our mothers who both really enjoy a homegrown tomato.  Four tomato plants will be trained up this frame. My tomatoes taste nothing like the ones we ate during summers that I spent with my grandmother in Maryland.  I remember those tomatoes as being a little taste of heaven.  There must be something in the soil on the east coast that is lacking in potting soil.

Photo by Lane McNab

If you are interested in topiary frames, here are some terrific ones  I found on Lane McNab's Urban Orchard Interiors.  Although these are from a shop in Berkeley, California, you can find other styles at Hobby Lobby, Pottery Barn, and many of our local garden shops. Thanks, Lane for sharing wonderful photos of the area in which you live.


And thanks to my three daughters, I now have a beautifully handwoven, brightly colored case for my frequently misplaced cell phone, a lovely journal to take on my next trip, and a darling pair of handcrafted earrings.