A Friendship Fourth of July

It's been a while since I've repeated this post but I am moved to today, with some new material and new (to my blog, I think) photos from the trip I blogged about.

In July of 2013, we were commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, which took place July 1, 2 and 3, 1863.  This battle, fought near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is said to have been the defining moment of who would win the United States Civil War.

I wrote many posts during the 150th anniversary of the war (1861-1865) including this one on July 3, 2013. 

I had wanted so much to be able to visit Gettysburg that week.   There was supposed to be a large gathering to commemorate that watershed battle, but, unfortunately, many people had the same idea and, unlike me, they didn't try to make last minute plans.

Spouse and I had already taken time off from work.

I was not happy, but then fate intervened.

First, I need to explain that many years ago, both this cousin (let's call her "C") and my childhood best friend (BF) were house hunting in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City.  C has spent almost her entire life in Brooklyn.  BF grew up with me in the Bronx (another borough) but, as an adult, moved to an apartment in Brooklyn at the time she got married.  

Anyway, C and BF found themselves at the same open house.  

They hit it off.  They became friends, not knowing (at first) that they had something else in common.  Or, actually, someone else.  Me.

(Just as another fun fact, a good friend of BF's husband was the son of my next door neighbor growing up, proving that even New York City, with its eight million people, can be a small world at times.)

At some point, my cousin and childhood friend found out they had me in common, and when spouse and I came to Brooklyn, we always tried to visit both of them.

Fast forward to 2013.  About a year and a half before, BF was diagnosed with cancer.  As the summer of 2013 came close, she was doing well.

One late June day, C called to catch up on life.  In talking with her, she mentioned that, on July 4, BF had planned a BBQ.  Among other people, C was invited.  Too bad I couldn't be there, as I lived 150 miles away, and probably had other plans....or could I?

I contacted BF, and yes, we were welcome to come.  And to stay with her and her husband.

We came. We had a wonderful visit and 4th of July BBQ with BF, C, and other friends of BF.    We had a great time, that first few days of July we spent down there.    

My friend loved to garden in her small New York City plot.

I can't remember if this zucchini plant (picture taken July 4, 2013) was in my friend's yard, or in the yard of one of her neighbors.  

These were her tomatoes.  She also had rosemary and dill growing.
 

A fig tree in her neighbor's yard.

My friend's dill.

I can't believe eleven years have passed since that day.

This is not a story with a happy ending, I'm sorry to say.  That night, before the unofficial street fireworks began, my friend, her husband, my spouse, and I, walked to a store and had some ice cream.

Over the frozen treats, she matter of factly told me she had decided where she would be interred after she passed.  She knew her time was limited, and joked that the cemetery was near a shopping center, meaning that people would be sure to visit.

That kind of joke was so like her....

This visit was the last time I saw my BF "well".   She passed away in 2015.  May she forever rest in peace.

If I I had been able to find lodging down in Gettysburg, I never would been able to go to that wonderful BBQ, and we wouldn't have spent other quality time with her during that visit.

Maybe some things are meant to be.  

When I think of the Fourth of July, I think of her, each and every year.

May my readers in the United States have a happy and meaningful Independence Day.  

Cancer sucks.

A happier post tomorrow.

Unseasonable Snowdrops?

Snowdrops, where I live in the Southern Tier of New York, are more a late March or early April bloom. 

But, more and more, our climate is shifting.

The plant zone people have noticed this too, with the recent changes in the zone maps.  Our area has been a zone 5b (minimum temperatures -10F to -15F or ) and now it is 6a (minimums -5Fto -10F or -20.6 to 23.3C).  The climate zones represent averages.  It's not a reason to run out if you live in New York State and buy a, say, palm tree. 

But back to this winter.  Our low so far has been 10F (-12.2C).

These pictures were taken February 22.  

These aren't my snowdrops, but are on a busy residential street in Binghamton, New York. 

No crocuses yet for us but a Facebook friend in New York City had crocuses blooming a couple of weeks ago.  And yes, he's in a different climate zone.

Climate zones are an interesting topic to gardeners.  This is an interesting discussion about someone being reclassified.

True, we've had early springs before.  There was 2012, when snowdrops and crocuses were blooming the first week of March.

True, we've had bloom before in February. 

But it isn't everything.

Still, when I first moved here in the 1980's, I never would have imagined snowdrops in February.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day February 2024

Winter has returned to my zone 6a (recently reclassed from zone 5b) New York State garden.  But today is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, and time to celebrate what is blooming inside and outside.

Our high yesterday was 30F (-1.1C) and breezy.  After on and off mild temperatures it was a shock.  But the good news is, I have an outdoor flower in the garden.

This white Lenten Rose doesn't bloom every year.  Sometimes it puts out buds in late December and then bitterly cold weather comes along.  That's what happened last year - the flowers died before the buds could open.  But this year we have the flowers, and we've had them for several weeks now.

Let's move it indoors.

One of my Thanksgiving cactii lost track of the calendar and put out three flowers.  They are just about finishing up.

Each year I take cuttings of my impatiens and root them indoors.  Here's what is happening with them.  One is blooming....

One almost blooming.

One of my Tradescentia plants (I have three varieties) is blooming.  The blooms are small but they count.

One of my three African violet plants is blooming.  I somehow almost killed this one, and I guess it has forgiven me.

One more.  Let's go outside and see my other Lenten Rose, which blooms in March, putting out buds.

Thank you's go, once again, to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for her 15th of the month Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

The 2024 Seed Library #WordlessWednesday

It's time to think of planting seeds.  Fortunately, there are seed options in this area for those of limited income.  One of them is our local library, called (yes) Your Home Library.

The Your Home Library seed catalog is located in an old card catalog.  The seeds?  About 60 varieties total were donated by a combination of Seed Savers Exchange and also the Hudson Valley Seed Co. Thanks go to both of these companies.

How it works:  "Please take only what you will use". I'm a little surprised they didn't limit the number of seed packets one patron could take, as they've done in previous years.

Brassicas.

 

Lettuce

The packets are small, and I thank the librarians for their efforts packaging and arranging these packets.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday

A Gardening Milestone

We reached a gardening decision today which is a kind of milestone, but maybe not a totally happy one.

My spouse has gardened in a community garden for many years.  For most of this time, he has rented two in ground beds. Perhaps three years ago, I was able to get a raised bed for myself, because of my back issues.  

Raised Bed 6-17-21

At about the same time, spouse downsized to one inground bed.

Inground plot

Spouse took over my raised bed two years ago.  Last year, he was able to get two raised beds.  He has garlic in one of them, busy slumbering under a mulch.

But now, we are both in our 70's and have to face the fact that our bodies aren't what they used to be.

Due to a fall several years ago, spouse has damage (not fixable by surgery) in both shoulders, and this year he came to the reluctant conclusion that he can no longer manage the one remaining inground bed.

So spouse has made a reluctant decision.

No more inground beds.

Sunflower, 2018

I'm going to miss our sunflowers.  (we did grow dwarf sunflowers last year, but the varieties are limited).  We also grew potatoes.

Zucchini flower

 

I'll miss our zucchini.  It isn't that we can't grow it, it's that our space is going to be way reduced.  We are limited to two raised beds so everyone who needs one can get one.  That's understandable.

What we won't miss are the rocks, which we always have a bumper crop of.

There are two types of raised beds.  Our original bed was a "tall" bed, four feet by twelve feet, 30 inches high.  We also have one "short" bed, four feet by 10 feet, 16 inches high; the one we obtained last summer.

But with change comes new opportunities.  We do limited gardening at our home, where the only sunny area is in the front yard (and where all my flowers reside).  Last year we grew some potatoes in a bag and some kale (we still have some, in fact-it's survived the winter!) in a large barrel type planter.  The year before, we tried peppers (not too successful, for some reason) and chard (sucessful).

I know we'll make it work.

It is a kind of milestone, though, and a little sad.

Do Better Idaho

Strange that I need to give publicity to an advertisement I detest.  I've seen this on our local TV several times this week.

In this commercial a family freaks out because they are being served homegrown (from the backyard garden) potatoes rather than Idaho potatoes.  Even the dog shames this woman.

Sorry, Idaho.  We've grown our own potatoes for years in our community garden (not in Idaho), and when we run out, we buy more at the farmers market from a local farmer. This past year, we even grew some potatoes in our small front yard in a bag.

Shame on that woman for not buying from a state possibly hundreds of miles away and instead, serving her family fresh and homegrown produce lovingly tended by her.

Dear Idaho, no offense, but we will continue to grow our own, or purchase from local farmers.  It's the right thing to do.

You can do better than shame family gardeners and local growers, Idaho!

Do better. 

Trees Decorated and a New Zone #ThursdayTreeLove

In past years, I might have shown you pictures of snow covered trees.  This year, those pictures have been scarce.

Our climate is changing.  I remember back to when my son (now in his 30's) was a toddler and he would play in snow tunnels dug under the two or three feet of snow accumulated by now.  Now, we have rain.  And some temperatures close to record highs for late December. 

In November, our area was reclassed by the USDA from gardening zone 5b (minimum temperatures -15F to -10F, or -26.6 C to - 21.6 C) to 6a (minimum temperatures -10F to -5F or -23.3 C to - 20.6C)-.  Many parts of the country were similarly reclassed, with increases in minimum temperature of 3F (us) to 5F (Tampa, Florida, where I lived years ago).

A new gardening zone for a new year.

Maybe now I can try to grow camillas again.

But back to the trees.

Week before this we had flooding in low lying areas, and then the temperatures dropped below freezing.

This picture was taken in Otsiningo Park on December 20.

But there is one constant for December besides below freezing temperatures - decorated trees for the Christmas holiday.

These were taken at an annual event called Home for the Holidays that same day.

If you want to see a former mansion with decorated trees, you've come to the right place.  I didn't look to see if these were real trees - I doubt it, but if they aren't it's good, in a way, to know that living trees weren't sacrificed for a few days of beauty.  Of course, a lot of wood was used in the building of this mansion, as you can see.

Trees give us so much.

The window is beautiful, but oh those trees.

Thank you, trees, for all of this.

Joining Parul at Happiness and Food the last time in 2023 for her #ThursdayTreeLove.

Wasabi or Not

 Here are some pictures from our community garden plots on the last day of summer where I live in the Southern Tier of New York State.  Gardening is mostly done but here are some survivors in our two raised beds.

Rhubarb chard.

Carrots.

Broccoli and lettuce.  There are a couple of short sunflowers in back of the broccoli that are getting ready to bloom.  Hopefully, first frost doesn't come this week (it isn't supposed to).

Last of the Asian greens.

Tomatoes are dead but here are some still ripening cherry tomatoes.

And then there is the wasabi.

Or is it? (the pink flowers are the plant in question; the larger plants in the picture are zinnias).

Some explanation.

Wasabi is a member of the brassica family, which includes cauliflower, broccoli, kale, mustard, and horseradish.

It is also known as Japanese horseradish, and you should know that most of the wasabi served in the United States is not true wasabi.  True wasabi is hard to grow and it is expensive.

So when we saw "wasabi" plants for sale in an end of season clearance in a New York State nursery about an hour from us, we decided to buy a plant.  We put it into a raised bed near our zinnias.  This bed is in full sun.

Mid-summer the plant started to bloom.  We did some research (should we cut off the flower buds?) and from what we read, this may not be a wasabi plant.

The plant is still flowering and the seed pods growing (next to last photo above)  look like those of radishes.  I have only seen horseradish (common horseradish) leaves a couple of times and I'm not sure this is even horseradish.  Naturally I didn't take a picture of the leaves, but horseradish is supposed to have white flowers, not purple.

I have no idea what to do with this plant, which is thriving in the raised bed.I've not going to eat any of this plant unless I get a good ID, somehow.

Oh well-each gardening season has to have its mystery.

Lasts But Not Leasts

I saw these tomatoes my spouse had picked out of our community garden today and they looked so pretty in his black colander.  There was even a pepper in the mix.

 Included in this mix are several types of cherry tomatoes, including a black tomato (the ones that look purplish.

So I was inspired to take some pictures in our flower garden at home.  I found some lasts or near lasts that probably won't be around for September 15 (Garden Bloggers Bloom Day)

 

Cardinal flower - just a couple of little sprigs left.

Last hibiscus flower of the season.

One of the last of the reblooming yellow daylily.

And a surprise.  Our purple tall phlox is past its bloom but the other day I saw a differently colored one in almost full bloom.  A volunteer?  I hope this lasts until Friday.  It's so pretty.

Lasts in the garden always make me a little sad, especially knowing that fall is just about here.  One day in the near future, I'll look at these pictures and wonder "was there ever a growing season full of flowers?" as I scan the snow filled yard.

But not just yet.

Enjoy while we can!

The Autumn of Things

The growing season is over.

Sage with a hint of light frost

Yesterday morning, the frost kissed my flower garden and our community garden.   For some plants, it was a deadly kiss.

It was just cold enough to end the lives of our most tender plants - our tomatoes, impatiens, zinnias, and what was left of our basil.  

Asters still standing after yesterday morning's frost

Other plants that are just a tiny bit less sensitive - peppers, pineapple sage (not what is pictured above), my domesticated asters - made it through, although some bear the scars of the light frost.

Our plants that will take some frost - Swiss chard, Asian greens, geraniums, pansies - stood tall and proud.  For now. In our climate, the weather gets too cold for any of these to survive the winter outdoors.

It's time to switch my attention to two things:  which container plants will I save and try to overwinter, and what will I do about houseplants.

To everything, there is a season, and we humans are no different.

In some way, we are different from our plants.  In some ways, we are the same.

We are born, grow, flower.  Call this the spring and summer of our lives.

Then comes the autumn of our lives, if we are fortunate enough to make it that far (not all my friends/family have, and, I'm willing to bet, not all of yours have, either.)  One day, the human equivalent of frost will come to each of us.  For most of us, we don't know when or where.  We can't look at a calendar and say, oh, we are coming up on the frost or freeze date.

We do the best we can with the time we have remaining.

We plant the garden of our lives.  We learn new things.  We read new books.  We try new activities. 

For me, it's houseplants and trying to overwinter outdoor plants.  Why not?  In a way, they have become my children.

In the last two months I have purchased several new houseplants:  two ferns (a bit out of my comfort zone), a hoya (out of my comfort zone), another snake plant (I have three types now) and another pothos, this time one with silver in the leaves. 

Crispy wave fern (from Trader Joe's) and hoya Australis "Lisa"

It makes me happy (except, of course, when I kill one of them).

My spouse has turned to birding.  Why not?  I can enjoy that with him, although I'm not into it as much as he is.

We try to age with grace.  I have examples in my life, people I know or knew, who showed me what aging can be like if we do it right.  

What do those people have in common?  Several things: a zest for learning.  A desire to stay active, not to sit in front of the television all day.  A willingness to try new things.  And, taking care of someone and something.

The graceful part is the hard part, though.  I catch myself complaining too much.  I don't practice gratitude enough.

I do have that zest for learning, though.  I want to keep my mind active, to appreciate sunsets, to see new things. 

I hope I can keep that up for my remaining years.

The October Flowers and Color Parade

October's color display where I live continues.

Colors on the Vestal Rail Trail during our exercise walk today.

 A wooded area on the side of the trail.

A colorful stand of trees.

These flowers are past peak now - I took these next two pictures on October 8.

White asters.

 New England Asters.

This is probably going to be our last nice day for a few days.  Tomorrow it is supposed to turn colder with morning rain, and a low Monday night flirting with temperatures that will bring frost.  Maybe.  We've dodged frost advisories several times now. 

But we are having to make the decisions on which plants I will try to overwinter.  Already I have taken (and some are starting to grow roots in water) impatien cuttings.  The coleus cuttings aren't doing too well, though.  Tomorrow the geranium basket that was my Mother's Day gift will probably be brought in for several days.

Today, spouse harvested our lemon grass (not hardy here) and took cuttings we will overwinter.

And tomorrow, I will probably cut my final bouquet of the year.

Once again, a bittersweet time.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day May 2022

It's May, it's the 15th of the month, and it is spring/summer in my zone 5b garden in the Southern Tier of New York State.

Friday we reached 86F (30C) and yesterday we got up to 83F (28.3C) before things clouded over.  It's been warm and very dry, and a lot of my spring bulbs gave up blooming for the year, along with my cherry tree.  Today it is near 80 and we may get strong storms later today.  The rain is welcome.  The "strong storms" part (chance of tornadoes) isn't.

It was a bit disappointed because I had a number of spring flowers to show you, and they are gone.  But, nevertheless, there are a lot of blooms at my house - finally!  Winter is truly over.  As usual, the variety names are lost to me because I don't keep good records.

I only have a couple of these late pink and white tulips.

Ditto for these white tulips. 

 

Only a few late daffodils left.  These grow several flowers on a stem and have a scent.

 

Last of my late yellow - this may not last the day and is so faded you can barely see the yellow.

These are what the blooms on my wild cherry tree looked like on the 11th, alas.

The lilacs have come out.

 

Light purple. (We had another lilac, but it was destroyed in our late April snowstorm).  We planted this one several years ago.

White (we share this with our next door neighbor; part of it is on their side and part on ours).

Darker purple.  This came with the house, so it is over 30 years old.

In our shady back yard, a wood poppy purchased several years ago from Monticello (President Thomas Jefferson's home).

White bleeding heart.

Pink bleeding heart.  I don't think it's happy where it is and we may have to fix that.
 

Barrenwort.

Lungwort.

Variegated Solomon's Seal.

And that's it for today, although I have lots more, because I have to go now.  If this wasn't enough, why not go to the site of the woman who lovingly provides this monthly 15th of the month meme, Carol at May Dreams Gardens, and check out her blog and other blogs linking to GBBD today?

See you next time!