A series of wild storms swept through our state last night, leaving in their wake damage, injuries, and lost lives. We were lucky; we didn't have damage and only lost power for 12 hours. One of the powerful cells angled just south of us.
Mother Nature is a conundrum; tempestuous, cruel and destructive one day and glowing with beauty the next. This is why I admire the cuteness of bees, aside from the fact that they are just darned cute. It's how I reconcile the fact that Nature could, if she chose, wreck my farm. It helps to admire bees and believe in the power of good luck.
Two other, smaller conundrums have been on my mind as well. Spring is a whirlwind of activity, both in nature and in the garden. There's barely enough time to keep up with the garden workload. If there's also enough time to snap pictures, there's no time to edit and upload them. If I actually stay up to work on the pictures, then I've got nothing to say. I need one of those Borg upgrades so that I'll always have a camera with me ~ I wouldn't even need to stop weeding while taking pictures ~ and then I could plug into an energy source to regenerate while simultaneously editing and writing the blog. That'll work right?
Eventually the blog will probably be more about my thoughts at the time illustrated with some pictures and less of a picture blog illustrating the garden's progress because 1) I'm a gardener, not a photographer and 2) the second option just takes up too much goshdarn time. I don't even know why I feel compelled to post so many pictures!
Then there's the Lamium conundrum. The bees love it. Me, not as much as they do. Especially when it gets tall and chokes the iris til they won't bloom and then it dies spectacularly. I don't let it choke the iris, but there's always so many bees around that I don't pull the rest of it. This puzzle that is easy to solve though. Clearly the bees need their own Lamium pasture that's not in the garden. I have plenty of space for such a bee nirvana.
Flowers help to soothe the mental stresses that come with wrestling with a conundrum!
Toothwort
Eastern Columbine
Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana)
Woodland phlox along the sidewalk at dusk
I hope you are having a good weekend and that all you received from the storms was a soaking rain.
A most WONDERFUL soaking rain indeed. It's a great day for planting finally. No damage here but boy can Mother Nature be destructive. Glad you didn't suffer any either. Ha on the blog thing-it does take up so much time I do like that idea of having it channel directly.
ReplyDeleteYour Azalea is stunning! Glad it wasn't destroyed by the storm.
ReplyDeleteOczywiście, że ogrodnik to nie fotograf, ale to co pokaże zdjęcie kwiatów, nigdy słowami nie opiszesz.A zdjęcia kwiatów masz bardzo ładne. Pozdrawiam
ReplyDeleteDespite not being a photographer..you sure do take lovely pictures! I've never seen an eastern columbine..beautiful! Hope you get some rest after lot's of work in the garden. We're all there right now :)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, how on earth can you say your 'are not a photographer'. That's a bunch of hogwash. :-) Your pictures are wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI do know what you mean though about all the time it takes to edit pictures, then post them on our blogs.
I do wish we would get some much needed rain. We were supposed to get a shower today, but so far there's been zip, nada.
Hope you have a great week and I'm so glad your farm was spared.
Hugs ~ FlowerLady ~ a huge admirer of your lovely bit of paradise.
Glad your storm event was minor compared to much of NC. Daughter in RoRap had a tornado touch down a block away---everyone in her house was clueless.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to your plans and the evolution of the blog.
ps- my mystery tree from the fall is indeed an Ilex decidua--alas it is a male. Haven't found a female plant anywhere. May have to buy one.
So glad to hear that the worst of the storms missed you. We were very fortunate also. We had a lot of wind and rain, but no damage. We even kept our power the whole time. At least this rain is great for our gardens. Carla
ReplyDeleteSweetBay,
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it ok with the storms. After watching some sky videos of the damage. I used to think hurricanes were bad, bearing down on you for hours. Fran destroyed my last place while I was in it. These tornadoes hit swift and then they are gone. Both bad news.
Thanks for the these photos, I know exactly what your saying. My last post took a long time to edit the photos when I could have been in the garden. Blue Star, hmm where is the one in our garden, that weed bed not cleaned out yet.
I'm glad its not just me who doesn't have to post about all everything I would like. You are so right about editing and uploading the photos too, I write posts in my head as I garden but most never get to the page. We had terrible winds last week too, so strange that often I read about some terrible weather far away and then it happens here too. Your photos were worth the effort, thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were okay in that weather - up here in CT it was only a lot of rain and wind - love the idea of a lamium pasture, but then I like lamium, esp White Nancy. Those columbine pix are fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI've just been watching a news item about your severe weather. I can't imagine the horror of a severe tornado, glad to hear you only had heavy rain.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear that you didn't get any damage from the storms, Sweetbay. Mother Nature can be fickle indeed, and my heart goes out to those affected every time there is some natural disaster like this.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of a camera attached to you that automatically downloads into a blog:) I always find it ironic that in late spring there is so much to blog about, but so little time to do it with everything waiting attention in the garden. Enjoy all your spring beauties!
So many conundrums, and it's all about balancing all the competing tasks and demands and plants and priorities. I'm so glad the terrible storms missed you for the most part, although the news for others in their direct path was terrible.
ReplyDeleteThe pink azalea is enough to make me stop in my tracks and ignore all conundrums!
I'm glad to hear that you didn't have any serious weather. Your plants are looking great.
ReplyDeleteGlad you survived the storm, we also had some nasty winds last week. Blogging this time of year takes a back burner for me, so much more pleasure in the gardens!
ReplyDeleteSweetbay, What a mess these weather events are~and what a tragic effect they've had on so many. I was terribly concerned and glad to hear you were safe.
ReplyDeleteI know your conundrum well~I am first a gardener, then all the rest follows. It's quite amazing how much time it takes to photograph, upload, watermark and edit and then post them! It's ironic, as Rose said, it's Spring; we have the most going on and the least time to share it.
I wish you were attending Spring Fling, it's the best time to hang out w/ other gardeners and talk plants. Maybe we need a Southeastern regional get together.
gail
ps Your photos are splendid~Really lovely and I enjoy the heck out them.
Go ahead and clone yourself, it would be double fun to have 2 of you. But, Borg-ifying yourself? Please no! Remember how that ended up for Picard?
ReplyDeleteAll joking aside, I actually popped over to see how you were - what with those scary storms on the news. I'm glad to hear that everything is okay. It is hard to balance blogging with spring chores but the real world should always be #1.
I"m glad to hear you didn't have any damage from the storms in your area.
ReplyDeleteYour flowers are looking lovely. Somehow you still managed to take some great photos.
Sweetbay, I'm so happy to hear you escaped any damage from that horrible weather. What a tragedy for many though. It must've been terrifying for them.
ReplyDeleteWe did get some soaking rains, plus very strong, cold winds. Warm sunshine will be very welcome when it finds us again.
Ah yes, the conundrum of balancing the garden work with the desire to share all the beauty that nature provides. Your photos are as beautiful as your garden, and I appreciate so much that you share them and your love of nature with us.
The intricacies of the columbine flower are amazing, aren't they? Not to mention the azaleas...so beautiful.
I'm anxious to add amsonia and woodland phlox to my garden. The colors and shapes are truly lovely.
I hope you'll find time to post at least a few photos during the busy season. Meanwhile, enjoy the garden and try not to wrestle too much with the conundrums :)
I hear you on the photos taking a lot of time! They are so beautiful to look at tho. I always enjoy yours but I am understanding how blogging has to evolve too. I keep saying I need an assistant!! Glad you survived the storms unscathed. Hope it stays that way ~ the weather is so unsettled right now.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear that you are turning away from photography - I have always enjoyed your pictures... I think for me it is the other way around - I will always post pictures because I enjoy photography, and write commentary for them. I think either way could be interesting and enlightening.
ReplyDeleteMasha I think that is true, that either way can be interesting and enlightening. I do not want to turn away from photography, as good pictures to me are key to a good blog, but I need to change my method. I should do a post on this! lol
ReplyDeleteDear Sweetbay, I had no idea the tornados were near you. So glad you were spared.
ReplyDeleteI do think you are a wonderful photographer. Your photos are always so beautiful. Of course the garden came first and is the most important. It is time consuming to blog . . . period. I love your Borg comparison! ;>)) Someone once said that nature is just doing her thing but people seem to always get in the way. Plants and wildlife too I would say. At least there is pretty good warning before a hurricane. Tornados are so frightening. Good luck balancing everything.