sparklythings

“If there can be such a thing as instinctual memory, the consciousness of land and water must lie deeper in the core of us than any knowledge of our fellow beings. We were bred of the earth before we were born of our mothers. Once born, we can live without our mothers or our fathers or any other kin or friend, or even human love. We cannot live without the earth or apart from it, and something is shriveled in man’s heart when he turns away from it and concerns himself only with the affairs of men.” --Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, “Cross Creek”

Well, maybe it’s not too late after all. I just put a bunch of okra seed in the ground, concluding a two day operation that transformed a weedy, mulchy side flowerbed into a late summer garden. Jim took me to Standard Feed, which is on Kings Road not too far from Edward Waters College and around the way from the Farmer’s Market (which we also went to!) It’s a delightful store that you can tell has been there FOREVER and a day; there are older folks running it who seem to know everything about everything. I just love that.

Jim was in the market for grass seed, as he has become Mr. Yard Man. I wandered around their “Seedeteria” and gazed longingly at the okra seeds – they were one of the few seeds left, being that it’s so late in the year. Jim then came across Standard’s planting calendar, which is EXACTLY what I needed. There’s so many guides online, but none of them were truly local, and like I said these guys seemed to be the experts. When I saw that okra was still plantable in July, I ran back and grabbed my seeds. And now they’re planted, and within two months i’ll have fried okra. I don’t have any pictures, but if you can imagine a line of dirt on the side of my house, you’re set.

I do have pictures of some of some new flowers:

I have wanted that container for years and years – literally. It was at Big Lots of all places, yet it was still slightly more than I wanted to pay for a container when I had so many of them already at the apartment. Well, another celebration of homeownership: I got the last one. I really like the contrast of the peach-y begonias and the aqua pot. It reminds me of the local K-Mart back in the early 80’s – which was a holdover from the 60’s, I guess. In any case, the flowers and I are struggling to understand each other (I think I may be overwatering) but I think we’ll be okay. They were dirt cheap at the Farmer’s Market, up near the front!

After Standard Feed and the Farmer’s Market, Jim took me down the Westside to Hall’s Nursery. He and his mom used to go there when he was a kid, and he’s been threatening to take me for a long time. I was pretty good and didn’t go nuts, but couldn’t resist this Cherries Jubilee allamanda. I was very familiar with it, having long admired it at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. It’s located after the giraffe exhibit and just before the Jaguar exhibit. I told Jim for years, “When we get a house, we’re getting one of these. It’s beautiful!” I had no idea where or how I was going to get one, I just knew I loved it. And there it was, sitting pretty at Hall’s Nursery.

The employee that helped us seemed reluctant to let it go; he was the kind of guy who really, really liked his job, and that was nice to see. Well, he was referring to the allamanda as “she” and “her” which was a bit creepy, but we reassured him that she was going to a good home where she’d be valued and cared for. I’m trying her out in some different areas before I plant her, as the one at the Zoo got really, really big.

Oh geez, now i’m doing it too.

I was bemoaning the lack of growth of my peppermint patch – everything I read talked about how evil peppermint is, how it grows fast and can be invasive. After I took the picture, though, I noticed three different runners that have popped up in different directions about a foot away from the main plant. I guess it’s testing out the area first…

I love those vintage colored aluminum pitchers, and I adore the look of a big bushy plant coming out of the top. This is a thyme plant from the grocery store. Jim needed fresh thyme for a recipe and they were out of the pre-cut variety…so he just bought the plant instead. Works for me!

This isn’t really new…I bought the bathtub planter from one of those mail-order places that my grandma used to frequent. You know, where you can buy a shower curtain in $5 monthly payments? Anyway, I don’t know why but I thought it was cute, and I wanted something bubbly to go in it. The “String of Pearls” couldn’t have been more perfect. It’s a succulent and I get comments on it every time somebody sees it. The picture doesn’t show but the pearls hang all the way down the side to the ground! Currently Shakespeare is soaking in it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 7:03 am and is filed under gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.