Digging RI

Here’s a post from my good friend, HerbDoc, who is always up to interesting things in her garden. Welcome back, HD!

It seems that every year, a container calls me to be planted. In very cold April, it was this cute little vine and moss teapot that beckoned. I envisioned it perched in the middle of my glass table on the deck where it now stands surrounded by other plants waiting patiently to be put in the ground. Eventually it will stand alone!

It is as much fun to decide what should be planted in a container as it is finding the right one.  I love the organic, non-GMO “Freckles” green romaine, which is a bright green splashed with crimson markings. It has upright growth, is crisp in texture, and is very heat tolerant. Set it off with a sprinkle of yellow pansies and variegated thyme, and it’s an ode to spring. When the romaine goes by, I’ll replace it with various tea herbs for snipping all summer.

If you find a container like this one and wish to plant it, I’d add a soft plastic bag to the interior to hold the soil, so it will last more than one season. Maybe I tend to be pennywise, but these containers can be pricey, and will easily be destroyed if they get too wet!

This is the kind of scene I encounter on my way to work. Sure beats sitting in freeway traffic. This is Meadowbrook Pond in Richmond, RI, one of many peaceful and lovely spots in the largely unknown southwestern part of the state. There is much more to Rhode Island than beaches and the mansions in Newport.

I always enjoy the constantly changing, creative displays when I stop in at the Back in Thyme restaurant in Hopkinton. This isn’t really a sit- down place, but I usually grab a bite at the one table, and gaze at the quirky and fun decorations, all created by the owner, who is also a professional gardener.

She integrates the organic with the whimsical in such interesting ways, using lots of plants, both living and dried.

See what I mean? She is just as creative with her food, and I am completely addicted to the  tea she makes from herbs she grows and picks herself. There’s lots of fresh ginger in it. Below is another strangely attractive creation. The leaf is a nice touch. This woman is an artist who notices and appreciates the beauty in little things.

If you ever visit RI, consider venturing into the interior, where many pleasant surprises await. The state is so small, it’s an easy and pretty drive from the coast.

Happy Memorial Day America. To those who serve our country, and those who have served, Thank You.

These are the flowers on my comfrey plant, which is opening now. I bought it last year, and it shrugged off the nasty winter without any problems. I recommend this plant for several reasons. Pollinators love it, it is a medium-sized plant that adds a nice blue color to my perennial border, and although I will never explore its medicinal properties, it also has a ton of those. According to my cursory research, comfrey tea can be used to treat everything from digestive upsets to cancer. It can also help treat skin problems and even fractures.

Here it is, growing next to my very red azalea. You can see it is not at all diminutive or retiring. This plant can hold its own.

Here’s another view of it. It’s more impressive when the flowers are completely open.

I

On a less positive note, this photo, taken through a window with my phone, depicts the quick and tragic end of my snap pea crop. We thought that maybe this year the rabbits would somehow overlook them, but no. They simply waited until they were about six inches tall, hopped over the fence, and devoured them. Then this big, plump lagomorph, (looks like a doe to me) stuffed with tender shoots, had a nice rest IN the bed. Where are those foxes that kept the rabbits in check? This is what happens when the predators go away.

I cannot conclude this post without saying, once again, for the record, that the new Mac photo application is without a doubt one of the most annoying I have ever had to use. I am still trying to figure out how to label my photos, and even the editing has been made more confusing and inefficient.

Why, why, why did they do this? To see how far they could push their customers before they went running back to the welcoming arms of Microsoft? Did they have some down time on a rainy afternoon, and someone suggested they screw around with iPhoto just to see what would happen? Did someone slip something into the Red Bull that day? And did they decide NOT to warn their users before springing this travesty on us because they wanted to watch us suffer? I guess we will never know.

It was a rough winter here in Rhode Island on many levels. I had an injury that kept me from skiing and hiking for a couple of months. I tried to be mature about it, but I really missed my time outdoors and I did get grumpy for a while.

I’ve been getting back out recently, just in time for spring to spring, if you know what I mean. On this trail, it looks like it’s going to be another awesome year for Lady Slipper orchids. These cypripediums grow in the most unlikely places; in tiny soil pockets on rocks, and sometimes right in the middle of trails. But try growing them in your garden if they aren’t there already and you’ll see how demanding these orchids can be. Perhaps it’s better to leave them in the woods and just enjoy them there. (Of course, no plants should ever be collected in the wild…)

The woods are greening up in that special tender shade that only happens in the spring.

Every time we go out, something else is budding, blooming or leafing…like this pine putting out some impressive candles.

For those hikers with thick fur coats, spring is also a time to slip quietly into a secret pool.

Rhode Island is an underrated hiking paradise. In every season.

This is the extensive collection of solar motion figures that resides in a post office somewhere in the boonies of RI. I think it is stunning, in a cute and whimsical way.

Here’s a tighter shot of some of them. I am partial to the elephant. His ears flap.

If this post looks a little strange, it’s because I used my iPhone to write it. My Mac is down and I will now have to grit my teeth and bring it to the skinny jean- wearing hipsters at the Genius Bar to see whether it can be saved.

Please bear with me.

Photo: Hestemoj

We gardeners are well aware of the value of manure in enriching the soil. But did you know that there is a festival entirely dedicated to poop? Yes siree, it’s the North American Manure Expo, which takes place in Chambersberg, PA on July 15.

Despite my immature smirking, manure is very serious business, because in addition to boosting soil nutrients, it can also be a major threat to waterways by overloading them with nutrients and producing what are known as “dead zones.”

The show brings together government, scientists, intensive livestock producers, manure applicators and the companies that manufacture the equipment used to store it, stir it, and spread it all around.

OK let’s get back to the smirking. This festival does not take itself too seriously, thank goodness. In fact, organizers are holding a contest, open to the public, to choose a slogan for this year’s expo. Among the entries submitted so far:

• Manure Expo: where nobody stands behind their product
• You provide the creek, we provide the paddle
• We do doo. Do you?

The contest closes on May 15.

There’s a lot going on in the world of manure. With so much of it to deal with, the agriculture industry is always looking for new ways to use it productively and dispose of it safely. The show will feature demonstrations of new pumps, recycling methods, and technology to remove nutrients such as phosphorus that causes algae blooms in fresh water.

The first Manure Expo was held in Wisconsin in 2001, and it seems to have gotten bigger every year. If I were in the Chambersberg area, I would go.

How about these women, with their arms full o’ shih tzus? I have never been into breeding or showing dogs, but I do take in the occasional dog show if it’s nearby. Just for the canine eye candy.

This weekend, I went to the South County Kennel Club’s American Kennel Club -sanctioned show in Richmond RI. And yes, I was interested in the corgis, because I have one. This isn’t a large show, but it is still serious for the breeders, whose dogs earn AKC points which add up to championships. I strolled around, searching for corgi breeders until I found Diane of Sandwynn Corgis in NH. Feast your eyes on “Big Papi,” being made as perfect as possible before he entered the ring.

Here’s a frontal view. Papi did well in the ring, coming away with several ribbons and lots of points. He is 1 1/2 years old, and really gets off on all the attention.

Then we have little 10-month-old Jazzy, from the same kennel, who was entered as a puppy. What a sweetheart, with kisses for everyone. Here she is waiting to go into the ring.

The Cardigan Welsh corgis went in first, and there were just a couple of them. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Cardigans, they  are a completely different breed than Pembrokes. “Cardis,” as they are known, are descended from dachshunds, they have tails, and they are seen in different coats like brindle and blue merle. They’re bigger, too.

“Buba” from MA liked to de-stress by sitting up.

And this is the lovely “Lark” from VT doing her thing in the ring.

Here are some of the Pembrokes and their handlers, waiting for the judge’s decision.

Papi and Jazzy did well today, and their breeder went home happy. Here’s how they travel in the van. The dog on the left is 13-year-old Brigitte, who is retired from the show ring but still comes along, just to take it all in.

I am not a big begonia fan, but I have had this one, Begonia ‘Richardsiana’ growing in my kitchen for about a year. Not only is this an easy houseplant to grow (mine is in a northeast facing window) but check out those cutleaf maple-type leaves and the bulbous trunk, or caudex, which looks very bonsai-like.

This plant, a semi-tuberous begonia native to South Africa, is almost always in bloom. I grow it on the kitchen table so I can enjoy its strangeness.  I keep it pinched back to maintain its  shape.

I bought this one at Logee’s for less than $20. The plant was in an attractive but totally useless bonsai pot. I had to re-pot it after just a few weeks, because it was drying out so fast.

Let me begin on a positive note, by thanking fellow blogger Laurie Eno of The Daily Corgi for cross posting my last entry about my corgi’s shedding. I had a HUGE spike in readership, all thanks to her. Please take a minute to check out her well-written, funny and informative blog.

Annoyance #1: This post was a long time in the writing, all because I was a good little Mac user and obediently downloaded the latest update. When I went to upload photos, iPhoto was gone and in its place, a completely different platform called “photos.”

It would be nice if Apple warned its users of these sorts of changes BEFORE they downloaded updates. At the very least, they could have warned me that I would have to change the way I store, sort and post photos. But they do not give a shit, so they didn’t, and I am still trying to figure out how everything works.

Annoyance#2: Ugly lawn ornaments are appearing everywhere, all made in China and designed to eclipse any natural feature with their gaudy colors and kitschy messages.

Here’s another sample:

Annoyance #3: Poisonous chemicals like this, which are mass marketed to people who are too lazy to dig out their weeds. A veritable plague.

Thanks. I needed to get that off my chest.

She looks innocent enough, but, like all corgis, at this time of year, Fidgit  goes through a shed of gargantuan proportions.

Corgis have very thick double coats, designed to repel mud and water when the dogs are gainfully employed doing what they were originally bred to do: herd cattle. This design is an absolute marvel in many ways. It is a great insulator, and it sheds dry mud and grit on its own.

BUT, in late March and early April, and, to a lesser extent in the fall, this marvelous coat renews itself and the old hair falls out.

This is what I live with at this time of year. I get so accustomed to having hair in everything that I sometimes arrive at work and suddenly notice that my clothes are covered with it. It is extremely inadvisable to shave or clip corgis, because their coats, which, after all, are that way for a reason, never grow back the same.

So, I brush. Behold the result of just a couple of minutes’ work. And believe it or not, it could be worse! For those readers unfamiliar with the corgi breed, some of these dogs are born with extra-fluffy coats and are called, appropriately, fluffs. The extra-fluffy coat (which makes for a corgi of extreme cuteness) is considered a fault, so those corgis go to pet homes and are not seen in the show ring. I cannot imagine what their shedding seasons are like.

Of course, I would never let this wonderful, soft material go to waste, so I put it out for the birds, which are building nests now. I like to think of all the little nests in my neighborhood, lined with Fidgit’s hair.

Happy Easter, my friends.