Friends In The Garden

When people talk about friends in the garden they rarely include the plants themselves. I consider that a huge omission because our human friends can come and go but our very lives depend on plants. Without them we would starve to death. In the previous blog there are pictures of the life sustaining garden produce. We are in an important way, the same as plants because we are both planetary life forms. Therefore we have a strong family connection. That said, in this entry we will meet some of this garden's star performers. First up we have three planetary life forms in a close communication.

                 Their names are Rhoda, Martha and Elvira.

To the right, we see a picture of Cerise. She is a performance artist. In the spring time she is covered with white flowers. All summer she goes green. In the fall she wears fall colors. In the winter she looks like a wonderful pen and ink sketch. Her performance turns the whole stairway into an Erte' drawing.  

 This is Happy Chappy. He is a tree rose that lives up to his name. This picture was taken in November so he isn't in full bloom like he is starting in April.   

Martha basking in a purple mist with Cineraria and Aquilegia.

This is BeBe Gazzara. I didn't make this up. When she moved in she said,"I'm BeBe Gazzara. If we're going to be friends there are some conditions that I want to make clear right now. Number 1, you are to bring me delicious food and clean water every ten days or sooner if I ask for it. Number 2, You are to make sure I'm always comfortable and not disturbed by trivial events. And number 3, stay off my case. I'll bloom when I damn well feel like it. Did you get all that?" I answered," OK, OK BeBe, I got it. Sheesh."

This is Penelope. She's a dependable friend. Every year she puts on a great show of color in the fall combined with delicious fruit. 

This is Electra. No need to explain how she got that name. 

This is Regi and Gina playing in the garden of lillies.

They wondered down a path on their own and got lost in a forest of giant Hydrangeas and Garlic. They couldn't find their way out.

They were finally rescued by their daddy, Roberto.

 This is Peaches LaTour and Plumella. They do a sister act. In the spring they're covered in blossoms. Then they put on green leaves and fruit. In mid-summer they have ripe red peaches and yellow plums. In the fall they wear yellow leaves. And they end their performance with a striptease. They start dropping their leaves one by one then faster and faster they let them all go. When these girls take it off they take it all off. BARRAM BUM.

And of course I have to talk about the wonderful friend the Genius Loci. She puts together arrangements I would never think of on my own like this planting of Acanthus with Japanese Anemonies that were placed by my door. She plants with me every year and I always look forward to learning from her. 

                                     HAPPY HOLIDAYS