Entries to Win Afghan

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Friday, July 18, 2025

Poor Little Mouse Ears


My little 'Mouse Ears' hosta hasn't been looking very happy. I have decided it wants deeper shade. The place where I put it gets sun for a few hours a day which may be too much. Lots of yellowing leaves.
sad mouse ears hosta


This is kind of a surprise, since there are two hostas very close by, but different varieties tolerate sun differently.

You may remember that I got this for free last fall because it had only two sad little leaves. But the root was fine, and here's what it looked like in May with its brightly-colored hosta friends.

grouping of hosta

Two weeks ago, it was even getting ready to bloom- nice fat buds. Then something bit those off, despite the fencing.
mouse ear hosta buds


Today, I went by the markdown plant rack and found another plant that is the right height and size for that space. It's a 'Blue Chip' Campanula. I've killed a couple of these in the rock garden (long in the past). The rock garden has way too much sun for this plant, but I think the dappled sun where the 'Mouse Ears' was should be perfect. It's not the best looking right now, but that's why I got it for only $3. It will stay low like this and contrasts pretty well with the nearby plants.
blue chip campanula


And the 'Mouse Ears?' I moved it into deeper shade, but it probably won't look nice any more this year. I think this variety doesn't do well with stress. When I got it last fall those two leaves fell right off, and all the yellowed ones now just came off when I moved it. I'm also not as happy with where I put it- it isn't showcased as nicely. But for now it will do.
mouse ears hosta


I worked on things all day, although it seems like I should have been able to get more done. O well. I edited, I did computer stuff, I shopped for groceries and worked in the gardens some. Maybe I can get outside a little more yet this evening. I'm very close to finishing a weed-through of the rock garden.

See Foliage and More

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Those Shifty Sempervivum


Today, I'm going to demostrate how changeable in color the Sempervivum can be.

We'll start with the variety 'Black.' I've talked about this one quite a bit, and was rather disgruntled that it wasn't anything approaching black all last year. However, after overwintering, it was very dark in the spring. You might remember that I was pleased to pair it with the pink Lewisia.
sempervivum black


However, here's what it looks like now, in July. So I clearly made a good choice to pair it with something contrasting that blooms in spring.
sempervivum black


Here's what it looked like when I bought it.

sempervivum black

Now lets switch to the other end of the color spectrum. This one is called 'Gold Nugget.' Here's what the plant tag suggests it's going to look like.
sempervivum gold nugget plant tag


I bought one last year, and another this year. Here's the one that overwintered. It was light maroon up until a couple of weeks ago, but now it seems to be lightening and brightening a bit. Still, not as gold as I had hoped. Or maybe it will be in August-September. We'll watch and see.
sempervivum gold nugget


Here's the one I bought this year. They are very pale yellow-green when purchased. This has been in the ground for two months and is a bit more green than it started. I've decided you can't forn an opinion about colors until they've overwintered outside.
sempervivum gold nugget


The 'Gold Nugget' was purchased in response to dissatisfaction with 'Gold Rush' which was also supposed to be golden in color, but hasn't quite lived up to the description. You can see that 'Gold Rush' is going to bloom, but it only has hints of gold in the leaves.
sempervivum gold rush


By contrast, it was very golden last year in August, so we'll see what happens this year.

sempervivum gold rush

But the point is, they aren't very consistent in the coloration, so if that is important to me (and it is), I need to understand what it looks like at various times of the season.

Those are the most variable ones I have. 'Ruby Heart' was disappointing- not very red. 'Red Heart' is a nice bright maroon all the time, so there's a lesson learned. The 'Red Heart' multiplies quickly, so I can get some other patches started.

We got a half inch of rain last night! And it was cool and breezy all day. Wonderful for weeding. I got a lot done. I'm close to having a full rock garden report.

Also did my editing and some computer work. Played piano a few minutes. I'm currently not feeling obsessed with the music, but I'm sure that will happen at some point. Probably when I find the box of music I want.

One of the flickers came and just sat on the deck for about 20 minutes today. I have no idea why. The baby rabbit was in the rock garden again. Sneaky little bugger.

See Semper Vi

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

35 Years Since...


Well, it hasn't been 35 years since I've seen Annabelle and Sophie, although it has been a little long.
woman with two dogs on her lap


And it hasn't been 35 years since I've seen Sue, or even since I heard her play a piano.
woman playing piano


And it hasn't been 35 years since I've seen this Kathy. What are we doing?
loading piano


Can you guess? I now have a piano again. (it was FREE- can you believe it? PTL) And it's been 35 years since that was true. You know I'm horribly out of practice, but I played a few pieces that were in the piano bench (badly). I have two cartons full of piano music, plus about 15 hymnals and uncounted chorus books. I'll need to get some of that out. Yeah! More mess.
piano


It was a fairly major project to clear out a space where the piano could live and I need to find better homes for some of the stuff that was in that space. Sue and Kathy came to help move it. That was really a major project, but we did it! Took most of the afternoon.

We also had ice cream, but I didn't realize the SD card wasn't in my camera, so no picture of that.

The morning had the usual computer tasks. Another really hot one today. We are supposed to get some serious rain tonight. I hope that's real or I'll have to water the flowerbeds tomorrow.

See Got Out to One Place

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Lily Lane


The day lilies are in full glory. Every variety I have is in bloom, although not all are in this line. This is looking down the driveway, and can give you an inkling of what I think that strip could look like.

I think this is the first time ever they've all been blooming in the same year. A couple of years, the deer cleared all the buds.
day lilies in beds by a driveway


The far left one is 'Young Love.' The yellow color is too golden (which you can really see in the group photo), but it's basically the maroon/yellow combo.
young love day lily


Next down is the big clump of Lemon Lilies. These are always the most robust, and the color is perfect.
clump of lemon lilies


And my newest one, 'Monterey Jack.' (Although I think it looks more like Muenster.) This one has just the right colors. You can compare with the other blooms and see that this one has been developed for the three petals to be larger than the sepals. I was wondering if I was really happy I bought it (but how could I go wrong at $3 eh?), but now that I see it with the others, I like it.
montery jack day lily


Now for the dark ones. The lighting was different when I took these pictures, so I can't definitively say which one is darker. This is 'Revolution.' This patch is in the front flower bed. There is a small clump along the driveway, but it didn't bloom this year.
revolution day lily


And the old-fashioned one, 'Black Falcon.' I literally dug this out of a ditch some time in the past. But it suffers badly if it gets crowded by grass. So, that gives 'Revolution' an extra point since it spreads much more easily. Do you have a preference? I thought maybe seeing the pictures together would help me choose one, but they really are very similar.
black falcon day lily


And finally, no day lily display would be complete without "Ditch Lilies." These are the common variety Hemerocallis fulva although mine have all degenerated/evolved (not sure which is correct) to the double version. These are not my favorite, but I wouldn't mind if they would grow along the driveway farther down. They are all non-native, and the orange ones are considered invasive. They are just coming up in our edges, wherever.
double orange day lily


In other news. Hmmm. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires was so strong last night it was giving me a sore throat. I kept fitfully waking up with bad dreams. Finally got some real sleep after 4 am and slept late. It was SO hot today that I just wasn't going to do any weeding. I did finish mowing the final space of lawn. It's dry enough now that it won't grow back very quickly. Spent most of the time inside, and a lot of that planning the next trip in my future. Stay tuned.

Also, tomorrow will have a nice event, ending a 35-year hiatus in my life!

See Yellow and Maroon

Monday, July 14, 2025

Fencing: Good, Bad, Philosophy


Good: the nylon mesh fencing keeps most of the critters out of my flower beds.

Bad:
#1- I keep tripping on it myself, but have only done one acrobatic fall down the rock garden as a result (one bruise).

#2- It doesn't keep all the animals out. Something grazed its way through the front flower bed two days ago eating half the painted fern and several hostas, including the 'Mouse Ears' that was going to bloom. I suspect a woodchuck found my little opening that allows me access. There is a chipmunk that goes in and out all the time, but it hasn't eaten stuff yet.

#3- Sometimes it catches wildlife that I only wish to deter, not harm. Last week, a 13-lined ground squirrel was caught in it. It was still alive, and I freed it by wrapping it in a towel so I wouldn't get bitten. It "thanked" me by running right back under the fence into the rock garden.

#3 part two- Today, another blue racer (see link below from last year) tried to get through the fence around the front bed. This one was much more unhappy than last year's. It was smaller and feisty. I did get bitten for my troubles before I managed to catch hold of it and snip the nylon.

Doesn't it just look annoyed? Of course this is anthropomorphizing.
blue racer snake


It roughed itself up quite a bit, but no blood, so I think it will be OK.
roughed up blue racer scales


Philosophy: I don't talk about my faith much on this blog, but this opportunity is too good to pass up.

Yes, the snake bit me before I got hold of it (no big deal- no venom, I cleaned it up afterwards). Snakes have good eyesight, and may even see some colors. They smell with their tongues. You have to wonder what I smelled like to it. It probably had never encountered a human that close before.

To me, it smelled like a stressed snake. We used to have pet snakes, and they have a distinctive odor when they are frightened or overheated (this one was probably both).

It certainly saw me as large and threatening as I repeatedly tried to grab it. It couldn't possibly understand that I wanted to help it. Yes, I know there have been stories of sea mammals and other woodland creatures seeking out help from a human, but I doubt that a reptile that isn't a pet could possibly conceive of this scenario.

It knew it was in trouble. It had tried to get through the netting and had, of course, only gotten more tangled. But it did not see me as the solution to the problem. It had only limited understanding of the kind of being I was (warm blooded, but too large to eat- beyond that, who knows?)

From its perspective, this large thing grabbed its neck and prevented it from doing what it wanted to, pressed something cold (but smooth) into the places where it was hurting (which did then stop hurting), lifted it off the safe ground, TALKED to it- what on earth did those noises mean?, and (gently) threw it far away from where it had been trying to go. None of these things could have been processed by a snake as part of its daily survival goals.

Seems like this is a lot like how we sometimes react to God's intervention in our lives. We can't perceive God in any but the foggiest of ways. We don't like it when our attention is diverted from what we think the problem is. We can't understand much of anything God might try to actually say to us. We are livid when our personal plans and goals are altered unexpectedly.

Maybe, just maybe, there is a Being on a level much higher than our own who wants to extricate us from entanglements we can't understand, but we only get frightened and angry when we are "saved" from a danger we weren't fully aware of and sent on a different path.

OK, enough of that. But perhaps you see my point. I did a lot of computer work and editing with some outside tasks. But then it got pretty hot, so I came back to the computer.

See A Welcome Visitor

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Three Nice Sedums


Two of these I can positively ID. The other one, maybe not.

The first one was given to me by Betsy. I have two clumps of it now, and it will get about twice this tall before it blooms. This is a Sedum hybrid 'Thundercloud.' I had not noticed before this year that at this stage, the leaves have red edges. Classy! This stays compact and grows where I want it to. Excellent rock garden plant. It is flanked on the left by Sempervivum 'Red Heart,' which stays pretty consistently deep red. Of course, in the picture I see that I missed pulling a stalk of grass there. Sigh.
sedum thundercloud


Next up is one I bought in 2023. It spreads slowly, but it's really wonderful. I bought a second one this year, but it's straggly yet, so I'll just show you this one. This is Sedum takisimense 'Atlantis.' I put it on the blog fairly often, but it has a lot of seasonal differences, so there's always something to see. It's just starting to bloom. You can see one yellow flower head opening.
sedum atlantis


So you can see how much it has filled in, here it is when I bought it two years ago. There are many sedums that spread faster, but this is worth waiting for. sedum atlantis

Finally for today, here is the one I'm not sure of. I was thinking it was a Sedum hispanicum. I have 'Blue Carpet' and 'Pinkie.' But here's the deal. They drop balls and spread all over the place. That's fine. They fill in cracks between rocks. Both were just finishing blooming when I got home, so they aren't looking their best right now. And this is pre-bloom, also making me think it isn't one of those, in addition to the lighter green color. The others are blueish and blueish-pink.

The other choice for this is Sedum pallidum, sometimes called 'Turkish Sedum.' I also got that one from Betsy. My records say this is nowhere near where I planted it. However, these small carpet-type sedums just move themselves around very easily. At any rate, it's looking quite wonderful filling in the space between these two rocks.
Turkish sedum


I got back on track today and worked diligently on a number of my projects including editing. More rock garden weeding. It's beginning to look better. I'm enjoying time alone.

See Thyme Time

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Thyme Time


I'm very happy to say that two kinds of thyme I bought are doing great. Neither one of them looked very happy this spring, but they are certainly healthy now. I'm pretty sure both are larger than last year.

This one is 'Sparkling Bright.' It's blooming with a very light purple flower if you can tell.
sparkling bright thyme


I split off a little piece to transplant last year. It's very tiny, but still alive.

The other one is 'Archer's Gold.' It always looks sunny and bright.
archers gold thyme


I got a patch of common creeping thyme for free way back when I was just starting this rock garden. I mostly missed its blooming this year, but it's pretty for its brief flowering time. Mostly, you have to rip it out or it takes over, but it's easy to rip.

creeping thyme

I used to have a wooly thyme that I liked. It was softly hairy and a blueish-green. It was also pretty invasive, and I'm surprised none survived the long period of neglect. Apparently I have no pictures of it. Phooey. I'll just have to get more, right?

Today turned out to be a rest day. It would have been a great day to work in the gardens, or any number of other tasks. There was an NCT Chapter hike this morning, and I forgot all about it. I must be brain dead. I worked on a couple of projects, but not with any discipline. I just puttered. I think I needed that.

See More Plants

Friday, July 11, 2025

Turning Tracks into Maps

 Today, Bill and I spent all day with Matt Rowbotham, starting to get the data we collected turned into trail. Matt set up a big screen in his garage, so we could all see what was going on. For a lot of the day, Will Brazill, the new NY-VT Regional Trail Coordinator also participated by Zoom.
people with computers and a large screen in a garage


Matt took all our tracks from the three sources: Avenza, OnX, and an Apple Watch and imported them into the software that NCTA uses to generate the Avenza maps. This shows about 0.2 mile of trail. The orange line is the Avenza track that Bill took. The line of fat purple dots is from Bill's Apple watch. The thin purple line in between is what I took with OnX. Now... the current line on the NCT Avenza maps is the red dotted line way off to the right. This is the kind of thing our data is going to be able to correct. The light green dashed line is where Matt chose to average the data from our three tracks. (I'm not sure what the darker green dashed line is.) Note that speech to text put in "punching" for "puncheon." But we know what it means.
gis tracks


Here's an example where our three tracks were in close proximity. And yet, the spacing between the two outside lines is about 20 feet. This happens because of many possible reasons. The apps need to communicate with four satellites to collet a point. The different apps may not choose the same four satellites. The apps may collect a point after a certain time interval, or after a certain distance which can affect accuracty. And, although civilians are allowed to have access to quite accurate data now, these low cost apps don't have the capability to get super accurate. Thus, the value of having multiple tracks. You can see where Matt is placing the "official" line (light green). He's pretty much going up the middle, but if two tracks are close together he gives them more weight.
gis tracks


Here's another reason to have three tracks. Every once in a while one of our devices would seem to go haywire. This shows my purple track way off the trail and acting berserk (I was not over there wandering around). Each device took a turn or two doing this. We really don't know why. But it still left two tracks to average.
gis tracks


We got 87 miles of trail in the NCTA software today. That is a huge number for a single day. Matt still has some additional work to do, but he's hopeful these miles will be in the fall update.

The structure inventory data got sorted a little better, and we have a plan for what to do with it next.

Long day. 3 hours driving, 8.5 hours sitting at the picnic table. So very worth it, but I'm going to go get off my butt now.

See What We Did in the Adirondacks

Thursday, July 10, 2025

More Plants


Today was super busy with necessary tasks including laundry, shopping, mowing, blah, blah.. This evening was the Zoom meeting compliments of the UP Publishers and Authors Association (for the UP Notable Book Award). If anyone wants to hear me talk even MORE about the trail, I'll post the link when it goes on YouTube.

Meanwhile, have some more fun plants. This is one of the 'Sunsparkler' sedums that I really like. This is 'Dazzleberry.' It's got a lot of sun on it in this picture, but it stays this muted blue-purple color. And it's spreading well, if slowly.
Dazzleberry sedum


Here's what it looked like a year ago, so it's gradually increasing in size. This color is more accurate in shade.

sedum Dazzleberry

This is a mystery Sedum that my friend Betty gave me. I've made several guesses as to what it is. My current guess is another of the 'Sunsparklers' called 'Blue Elf.' It's spreading at about the same rate as Dazzleberry. Again, I like the color.
blue elf sedum


This flower isn't even really in a flower bed. I put some alongside the east edge of the house because it can stand the morning heat. It spreads like crazy, but doesn't stay in one place very well. It's probably oregano gone wild.
mistflower


Not a lot else to say about today. I have to get up early to go to meet with Matt Rowbotham and Bill to process our info from the Adirondack hike.

Oh! And I saw something last night I'd never seen before. A very young fawn with its mama in the back yard. Way too common. But the fawn had the zoomies! I never saw a deer do that. It was just going crazy for about five minutes.

See Various Verdure