Visiting Margaret's Garden

I am going to try to get some plants going for the gardens over the winter. I do not have a track record of being very good with this, although I did OK last year. I'm going to try some coleus this year. Friend Margaret gave me cuttings from two different ones, a dark purple and this interesting variegated one. Look at the scalloped edges on the leaves.

She has a huge fenced garden- her whole back yard. She has vegetables and all kinds of flowers. A lot of them are tubers and bulbs she has to take in every winter. I don't have the patience for that at all. These are begonias that should only be good for one season. But she says she takes them in and every year they come back.

This is her back porch. Look at all the plants! She apologized because it's not at peak beauty. Hey, it's September. I think it looks great.

This is a really healthy Jimsonweed. She called it a moonflower. Common names are all over the map. It's Datura stramonium. Ingesting any part of the plant can cause severe altered mental states and even death. So, enjoy looking, but don't get the sap in your mouth!

There were lots of other things I could have taken pictures of, but I didn't. Oh well. These are the annuals along her front walkway. She says the petunias have bloomed all summer even without very consistent deadheading.

I enjoyed the tour! I'm glad she was home to show me. We had left it that I would come snatch some coleus from the front whether she was there or not. But I got the full tour.

I spent a big portion of the day doing errands. There weren't any big glitches with any of them, so that's good. I have a preliminary dentist appointment tomorrow.

I also edited and answered various correspondence, blah, blah.

See Margaret's Garden

Margaret's Garden

Today, with permission, I bring you another friend's garden. She's feeling a lot like I am these days- just obsessed with getting out there and playing with the plants. She also gave me a few things to bring home. I'll show those another day.

This is her back porch. She has an amazing ability to take plants in and keep them over the winter. I've never had much luck with that. She does do a fair amount with adding the color of some annuals, but a lot of these she brings back to life every year.

For example, this awesome begonia! My Steve gave me a begonia for my birthday one year, and I tried to keep it over the winter, but I either don't have the right kind of storage place, or the right technique.

She loves roses. You know I'm not a huge fan, but these are very nice. These both have thorns that are probably capable of flaying a person alive. This one is called 'Mr. Lincoln.'

And this one is Joseph's Coat. I like this one better, just because I like the shading in the color.

Speaking of the thorns, and the 6-foot wooden fence around her yard, neither of these is enough to deter the deer. It seems they jumped in and ate a big chunk of the Mr. Lincoln rose. City deer are happy and well-fed. They know nobody can touch them. You can't hunt inside the city limits.

We don't know what cultivar these are, but look at the color of these lilies!

I don't think I've ever seen a lily like this one. There is so much shading in the throat of this lily, and mostly from dots of deeper colors. I think it looks very rich.

She also has a vegetable garden, extremely well-tended. Blueberries, asparagus, raspberries. Do you know how much time and effort it takes to maintain all this? It's beautiful! You can also see that fence that the deer just jump over.

Here we are. Neither one of us is going to choose this picture as a favorite, but it's the best of the ones I took. Ho hum.

In other news: I did a little more mowing, mostly so I could get to the door of our storage building and to the rock pile. I brought some more rocks up here. The bulk of what I did was get ready for tomorrow. That included completely shuffling the leftover hike food to different tubs so I can use those tubs for books. I had to print some things, and discovered I hadn't moved all my fonts to the new computer. Everything seems to take forever. But then I did do errands, went to visit Margaret, and came home with more plants which I have already put in the gardens.

If you want to read yet another article about my hike, see Outdoors.com

See Deb's Garden

A More Typical Ludington Winter Walk

  All my usual hiking buddies were not available this week, but today I took a short walk with another friend, Margaret. We went to the Ludington Beach and started by walking the waterfront.

I think there is just a hint of blue in this patch of ice. There is a serious amount of blue ice at the Straits of Mackinac this year. Lots of people have been posting pictures, the color there is so stunning. Margaret said she walked this route yesterday and the lake was calm, almost glassy. Not so today!

Wind and snow kept us moving right along! The Ludington lighthouse is visible in one of these next two pictures. Can you find it?

With the snow swirling through the air, the camera had trouble focusing. What I wanted to show you was the loose chunks of ice agitating along the edge. What you get is probably more realistic. Cold and blustery with snowflakes in your face!

We then walked some city streets. Margaret had a sore back, and I also have pulled a muscle or something. We might have walked two miles.

Then we went back to her house and... what else... worked on a puzzle. Title- Evening Meadow. We didn't finish, but we added a whole lot to the upper part, and a little to the lower part. There are horses and a barn in the middle. The real problem was that neither of us wanted to stop, but she had to go to dinner with her grandchildren, and I had to get home for a meeting.

I've known Margaret for years, but not very well. She was my editor for North Country Quest, and we got better acquainted. We have a lot in common. This could happen again! And the proof? Another horrible selfie.

In other news: I did some editing, and had a zoom event this evening.

See Pure Ludington Winter Walk See Lunch with My Editor

Lunch with My Editor

 
I've been busy and out and doing stuff all day. Best was lunch with my editor for North Country Quest, Margaret Wrasse. She has been just awesome, and we can't figure out how we've managed to live in the same community for 50 years without becoming more than acquaintances. You may see more of her!

If you plan to buy North Country Quest, you will be getting a much better book because of Margaret. She has saved you from tons of misplaced modifiers and comma problems.



Anyway, after that I did a couple of errands, went to bell choir practice, and then writer's group. Just got home. Long day, but all good. I spent the whole morning formatting. Getting closer every day, but still a lot to do.