Hosta and Heuchera

 
In my dream world where I can have the plants I want and they actually agree to grow, I have lovely shade garden of hosta and heuchera. That's plantain lily and coral bells in common names, although most everyone I know uses the name hosta. Anyway, both are grown more for the lovely leaves than the blossoms.

Here are some healthy hosta at Dow Gardens



All along a sweeping driveway.

This is a really intriguing color of heuchera which would be wonderful with a dark green hosta. This is called 'Caramel.'



And here's another one that was just getting established in a new bed, called 'Solar Power.'



Now for the reality of what I have. OK, I do have a nice bed of Francee hosta. This is one of the oldest and most reliable of the hostas. The deer eat it down and it comes right back. The big one in front of it may be 'Seiboldi.'



Then, here's a fairly healthy patch of a blue one I bought. That gives me two choices, and it doesn't really look like either one, but I think it has to be 'Blue Dimples.' The leaves should get more of a seersucker look, but they are the wrong shape for my other choice.



I actually have a few other little puddles of hosta, but the light isn't good right now to get their pictures. Maybe another day.

I will just point out that except for 'Blue Dimples,' I think every single hosta I've paid money for is now dead. I was trying to buy one hosta and one heuchera a year, but that sure didn't work out.

And the heuchera? I have one left. It is one I bought, so I'd like it to survive, I'd like it to get big and lovely. I showed it to you last year, and it's still almost exactly the same size. This is 'Cathedral Windows.'



Well, for right this minute, the one garden looks tolerable, and I'm watering it. Yeah, me.

In other news: I worked most of the day at Shagway (and there was good customer traffic), got a fair amount of formatting done on Bigg Boss, I made new flyers for the Dubois Files books, I got some groceries (and a very bad take-out dinner that was SO very bad I'm going to complain about it), and now I have to pack for the Lakeshore Art Fair in Muskegon. I'll be there selling books Friday and Saturday.

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Redtail and Whitetail

 
It's too hot to blog. Heck, it's too hot to breathe.

Just enjoy two of my frequent visitors, the redtail hawk and the whitetail deer. Not great pictures, but that's what you get on a hot day.





In other news: I finished the illustrations for The Bigg Boss, read through the whole thing again looking for yet more errors (found a few), and started the formatting.

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Flamingo- Post Modern Deconstructionism

 
I'm in the middle of an illustration that is turning out better than I had hoped, so I'm keeping this post short.

Found a new flamingo! This one seems to be into post-modern deconstructionism, or at least the little gnashers that have disassembled him/her are.



They look really similar to the ones at Art Prize 2012. In fact, I'm pretty sure they are cousins with a genetic pre-disposition toward ripping flamingos apart.

In other news: I made a double batch of mulberry juice. Not packaged yet, though. I completed two of the four illustrations for The Bigg Boss, and am almost done with number 3.

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Saints and Sinners- Marshall Fredericks

 
My visit to Dow Gardens a couple of weeks ago was not only about plants. Often, botanical gardens incorporate sculpture or other types of art to enhance the experience.

Marshall Fredericks (1908-1998) is one of the best known and beloved sculptors in Michigan. Among his most famous works are the Spirit of Detroit, and the giant crucifix at Indian River.

At Dow Gardens, just outside a back door of the auditorium is a series of seven rather strange statues. By taking a reflection picture, I managed to get six of them, with myself, to show the approximate size and grouping.



Now, you may ask, as I did, what are they? As best I can decipher, they are copies of the original pieces, by Fredericks, which are installed at a fountain at Oakland University. Collectively they are called Saints and Sinners.

Because of the elongated shapes, I've done some photoshopping to make the pictures a better size to view on a blog.

These three are "Mother and Child," "Angel of the Lord," and "Evil Influence."

These are "Warrior Saint," and "Temptation."

Then we have "Knowledge of Good and Evil," and "Saint of the Church."

What do you think of these? One of the things I like most about art is when it really makes me think. This set of figures has certainly done that! Of course, someone told me that the set was entitled "The Seven Temptations." So, until I discovered the correct name today, I was definitely contemplating ways in which some of these were temptations!

In other news: I got The Bigg Boss edited once all the way through with suggestions from three readers. I started one of the illustrations. I made yogurt. I trimmed brush away from my trail and gathered enough mulberries for another batch of juice.

P.S. The annual boom and startle celebrations have begun. Someone is shooting off some big things nearby.

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Relief!

 
Last night all we got was a light show and early dark, but today... the rain actually showed up. Smells wonderful, feels wonderful. Cool breeze coming in the window.



I'll just walk you back through the day. Weird light, but I still wasn't sure we were going to get the rain.



For about thirty minutes it seemed as if the dark clouds were just going to race over without doing anything.



Before that, the light was good to take my annual picture of the rose bush I hate... except for this one week of glory.



And before that? I took a short walk and saw a female widow skimmer dragonfly that seems a little odd. The black coloration is only on the hind wing.



I'll sleep better tonight!

In other news: I froze 9 cups of mulberry juice to use later, or just add sugar and drink as juice. Other than that, I've been writing ALL day, and finished The Bigg Boss (subject to editing of course!). Major accomplishment.

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