Link To Chive Girl....

http://amesababble.blogspot.com/2014/04/chive-girl.html

Chivegirl


This blog entry way put into Amiable Blogservations.....but has connections to Greenery.

Arachnid life in the Garden

This is a Garden Spider.  She wraps her meals in web prior to ingesting them and she might decide to eat the father of her young after making use of his presence.  She goes by Araneus Diadematus and is common in the North Eastern USA and in Europe.

Jungle in New York State 2013

Time stopped for me in the  Summer of 2013--but the garden weeds did not!

The Little Avocado Comes Back to Life

My little avocado plant dried out a bit last week.  I watered it and documented it's perking up process.

The trash can in the background is an aesthetic insult.  I used it to put  garden waste in.  Shortly after this photo sequence I repotted the  plant and gave her a bigger home for the winter.  Since it is starting to be frosty at night, I have her inside.  The plant in the background is a Lavender.  I have had it since I was in my apartment in 2005.  I decided to take it out of the pot and shake off the old dirt, and replace it with some fresh soil.  While doing that, I found an ant hill in the pot and many little red ants were scurrying around.  The lavender stays in the potting shed for the winter.  The fourth photo shows a little terra cotta pot in the background.  It has hens and chicks (a succulent plant) installed.  My father took that home to keep inside for the winter.

I grew this little avocado from a pit from an avocado fruit early in the spring of 2011.  My grand-daughter gave it a set back.  When it was about 7 inches high she yanked it out of the pot and snapped off the tip of the lead shoot, and pulled it out of the soil.  I tenderly replaced it and hoped it would not die.  The early cutting caused the seedling to shoot up two branches, where the one had been.  This plant is a survivor!

What Happens if a Cat Poops in the Madagascar Dragon Plant ?

This summer I did my daughter and her family a favor and when they went out of town I kittysat. I took care of Honey comb, the orange tiger.  I had a box of litter out for her but she liked the feel and texture of the potting soil in my Madagascar Dragon plant. I thought that it was going to become ill after she urinated and defecated in the houseplant dirt.  The day after it happened the plant looked a little wilty...so I watered it heavily (I had scooped out the kitty poo that I could identify) hoping I could reduce the damage by "flushing" the nitrogen out.

I was very surprised about two weeks later...

The Madagascar Dragon sprouted three new shoots!  When a houseplant, such as this, which has gone years without side branches or new growth just pops out new shoots it is a major event!

The above picture was taken in August.  Below are photos from tonight.  It has grown very well.

The plant on the right hand side, the singleton, I bought in 2004 when I lived in my apartment after my divorce. I brought it home when it was about 10 inches tall!  The two together on the left I bought at the annual church big yard sale, for 10 dollars,  I thought the singleton needed company.  Now they are a happy little Madagascar Dragon family!

I guess this sequence of events could be interpreted very philosophically!  A negative occurrence might actually have an unexpected great outcome!

Playing Favorites in My Back Yard

Gleditsia--Locust tree. (has twelve varieties- unsure which attempts to invade in my back yard)    Pinus Strobus--Eastern White Pine

My back yard is my little haven.  I can be a little emotional about my back yard and what is going on in it.  I am not always fair.  I have my favorites among the growing things.   My neighbors have a locust grove in their back yard which borders on my property. Baby locust trees sprout during the growing season and cause me some consternation.  I have just decided that I best adopt a zen attitude of acceptance.  The locust trees are not evil invaders.  They are just a type of greenery that is trying to survive, reproduce and do its plant thing in the world.  I have a feeling that the baby locust trees sprout from the roots of the neighbor's trees.  I have no intention, though, of letting them run amok all over my back yard.  They will be eliminated as I see fit!

This baby locust tree is deluding itself, if it thinks it has a future next to my day lilies (in the lawn??)!

The locust grove is situated in between two young pines.  I think that the planting of the pines there was silly, as there is not enough room for them among the locusts.

Below, evidence of Locustocide.

Now who gets preferential tree-tment in my back yard?  The majestic white pine does.  Its superior form  makes for a very impressive presentation.  The Haudenosaunee have a legend of peace that centers around all nations burying their weapons under the roots of the White Pine.  My tree is like a sentinel that watches over me. I have heard screech owls hooting from the branches.

 You can see one of the offspring which found its way into a pot.  That is a woodland geranium (?) which also seeded itself.    I did try a few years back to nurture a little pine past the seedling stage, with no luck.  I replanted it next to the stone wall and it was nibbled on by a vole during the winter, and did not survive.  That was a very sad event.  I see a baby white pine and I get a really happy feeling.  I see a baby locust and the effect tends to be the opposite!  Imagine playing favorites with babies?!  Not nice at all! 

Garrett Chapel

The title of this blog is Greenery.  The subject of this post is a chapel on the Bluff at Keuka Lake, Garrett Chapel.  Chapels would not usually be considered  a greenery topic, but the nature that surrounds this church is exquisitely beautiful.  I embarked on this trip to the Yates county finger lake with a new acquaintance.  We discovered that we each had experienced a childhood on the lake, so we took a drive and shared the common thread which has woven through our lives.  Most all people who have or do inhabit the north end of Keuka Lake have an appreciation for the beauty of this landmark.  My cousin was married here in the late 1980's many years ago. The link to Keuka lake has an interesting page with lore are fun facts- such as- Hoagy Carmichael wrote "Stardust" while at the lake!

The story of the Garrett Chapel is sad.  It involves the death of a young man many years ago.  The chapel was built in his memory.  Please click on the above link for more facts and history! Or here.