Bumblebee Blog

A couple of years ago I managed to get organized enough to photograph my potager through several months. The changes from month to month documented in the photos were a bit like watching some low-tech, time-lapse photography. I enjoy looking at the changes as long as I try not to think about the fact that I’ve gotten older between each shot.

Here’s another low-tech time lapse. It seems that time is passing even faster than month to month. We’re skipping from season to season now.

This was part of our backyard in May. I know it’s May even without looking at the photo file information because the Lady Banks rose is in full bloom.

This monster rose only blooms in May, when it is covered with tiny yellow roses. The rest of the year it spends plotting world domination. The only reason it hasn’t grown over into your back yard is that I hack at it regularly with great big pruners.

The two trees are Zelkovas, a close relative of the American elm. Zelkovas are fast growers and have proven to be resistant to Dutch elm disease. They were the first things that I planted when we built the house eight years ago.

Although they were as spindly as any newly-planted tree when they first were plunked into the ground, they grew quickly. Now, they provide shade in the heat of the day, so that even in the summer months it is tolerable to sit outside in the Adirondack chairs.

The Zelkovas also provide beautiful color in the fall. They put on quite a brilliant show and are among the last of the trees to lose their leaves.

Oops, there go another few months.

Now here it is winter and this is the backyard in January. It was about four degrees outside the other morning when I went to let the chickens out and snapped this photo.

This weekend I’m huddled inside, looking at seed catalogs and thinking about another year in the garden. I’ll have another year of gardening experience under my belt, more entries into my garden journal and a few good stories to tell from 2008.

I’ll try not to fret about the birthday coming up that ends in the number nine or the fact that my son, Ben, won’t see the end of the summer garden because he’ll be off to college by then.

The passing of time is inevitable. But I will try to remember it can be beautiful and rewarding too.

Robin

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Filed in: Gardening, Gardening Life

Tags: fall, Gardening, Lady Banks rose, potager, seasons, spring, summer, winter, zelkovas

Who do you consider the most influential garden bloggers?

I am writing a column for Examiner and need your input.

So what do I mean by influential? Well, you tell me. Perhaps it is someone whose blog you ALWAYS read. Perhaps it is someone who changes the way you think or practice about gardening.  Or maybe it’s someone who influenced you in just a single, major way.

Please let me know. And please pass along the request or include in your own blog, linking here.

You can email me at gardeningexaminer@gmail.com, comment here or use the comment form here on my blog. I need your input by Friday, January 30. My column will appear the following week with your comments and links to your own blogs.

So, who’s most influential among garden bloggers?

You can also visit here and leave your comment directly at Examiner.com.

Robin

There are 23 comments

Filed in: Blogging

Tags: Blogging, Examiner

For at least a couple of hours each day our chickens get the run of the yard. For the most part, they wander around happily hunting and pecking for bugs. Occasionally, they’ll all nestle down behind the hydrangea bushes next to the house for a little nap.

And frequently, this is what I see from the kitchen.

The chickens come onto the deck and stand at the door, lobbying for treats. These are the roosters, T. Boone Chickens and Johnny Cash. They like to look in the window and crow to get my attention. The hens are a bit more subtle, but no less insistent.

In my recent Examiner column about the benefits of raising backyard chickens, I said that chickens were entertaining.

Now, was I wrong?

Also new at Examiner:

The best portable chicken coops

Positive lessons for kids and parents from the kitchen garden

Organic Gardening magazine shows strong ad revenue in 2008 despite recession

Amazing heirloom tomato varieties available with mailorder tomato plants

Experiment with exotic and unusual seeds from around the world

Robin

There are 8 comments

Filed in: Chickens, Gardening Life

Tags: Chickens, Johnny Cash, rooster, T. Boone Chickens