A Change of Scenery.

We're in the thick of summer vacation here. In fact, I'm panicking a bit about how quickly our summer vacation is disappearing. For the past few weeks, the kids have enjoyed lazy mornings, often staying in their PJs until well past noon, followed by swimming and reading and goofing around, not to mention our late night Scrabble tournaments. 

(By the way--I remain undefeated. Woot woo! Who cares if I'm playing against a 7-year-old, an 11-year-old, and a man whose native language isn't English? I'll take victory any way I can get it.) 

Today, though, the kids and I are back on schedule after a weekend of birthday celebrating and Father's Day sailing. Dressed by 8:25 a.m., we were off to zoo camp. 

Zoo camp is a much anticipated summer event for our family. Kristen began zoo camp when she was 5, Michael when he was 4, and now my girl is among some of the oldest campers. 

This year, though, she seemed a bit nervous. For the first time, the kids are attending zoo camp without a friend in tow. Zoo camp, always so easy and comfortable, now possesses an element of the unknown. Will the kids make new friends? Will they still enjoy the camp as much a prior years? Or, will there be sudden resistance tomorrow morning when forced to rise and get ready for Day Two of camp? 

It's hard to foretell, but I'm afraid my girl is much like me--she doesn't like change. And for those of us who don't relish the unknown, she hasn't yet learned how to fake confidence to combat her shyness. (Michael doesn't worry me--his silliness helps him adapt easily to most new experiences.) 

She'll learn this trick eventually. But until then, I can only hold my breath, kiss her goodbye, and hope she finds a kindred spirit who loves animals.

The kids aren't the only ones, though, testing new waters. Today, I'm sitting at a picnic table in the park by the zoo, listening to Gibbons' calls, trying to recuperate from my endeavor to get fit. 

Last week, I began the "C25K" program--better know as "Couch to 5K." I'm determined to get back in some semblance of shape. It's tough. Honestly, I never had to think twice about what I ate when I was young.  Plus, exercise was a way of life--hiking, walking, biking, dancing, chasing toddlers.

But age and life have a way of taking a toll on a body. When my parents became ill and my sisters and I helped with their care, our meals consisted of a lot of take out. Hours of driving, sitting, waiting. Very little physical activity, but high doses of emotional exhaustion. 

And then, in the years since my mom's death, I somehow couldn't find the energy to focus on fitness. It seemed too self-indulgent, somehow, after being an often absent mom and wife. I threw all of my extra time and effort into my business, made the traditional excuses for not having time to exercise, and continued to feel like crap. 

Honestly, I think my excuses were a means of self-preservation. I was afraid to spend an hour a day alone with my thoughts. I didn't want time to think about my parents' illnesses, their deaths, the ugliness my sisters and I endured from a nasty relative. By staying busy with the kids and work, I didn't have time to think. Or dwell. Or mourn. 

If I started exercising, though, I knew I'd be alone with my overact brain.  And it scared me.

I'm not a joiner. I shy away from exercise classes, group runs. I don't even like to exercise with Peter. I'm so adverse to exercising with others that I was one of those stupid college girls who, when I did think to exercise, ran through not-great neighborhoods surrounding the campus. Alone. At night. Very, very stupid.

But now, when it takes a full minute to get off the ground when pulling weeds, when knees and backs ache and it's tough to get out of bed, when running after the kids is futile, because they're so quick and agile and energized...

Now, it's time to embrace the old ad I used to have hanging over my computer at my second post-college job: 

"Just Do It." 

A brilliant ad campaign. It still resonates with me decades later. I always wished I was the copywriter on that creative team.

So, I'm trying. It's an ugly sight. I run, pant like a dog while I walk to recover, run again. Today's my third workout in the "C25K" program, and it's the first time I haven't run in the comfort of my neighborhood, where I know that two loops through the subdivision equal 3.1 miles. 

Today, I joined the runners and cyclists and dog walkers and moms pushing baby strollers and completed my unattractive run/walk/limp/gasp/hobble workout. In public. At the busy park adjacent to the zoo, where the kids are tackling their own anxieties. 

And you know what? 

It was nice. 

I think I'll try it again tomorrow. 

I hope the same is true for my girl. 

XO ~

Julie

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Ah, June...that lovely month when gardens burst with blossoms. School's out. My harried preparations for the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Upstate Farm Tour are complete, and the tour introduced me to the nicest people in the Upstate. Honestly, I think only genuinely kind people were admitted to the tour.

Now, the pace is much less frenetic around our home. The gardens are planted. The beds are tidy and weed-free. (Well, at least for today.) We're not suffering terribly from drought conditions--yet. The vegetable gardens hold the promise of delicious dinners in future weeks--baby squash and vibrant tomatoes, lovely bean blossoms and funky, firey peppers. Plus, we're still winning the war against plant diseases and pests...so far. 


June is a honeymoon period for us gardeners. Sure, there's still plenty of work to do. But it's a slower pace, more maintenance-type work, before the serious heat hits.

And today, after harvesting a delicious bowl of fresh raspberries, it was time to enjoy the June blossoms in our garden for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, sponsored by May Dreams Gardens.


Honestly, I'm so thankful for Carol's Bloom Day. Not only is it a lovely idea to take time to stop and smell the roses (although mine are currently covered with hideous Japanese beetles), but it provided a good distraction today. You see, I'm still trying to write about the phenomenal gardens I saw during the Asheville Garden Bloggers' Fling. And today, as I reviewed the photos from my favorite garden of the tour, I experienced a serious case of writer's block. I simply couldn't find the words to describe the most inspiring garden I've ever visited.


So, hoping that my muse might return after a walk around our gardens, I set aside my planned writing to share what's blooming:

One of my favorite herbs greets guests along the front path, releasing a delicious, welcoming perfume when brushed. Unfortunately, 'Provence' lavender also beckons pollinators. While the bees enjoy the lavender, our human guests often shy away from entering the path to the front door. Who can blame them? Last summer, our youngest son learned the hard way that an accidental encounter with a sprig of lavender can lead to an angry altercation with a bee.

Perhaps planting lavender along the walk to the front door was not my most brilliant idea.

Exploding with blooms, the dwarf gardenias enjoyed our mild winter. I've never seen them so heavy with blooms as they are this summer.

Thank goodness for volunteers. Somehow, during the crazy spring, I never planted sunflowers. Luckily, several volunteer blooms appeared in the perennial bed, adding a nice splash of color and height. Still, I think I'll plant a bed of sunflowers by the back garden, although they'll be late bloomers. We'll have some stems for bouquets, and the birds will enjoy an autumn snack.

The tall verbena filled out nicely this summer, no longer sporting only a few colorful stalks...

...while the hardy geranium continues to provide a soothing, cool, creeping border of blue.

The real stars of the front gardens, though, are the daylilies and hydrangea. While shade dominates our gardens, I recently tucked a few new daylilies into the small, sunny patches in the front beds:

'Purple d'Oro'

'Perfect Peach'

'Prairie Blue Eyes'

'Stella d'Oro'

A missing tag...I think this was 'Grape...Something.'

The hydrangea in the garden are young--the oldest being about three years old. Still, they're presenting a lovely show:

'Blushing Bride'

Young Oakleaf Hydrangea, planted in Fall 2011. 

 

Variegated lacecap

The winter's hard pruning benefited the butterfly bushes--the blooms are more prolific this summer than in the past, when I just tidied them...

Lantana always dominates the summer landscape, providing ample color and attracting hummingbirds and bees.

And fortunately, the phlox looks lush and healthy--no sign of powdery mildew...yet.

Purple coneflowers and bronze fennel serve as food sources for bees and swallowtail butterfly larva...

...while pollinators dislike feverfew, which should not be planted within 20 feet of fruit trees or bushes requiring pollination. (I think this may explain my problematic blueberry bushes. Hmmm.)

In the kitchen gardens, blooms forecast future feasts:

And even by the river, where no gardener planted seeds, blooms highlight the walk to the forest, providing snacks for yellow finches.

It's funny how nature works that way, isn't it?

Wishing you a garden full of blooms to celebrate Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day! What's blooming in your garden?

XO ~

Julie

P.S. Update: Where have I been? I just discovered Fertilizer Friday. It's another garden party where you can share and see beautiful blooms (although my fertilizer is all organic, of course!) Enjoy!

Friday Night Fun.

A recent Friday night found us throwing a garden party for 1,500 guests.

Drinks included drops of fresh rainwater...

...while the main course featured tiny aphids, marinated with a hint of heirloom tomatoes and Genovese basil.

Some of our guests needed assistance to find the buffet...

Others flirted and danced the night away.
 

The hostesses encouraged the guests to stay awhile, making them welcomed and comfortable, hoping they wouldn't disappear into the night.

We must throw a good party, because some of our new friends are still in the garden, making babies, and cleaning up the buffet.

Here's hoping they stick around for awhile.

XO ~

Julie

An Artist's Playground: The Garden of Christopher Mello

Boys and their toys...it never ends, no matter how old the boy becomes.

Of course, though, if the boy is an renowned artist and gardener, toys can dominate a design in the name of art.

And art suddenly becomes more accessible to the neighborhood boys...and girls...and all of those grown-up folks who find Tonka trucks irresistible in a gorgeous enclave of purples and blues and rusty browns.

Following the visit to the mystical Wamboldtopia on day one of the Asheville Garden Bloggers' Fling, our bus arrived at the urban garden of Christopher Mello.

A wall of purple welcomed us...

...with frothy purple smoke bush sporting an adornment of blue bottles, towering above the pride of the garden...

...delicate, crépe paper-inspired blue poppies.

These are not just any poppies. While lurking among the foliage, I overheard Christopher telling the story of his poppies. Beautiful as all of the poppies are in his garden, he works to select specimens that are true blue, culling out the remaining poppies tinged with red in the hopes that he will stabilize a new cultivar, to be named 'Pearl Blue.'

The bees didn't give preferential treatment to the pure blue poppies.

But I would. These are some seriously gorgeous blooms.

I'm lusting for 'Pearl Blue' poppies, although I must admit...I've never succeeded in growing poppies.

I blame our zone.

The garden beds buzzed with pollinators, while the palate selected by Christopher provided a calm, softening frame for his avant-garde works of art:

Winged baby heads.

A nightmare-inducing pagan-ish fellow.

Re-purposed rusted wheelbarrows.

An army of shovels, saluting the fleet of Tonkas.

I adored the heart of the garden, "Dump Truck Park."

Wondering whether this was an artist's ironic view of play—or if the trucks logged any actual time with real kids, I loved to hear that Christopher shares his play space with the area children, allowing them a safe haven to zoom around while their adults relax among the flora.

Within the garden's palate, interesting ornamentals...

'Summer Chocolate' Mimosa

A cultivar of Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, 'Red Majestic,' I believe

...share space with edibles—which you know earned bonus points in my book. 

Florence and bronze fennel softened the sharp shovels...

...while red lettuces complemented the color scheme.

In fact, in many aspects of the garden, plants softened the art, framing rebar and rusty metal designs with flowing, airy foliage.

Even the bottle tree appeared ready to launch the blue and green bottles into space, with its lush foliage barely contained by glass.

Throughout the garden, Christopher's edgy art married with a calming, almost monochromatic color scheme that showcased his talents:

artist...

gardener...

plant geneticist...

storyteller...

...and a boy who still loves his toys.

 XO ~

Julie