Walking out to the garden center at our local everything store (Freddie's) yesterday, I was shocked to see nothing. Many of the plant tables were folded and pushed away while others remained standing bereft of plants. It was like some sort of ghost town out there. While there were still seasonal plants by another entrance, the garden center had never looked so abandoned. A worker said something about getting ready for the "C" word. Oh please, say that my ears deceived me. This just can't be! Summer needs to linger for at least a few more months. Much as I love autumn and every few years get sentimental and decorate for Christmas, I still want to be a carefree cricket playing in the summer sun instead of an industrious ant working day after day. Going back inside and glancing at the Seattle newspaper, the front page article said something about a demolition a day. As in many hot real estate markets, sweet older bungalows with gardens are purchased, demolished, and replaced with "expensive boxes" built to the property line. Time and the changes that happen are interesting. Seems we're always trying to speed it up or slow it down to no avail.
Today's offering started with these three things from various times of my life:
From the 60's comes a white onyx carved bookend, one of a set that lived in my parents' home. I believe that the set, purchased on my eldest sister's honeymoon, was a gift to my parents. (She'll correct me if that's wrong.) From the 70's comes the ceramic weed pot on the left, created by my pottery guru. Finally, from the 80's comes the glass vase on the right, the gift of a friend. (Yes, the newest object in the group is 30 years old.)
Today, one last hurrah before the beginning, in earnest, of the school year, I strolled in the morning sun kissed garden to search for flowers. Not a lot of vase worthy offerings this week.
Angelica stricta 'Purpurea' and Japanese anemones.
What about those other flowers? More Anemones, columbine seed heads, and Lonicera nitida foliage in an antique bottle.
Everything else (lots of Phygelius) got stuffed in a blue glass tumbler. There you have it, arrangements ready to go inside and brighten the week.
Second paragraph, sad but true. Not much we can do about it except share and acknowledge thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI like the containers and the stories that go with them.
School started down here two weeks ago. More school doesn't seen to make any difference in science standings however. Science was my field.
I hope your school year goes by without too many conflicts. The garden should be a relaxing comforting retreat.
School started earlier in Alaska too but they get out in May while we go through the middle of June.
DeleteAh, the school year will be marvelous. My kids, returning from last year, are all adorable and my coworkers are lovely people. It's a great place to be. Now, the new federally mandated teacher evaluation tool is way too much busy work for both teachers and administrators and can be more subjective than the former method. Just another senseless hoop through which we jump. Fortunately, having been doing this for a while now, I'm pretty good at hoop jumping and getting great evaluations.
That's shocking to me -- clearing space already, when your growing season is longer than ours? Our nurseries are putting out all fresh stock for the fall planting season!
ReplyDeleteThese photos remind me that you don't show your pond enough!
Well, this clearing of space is only happening in places that have garden centers on the side; our actual nurseries are stuffed to the gills and get lots of new merchandise for the fall planting push and perennial sales.
DeleteA thought provoking post in many ways, Peter - sadly the C word will be creeping in more quickly here in the UK too than most of us would like. AS always, I like the way you lay your material out and tell us a little more about your garden and the pots as you create your vases. Thanks for sharing and I hope the school year goes well for you
ReplyDeleteThank you Cathy. Time marches on and while we look forward to the beginning of a new academic year and prepare for another season of celebrations (Seems there's some holiday every month from October through May) it's nice to look back and (selectively) remember the past.
DeleteNice to hear the stories behind the vases, Peter. Your week will be brighter with these little spots of beauty around the house, for sure. Hope school starts smoothly. Where did the summer go? ;)
ReplyDeleteYears seem to be flying ever more quickly. May you enjoy the rest of summer and the coming charms of autumn.
DeleteYears seem to be flying ever more quickly. May you enjoy the rest of summer and the coming charms of autumn.
DeleteWeed pots are a thing? I ran an on-line search and, sure enough, they are! Yours is a very pretty thing, as are the flowers you found to put in it. I love the Japanese anemones too. Sadly, I'm guessing the chance that those I inherited with the house will appear this year is virtually nil.
ReplyDeleteDuring the seventies, I acquired several weed pots but never put anything in them. The necks are usually so small that it's next to impossible. For instance, the three tiny stems in this one barely squeezed in. Mostly I remember them being displayed with a very few tiny dried flowers in them.
DeleteI thought it was bad enough my local grocery put out Halloween candy, but the C word - ugh. There's nothing like objects with stories and histories since most of our plants have the same. Enjoy these days before classes start.
ReplyDeleteWhile I love my kids and most aspects of my jobs, going back to working six days and some nights a week is always such a big change after having a few weeks of totally unscheduled time.
DeleteI never heard of a weed pot before. They're very sweet. The nurseries still have plenty of stock, go there.
ReplyDeleteWe're lucky that our nurseries are well stocked year round! I do most of my grocery shopping at Fred Meyer and a waltz around the garden center is always an added bonus. Most years, they've kept some plants around longer. I'll check another FM location today and see if they're all doing the empty garden center thing.
DeleteYour description of your motivations for this "somethings old" arrangement is wonderful.
ReplyDeletePeter, you should have been a poet. On second thought, I believe you are. I like the antique glass arrangement. The columbine in my garden never mature to seed heads; I whack them before they go to seed. Last Saturday, for the first time in months, I felt like making an arrangement. It must be the changing of the seasons. As the weather lady on the radio said: we went from August to Autumn in one day.
ReplyDeleteCeramic Jack-O-Lanterns have been on display outside the entrance to the
ReplyDeleteScappoose Freddy's for a month now. At least they included an abundance of Asters and
Chrysanthemums. Your house will be a happy place with all of those vases here and there.