Category Archives: Flowers

These wild asters have subsisted behind my childhood home’s backyard for over forty years. Some summers they are sparse and scant, others they are extensive and robust. This year falls under the latter, with an impressive showing of blooms and colonization, especially resplendent in the late afternoon light. Summer insists on showing off right until its very last moment. 

Their smaller blooms, almost insignificant when compared to bigger and brighter glories of early summer, make an almost echo of those earlier days. Our second bloom is always smaller and more delicate, and, because of that, often more beloved. 

These are hardy little plants, managing their survival beneath some rather deep shade and the selfish roots and barren soil of several ancient pine trees. A portrait of hardiness and beauty, even as the world is unforgiving and unaccommodating. 

A midday treat featuring the brilliance of the cup plant. Finches, hummingbirds, bees and butterflies have all flocked to these magnificent blooms. A thousand little cheerful orbs call out to be worshipped, and the world is powerless to resist such charms. These beauties have been going strong for a full month, fostering the beautiful bustle of all the aforementioned visitors. 

Summer is still riding high, delivering the punch and pizzazz for which it is rightly renowned. The world may have dimmed a bit, but summer doesn’t seem to mind. If anything, it’s glowing a little brighter these days. Nature will have her pretty way; in the end she always wins. 

Remark the fiery starburst of the simple coreopsis! Its flower power may be small of stature, but its coloring is red-hot of glory. In a single bloom, an entire summer bursts into beautiful flame. Whereas an entire five-foot stand of bluish hydrangeas fades into the early evening background, this little blossom burns like a fire, stealing all the focus of the day and night.

I admire its ability to be heard despite its smallness. So many of us are screaming out to be noticed these days, and this little performer refuses to be silenced. It reminds me of this city tomato or this backyard petunia. Survivors come in all shapes and sizes, and just because something is pretty doesn’t negate its power or performance. 

Certain plants, when they bloom, bring about a sense of melancholy, no matter how pretty or innocent they may otherwise be. That’s the feeling I get whenever the Japanese anemone opens in mid-to-late August. It’s a tell-tale signifier of the fall to come, an incontrovertible fact of the quick passage of summer, hastened day by day from this point forward. Like the goldenrod that must be beginning its graceful nodding beside highways and country roads, it’s a symbol of the waning summer, and always a rather sad one at that.

On this particular Saturday morning, however, I’m turning that around and focusing on the joy, working to savor these blossoms, and thinking for the first time of how they are reminiscent of the blooms of the dogwood tree – a lovely little reminder of when the season was just beginning. Savoring is an important component of happiness, and after being awakened by the shrill screaming of neighborhood chainsaws (the drawback of being one of the only working people on the street who only gets two days a week to sleep late) I made the effort to turn the day around with this moment of savoring.

Though it begins with these slightly mottled petals of pink, the flowers of the Japanese anemone will eventually pale to an almost white color, a ghostly echo of the creamy sepals of the dogwood blooms. There’s a beautiful symmetry to that, and nature can always be counted upon to put such magic into effect.

As for the dwindling days of summer, let’s choose to focus on the sun and warmth at hand, to savor and make the most of the seasonal happiness. There will be more than enough time to dwell upon and deal with fall after it arrives. 

The Rose-of-Sharon probably has some nifty history as to how it gets its common name. This is not the day that I’m going to look that up and share, however, because I’m tired. Simply surviving right now can be exhausting, and I’m just not up for a lesson. Google that shit and let me know what’s about. Instead, I’m taking a morning walk before diving into work, clearing the haze of the morning mind, and checking on this Rose-of-Sharon plant to see how many buds have opened. 

Beneath a seven-sons flower, literally and figuratively overshadowed by its over-reaching branches, the Rose-of-Sharon was one of the later additions to our garden, one of those spur-of-the-moment, late-season purchases made out of sheer exhaustion, not unlike the state in which I find myself today. Like hosta or hydrangeas, they are so commonly-used that some of us lose sight of their beauty and performance, as if it’s a crime to be so durable and consistent.

Their leaves stay as pretty as they are seen here for the entire season, and the blooms begin in late July and early August, just when the garden lets out its first breath of summer fatigue. There is no discernible fragrance, but its upper-brother will supply that in a few weeks. (The buds of the seven sons flower are already forming.)

On this sunny morning, the new pink blooms are much appreciated – reinvigorating the senses and jump-starting the summer all over again. We need that this year. 

This pretty pink lily was open when we visited my parents a couple of days ago. It’s been coming up faithfully for the past several years, without expanding or multiplying, but also without diminishing. There’s something to be said for simply sustaining, and surviving, especially in this insane world. I captured it here for you to view, even if you can’t quite sniff its exquisite perfume. 

Saturdays should bloom like this lily – quietly, delicately, sweetly, and beautifully. Summer mornings are much too fleeting. We must stop to smell the flowers, pausing in the quick passing of the sunny season. I’ll keep this morning post brief so you can do something like that. Meet me back here in a  few hours for something more substantial. 

Current Pool Status: waiting for a light bulb

Current Mood: pensive/resigned

Current weather: changeable, with a strong breeze

While we wait for the pool to reopen (originally planned for May, I figured it wouldn’t happen until the end of July – and quite frankly I’ve given up on it happening this summer so as to stave off any disappointment). Chalk it up to the wreck of this year of our Lord 2020. 

To get us through these end-times, I’ve been meditating and reading and going to therapy, all of which have helped transform and reset my sense of self, and interior renovation of the soul that’s brought about a new sense of peace and contentment, while instilling a more genuine sense of self-confidence that previously had mostly been rather superficial. That’s the deep part of this post, the unseen machinations of what goes on beneath the placid surface of prettiness I like to put on display here.

That prettiness finds expression in this little bouquet of summer sweet from the front garden. It’s the ultimate summer flower, coming into bloom at this sultry time of the season when the days can be viciously hot. If given an ample dose of water they will spread almost invasively, and producing these subtle but potently-perfumed spires of bloom. Justifying their common name of summer sweet (scientifically known as Clethra), these blooms are powerfully fragrant with a sweet floral note that is reminiscent of a lily – rich and exotic and an absolute favorite of bees, who know a thing about sweet flowers.

This is the first time I’ve picked a stalk for an inside bouquet, which is strange given its natural perfume. Thus far, it’s taken well to being plucked – I would advise only cutting the green and tender parts of the stem – these can bloom close to older wood, and anything that has hardened will not be as amenable to taking in water. If the stem has hardened, you might try crushing or splitting it to allow for easier intake of water.

In a little bouquet like this, it’s also easily transported from room to room, so wherever you may be working or living can be instantly transformed into a fragrant window looking into a portal of summer sweet beauty.

There aren’t many things that I consider true game-changers, but this is one of them: the bathroom bouquet. For some reason I usually reserve them for when we have guests, but the other day I remembered how nice it was to have something pretty to look at on the toilet. When you think about it, the one place where I am guaranteed to be at least once every single day is facing the toilet and looking down. First thing in the morning and last thing at night. Without fail. 

I wish I’d remembered the transformation such a little thing made long ago. We’ve been cooped up here with an available backyard flower supply since May. Better late then never, and who knows how long we will be needing such niceties? This simple little bouquet is a single fern frond and one hydrangea bloom – proof that the littlest things can make the biggest difference, especially in a corner where the only item of interest is a toilet handle. 

Petunias don’t get the critical credit they deserve. Too many of us, myself included, overlook their powerhouse performance simply because they are such constant working horse when it comes to producing blooms. Rather than rejoice and celebrate them, we look down at them for being such spectacular performers because they do it so seemingly effortlessly and consistently. We’d rather take months and years coaxing and coercing a rare orchid into bloom, pampering and prodding and whispering sweet nothings into its finicky ear while it demands time and attention and worship, only to disappoint with no flowers whatsoever, or a few measly and sickly leaves that eventually wither and die off. Why do we aim for the more difficult species than the ones that instantly and repeatedly reward with easy blooms and a constant show? I wish I knew. My life would have been gone much easier, in both ways.

I may not be the best at any one thing, but I’m a loyal and consistent guy. My attire, while perhaps not always to your taste, is always refined. My commitment to a task – whether a job, a creative project, or a new recipe – is steadfast and true. And my panache – well, I like to think my panache is unwavering. And as such, people expect such stuff from me, and I’m usually happy to oblige. I didn’t get to be the person I am today from hating what I do. I like being consistent. I like being organized. I like being anal. I like to dress up and spray delicious cologne in the air while I stride through its perfumed cloud. Scoff and joke and guffaw all you want – I’m pretty happy these days with the convoluted and contradictory stance I’ve adopted and made my own.

If you’ve come to expect it but find that the thrill is gone, please feel free to seek your newness elsewhere. Every chameleon-like Renaissance man has certain pools he favors, as much as he likes to change; we are different from day to day and year to year, but the soul stays relatively the same. I’ve come to appreciate that over the decades of my life. Like these petunias, the doggedly pretty things of the world have a scrappiness to their stalwart consistency. They, and we, try every day to be a little better, to put on a grander show, to inspire and impress and delight even if the petals are a little torn and the perfume a little faded. Our powerhouse performance isn’t often perfect, but we’re here for it.

Striving and blooming and putting on the show – even on a Wednesday morning.

It appears that this purple salvia is a salve for many, healing hurt and providing comfort and succor for the birds and bees that traverse our front and back yards. Here we see a bee visiting its hospitable bloom, and the purple flower spires have also attracted hummingbirds, which was really the whole point of planting them this year. I’ve only caught one hovering near the front yard container, and Andy had one come very close to him in the back yard, a brief brush as if it was saying hello. They flit away so quickly it feels like a magical experience you’re not really sure you even had. 

There is a fuchsia plant, whose name escapes me at the moment, that has long tubular flowers which the hummingbirds adore. I couldn’t find it in the nurseries this year so I settled for the salvia, which has become an impressive show-off in its own way. Proof that being flexible is usually the best thing to be, especially when it comes to gardening. 

It was the stuff of fairy tales.

A slipper of a lady hidden away in a forest.

A quest that took me over forty years to finally execute.

And a spell cast to make sure I would never repeat where precisely I had been.

My bucket list is kept as short as possible, and it always has been, intentionally so. I add to it as I find things within grasp of execution and likely possibility. Maybe that’s not the proper way to do a bucket list, but the idea of some long list of dreams I’ll never accomplish isn’t my idea of a good time. Instead, I keep the list small and doable, allowing myself to feel a sense of accomplishment I’d never have were I to list everything out all at once.

One thing that has been on that list for years, however, is to see a lady’s slipper orchid out in its natural habitat. I’ve kept in on the list because it’s not such a far-fetched dream. In fact, I had come close a few times. As recently as last year a friend at work had found one and alerted me to its presence, but due to weather and scheduling, I couldn’t get there on time. They live in the local woodlands, so it has remained on my radar, but vaguely so, never quite in complete focus.

A couple of weeks ago someone posted that they had just found a stand of lady’s slipper orchids in the Albany Pine Preserve, and after getting some loose directions I made my way there on a sunny lunch hour. It was warmer than I realized. My body had not yet adjusted to the heat of the season, nor was it accustomed to being out in the open beyond my front and back yards. Both were exhilarating, if a little uncomfortable at first. As I walked toward the path that led into the pine woodland, I took the first step of this little quest. I don’t always appreciate or make note of the start of such journeys – large or small – but on this day I did, because if I was successful in finding the orchids, this would be the demarcation of before and after.

A field of blue lupines was in full bloom on either side of the path, an auspicious start on this particular quest for beauty. I paused there, before I had even begun, because when prettiness presents itself – especially temporary prettiness, as in a field of flowers – one must stop and pay respect. Most of the lupines I see fly by the car at 70 miles per hour somewhere along the Massachusetts Turnpike. Seeing their intricate pea-like blooms up close was a treat – a bonus in what I hoped would be a day of breathtaking sights.

Back on the path, I waved off a few pesky little flies, and drank in more sun than I’d had in months. The lupines faded behind me, but a couple lined the first curve, beneath a small stand of trees, and I stopped there in the shade. As you get older, you stop more on walks, no matter how short. I wish I’d done that when I wasn’t as old. I don’t mean that to sound as sad and regretful as it might – I just wish I’d slowed down a bit. It’s something that could hold just as true today. Even on this pretty path, I found myself charging forward, on the lookout for something still ahead…

Having hiked maybe two or three times in my life (and by hike I mean walk into the woods for about twenty minutes, tops) I didn’t have much confidence in my sense of direction, and though it sounded easy enough to find them, I wound my way around various paths, doubling back to take a different turn when I couldn’t find the orchids. I was starting to give up and head back, when I remembered walking in the woods as a kid.

It was at this time of the year when we would begin studying for final exams – a time when we would have to go back into our binders to the first lessons of class and remind ourselves of everything we had learned during the whole school year. It was a daunting task that took several days, and invariably I would burn out at some point. When that happened, and when the sun still beckoned at 7 PM, I’d step away from the books and binders and steal into the backyard, nimbly navigating my way down the steep bank behind our house, stepping gingerly among ferns and mushrooms and crossing a street into a thicker forest, where I knew there were patches of jack-in-the-pulpit plants, and a rare maidenhair fern. There were daylilies on the edge of the woods, closer to the ditches that held more water, but they wouldn’t bloom for a few more weeks. Out in the woods the worries of schoolwork flitted away. My breath came easier, my heart-rate slowed. In the dappled sunlight, I found a place of peace.

In the pine preserve, I rediscovered that feeling. As soon as I relaxed, and my eyes adjusted to the subtleties of the forest floor, I let go of the nagging notion of direction and let the siren’s call of the lady slipper orchid alert me to her presence.

There, in a sea of pine needles and pine cones, slightly obscured by dead branches and new oak trees throwing out green leaves, I saw my first lady slipper. It was both smaller and larger than expected. I stepped carefully off the path and deeper into the wooded area, where suddenly a wave of them appeared around my feet, scattered here and there in haphazard fashion. An entire colony spread before me, as if they had just decided to appear by magic. I was entranced.

Very few things meet great expectations.

Very few bucket-list items end up being all that one hopes they will be. 

This very first brush with the lady’s slipper orchid – this unexpected embrace by the sublime – met my expectations, thrilling beyond what I’d only ever imagined in my head. 

Secluded from the rest of the world, a world at odds with itself and a world sick with so much, I felt an enormous release, even if I knew it was fleeting. I stopped there, inhaling the scent of the pines, the earthiness that emanated with help from the heat of the day, and took in the bewitching scene of these lovely ladies. They danced their dance in the middle of the afternoon, and allowed me to watch for a little while. 

Reluctantly, I walked quietly out of their circle of beauty, returning to the path from which I had come, and it was like a veil suddenly descended behind me. I looked back and didn’t see them anymore, nor could I tell you where I might find them if I wanted to return. I was not unhappy to be under such a spell. There is an added element of beauty when some things are kept secret, when only you have been afforded a glimpse behind the veil. 

Maybe it took this long to be accepting of their mystery, to not want to take them with me when I left, to marvel at their exquisitely enchanting blooms and hear their whispered charms and walk away with only a sense of greater calm, of greater appreciation for what beauty the world still holds. 

Keeping things light on the blog front this week is this peony post. Not much more to say, other than wish you were here to sniff them.

It’s easy to go overboard with the wealth of garden flowers on display now. Everyone is doing it, to judge by FaceBook and Instagram. In light of that, I tend to go the opposite way with my bouquets, keeping them simple and almost minimalist at this time of the year. This is a perfect example of that, as a single peony and dogwood branch comprise the whole of this arrangement, if it can even be designated as such.

When there is so much to see and do outside, I think it’s better to maintain a quieter atmosphere within the home. Summer is about to arrive, and with it all the noise and fanfare of the sunny season. We will need a space for silence and contemplation.

For me, flower bouquets are more important and necessary in the middle of winter, or when things turn gray and barren in late fall. The indoors remains a respite of peace and calm when the weather is sometimes too nice and hot outside, and with the cacophony of impending summer on full, I find little bouquets of simplicity a way of keeping things calm inside.