doubtful knight’s spur
I’ve set myself the project of identifying the plants in the alley– so today we begin with: Rocket Larkspur Consolida ambigua (synonyms: Consolida ajacis; Delphinium ajacis; Delphinium ambiguum) Family: Ranunculaceae (ra-nun-kew-LAY-see-ee) Genus: Consolida (kon-SO-lih-duh) Species: ambigua (am-big-yoo-uh) Larkspur belongs to the buttercup family - Ranunculaceae. “Larkspur flowers are almost as complex as the Orchids,” according to the flower expert. “Larkspurs ...
for love of a park
Last weekend in honor of Earth Day I captained the cleanup effort out at our sweet little neighborhood park. About ten or so neighbors came out to lend a hand with spreading mulch and planting annuals in bare planters. A few months ago I started volunteering as park steward, which basically means picking up litter ...
Rainy day seed starts
Today was meant to be bed-building workday out at Global Garden, but, since the weather refused to cooperate, I hung indoors with whistling radiators and got my green on making floral seed starts for alleyway guerilla gardening. Yesterday I walked down along the L track fenceline and planted three types of morning glory seedlings (blue, blue, ...
Making arrangements
Chris says I line everything up against the wall like I’m staging an execution. The other evening he walked through the front door, into the bedroom where I stood changing the duvet cover, and, coat still on, started picking up and moving things around on his dressertop with pronounced deliberation. “Breathing room!” he hollered dramatically, exhaled ...
Schoolmarm Chic
I have a problem. A thrift problem. Lately when I play dressup, I’ve caught myself thinking of the style I’m concocting as Gypsy Schoolmarm Chic (swirly typeface in my head). Liking the whirly wild of the one combined with the sexy stern of the other, I offer it up as a sort of fanfic elaboration of ...
Ideal of a Perfect Cow
I’ve been conferring lately with the box of watercolors, mixing up some little white collage windows on a make-believe universe.
Garland Garland
It’s cold, or maybe just lonely. Distances are shrinking. She strings lights from star to star, pegging down heaven to the immense yawn of prairie. Possibly she imagines a rainbow, somewhere.
Paying it forward
finish what you have promised. It stares at me from the desk shelf at eye-level, a self-inflicted reminder against malingering lassitude. Back in the first month of this year, one January 2011, amidst throes of energetic and wafting new year intention, I made a promise on Facebook to send handmade items out to the ...
Good Witch
human comic strip vol. 6043 What I do here is uncomfortably near. I’m a virtual close-talker. It’s a little embarrassing. Still, can you fault a girl for trying on the odd pair of clown shoes in a bored and desperate old world? .. ...
