August 2, 2020...The Mystic Lilies are in bloom

On July 29, I looked out the dining room window and saw five Mystic Lily stalks.  Later, when I went outside I found more.

I call them Mystic Lilies because that is what Tom's dad called them.  He gave me a dozen bulbs shortly after we moved in this house over fifty years ago.  The bulbs multiplied, I gave some to friends and still they multiplied.  Just the kind of flower I like.  Plant them and they will take care of themselves.

On July 31, the first blooms appeared.

They grow tall, taller than the birdbath.

Just this year I learned their Latin name, Lycoris squamigera.  They are in the amaryllis family.

In the spring, the leaves come up, straplike leaves, densely packed, and over a foot high.  They die back and completely disappear.  But spirit-like, the flowers rise in late July or early August.

There are a lot of common names for them, Resurrection Lilies, Surprise Lilies, Naked Ladies.  Take your pick.  I will always call them Mystic Lilies.

Our First Noticeable Frost, Oct, 18, 2018

I looked out the dining room window...a skim of ice on the birdbath.

I looked out the garage door...orange-red leaves on the neighbor's treetop.

In the neighbor's yard...white frosted tips on the evergreens, white frosted grass on the ground.

I walked out to the prairie patch...Frost on the seedheads of the bergamot.

Fall is here.

More From Nellie and George's Backyard...July 11, 2018

George and Nellie change their garden from year to year as they come up with new ideas.  Their garden is mostly a shady one. Much of the area is low so water stands in it after rains or snow melts.  They have dug shallow drainage paths for the water to follow and created interesting garden features in the process.

In the last blog about their garden,  I showed you the bridge Twilly Troll lives under.

Here is a new paver path they put in earlier this year.  In the upper part of the photo you can see their kitchen window.  This path is midway down their garden which is about two hundred feet long.

Nellie told me the names of some of her many lilies.  This one is called Priscilla's Rainbow.

Creature of the Night is this lily's name.  Nellie and George think it must have been named by someone thinking of the song, "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera.

Nellie found this lily's name on a list of lilies she and George have bought from Blanchard's in Applecreek, Ohio.  It is called Lady Stephanie.

I didn't ask Nellie the names of the three different lilies in the photos below.  I sent her copies of the photos so perhaps she will identify them for me the next time she sends me a letter.

Nellie and George's garden also has wild flowers for the bees and butterflies. If  you look closely, you will see a honeybee gathering the nectar on this milkweed.

Earlier this year Nellie snapped this photo of a red-shouldered hawk perched on a tree in the backyard.  I suppose it was stopping by on its trip back north.

Nellie and George found this fawn  half hidden in the grasses and trees toward the back of their garden one morning  It was gone the next day so its mother must have returned to it sometime late in the day or evening.

"Lose yourself in Nature and find Peace."

George and Nellie's Garden... July 11,2018

Tom drove us to Northeastern Ohio to visit my sister and her husband, her daughter, and to visit the Cleveland Art Museum.  After stopping at our niece's embroidery shop and having a good time visiting as we ate lunch with her, we headed toward George and Nellie's.  

We always take time to look at their beautiful flower garden before going out to eat with them.

At the entrance to her garden, my sister  had a new sign.  She said, "We'll see the troll somewhere as we go walking".

She asked me to take a photo of the verbena near the sign.  Some flowers are so tiny it is hard to see the details.  My Olympus Tough (TG-850)  has a Macro option so I was able to get a good closeup.  Interesting to me that the manufacturer used a flower to mark the setting.

She has a wide variety of flowers in her backyard which is one big flower garden.
The flowers that predominate are the lilies and the hostas. Most of the backyard is shady, an ideal place for the hostas.  The lilies glow in areas that get some sun.

There are a variety of borders.  In the first photo, you can see a brick border.  In the second is a stone border.  Nellie and George decide on the look they want and then do whatever they must do to achieve it.

She has  miniature hostas, too.  The gnome gives you an idea of their size.

Hosta blooms.

There are a variety of inhabitants in her garden, too.

Fairies...

Angels...

A colony of gnomes...

Small animals and birds and butterflies...

Buddhas and wind chimes...

Peace...

Shortly after I took this photo I found Twilly Troll.

This is the bridge he lives under.  Remember that sign at the entrance to the garden?

Looking for Spring on St. Valentine's Day

We've been having a lot of warm days.  On Tuesday afternoon, the temperature reached 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Tom, three friends and I met at Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary.

My main goal was to find Harbinger of Spring in bloom.  We found  leaves from a number of different plants  but despite all our looking none of us could find a flower or even a bud of the Harbinger of Spring.

We are fairly sure that the leaves below are Harbinger of Spring leaves.  It often grows close to the boardwalk.

We did find the leaves of Puttyroot, an Ohio Orchid.  The leaves are much easier to find than the blooming plants.  By late April when the flowers are blooming the leaves are gone.  The ten inch tall plants are hard to find among the other undergrowth.  We noted landmarks where there were a lot of leaves so we would know where to look later in the spring.

Before we left the parking lot, we discussed other special flowers that a person has to search to find.  Then the topic switched to birds, again, the special ones that a person has to search for.  

Suddenly, Tom pointed,  "Look!".  A magnificant mature American Bald Eagle soared overhead.

We didn't find Spring but we did see a beautiful sight.

My Sister's Flower Garden ( and my brother-in-law's as well) Ferns, Hostas, Treasures...

 I hope you take time to click on these photos.  A lot of what makes my sister's garden special is in the small details.  You can only see them in a larger photo.

To the right as we walk into the backyard..

To the left as we walk into the backyard.  See Tom in the background?  The garden reaches to the property line.  The total backyard garden is a little over one hundred feet wide and two hundred feet deep.

Joy and Beauty abounds...

The Wood Wizard is reading his book of spells under a tall spreading tree.

Under another tree a red fox listens.

There are newly repainted gnomes for children to delight in finding.

And tucked away in another niche is a family of ducks which my sister  found one by one in various places as she browsed through shops and sales.

Throughout the garden a variety of wind chimes add music.

Here and there are messages that garden lovers realize are true.

There are nearly hidden narrow paths bordered by ferns and hostas.

Chairs and benches, many of them painted by my sister, hold baskets of flowers.

This chair brings back memories for both of us.  Dad brought  home a collection of kindergarten chairs when a school district was disposing of unwanted items.  We used them for teaparties and extra seating for years.

This angel is one my sister bought in memory of my mother.  My mother was a flower lover, too, so this garden is a perfect spot for remembering her.

My sister planted a tribute to one of her very best friends in a quiet back corner.

I enjoyed my walk through my sister's garden.  I enjoyed the love it radiated.  And I loved this quiet peaceful spot where I could sit on a comfortable bench and rest my mind.