Sunday Dinner: Hang Tight….

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“Once you make a decision,

the universe conspires to make it happen.”

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Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“You may be the only person left who believes in you,

but it’s enough.

It takes just one star

to pierce a universe of darkness.

Never give up.”

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Richelle E. Goodrich

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“The difference between a successful person

and others

is not a lack of strength,

not a lack of knowledge,

but rather a lack in will.”

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Vince Lombardi

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“F-E-A-R has two meanings:

‘Forget Everything And Run’ or

‘Face Everything And Rise.’

The choice is yours.”

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Zig Ziglar

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“The thing about a hero,

is even when it doesn’t look like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,

he’s going to keep digging,

he’s going to keep trying to do right

and make up for what’s gone before,

just because that’s who he is.”

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Joss Whedon

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“You can have anything you want

if you want it badly enough.

You can be anything you want to be,

do anything you set out to accomplish

if you hold to that desire

with singleness of purpose.”

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Abraham Lincoln

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“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance.

The wise grows it under his feet.”

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James Oppenheim

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2019

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Dedicated to loved ones, who live this each and every day.

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“I am not anxious to be the loudest voice

or the most popular.

But I would like to think that at a crucial moment,

I was an effective voice of the voiceless,

an effective hope of the hopeless.”
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Whitney M. Young Jr.

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Sunday Dinner: Generosity

Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly on Lantana ‘Chapel Hill Gold’

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“We need to spread more seeds

and fill this Planet with love

to be surrounded by flowers just everywhere!

It starts by simply opening up

our hearts and hands to one another.

It’s in simple things

where true Happiness may flourish.”

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Ana Claudia Antunes

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“Generosity is the most natural outward expression

of an inner attitude of compassion and loving-kindness.”

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Dalai Lama XIV

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Pearl Crescent butterfly on Zinnia

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“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

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Kahlil Gibran

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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly on butterfly bush

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“The wise man does not lay up his own treasures.
The more he gives to others,
the more he has for his own.”

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Lao Tzu

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“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying

to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives.

In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender

before the miraculous scope of human generosity

and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely,

for as long as we have voices.”

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Elizabeth Gilbert

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Photos by Woodland Gnome

at The Williamsburg Botanical Garden

Enjoy the 4th Annual Butterfly Festival and Plant Sale 

August 4 & 5  free admission

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“Silence the angry man with love.

Silence the ill-natured man with kindness.

Silence the miser with generosity.

Silence the liar with truth.”

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Gautama Buddha

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Zebra Swallowtail butterfly on Lantana

Blossom XXIX: Buddleia

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Buddleia davidii, or butterfly bush, hosts many hungry pollinators on its abundant, nectar filled blossoms each summer.    I enjoy the beautiful creatures it attracts as much as I enjoy its brilliant blossoms.

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Hummingbird moths are especially drawn to Buddleia.

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These deciduous shrubs tend to be short lived.  They want plenty of sun and prefer rich, moist soil.  We lost several over the last few years, and had only one remaining last fall.

Buddleia want to be frequently pruned.  The bloom on new growth, and produce abundant blooms until frost if you faithfully dead head their spent blossoms.

They also need to be cut back very hard each winter.  If left to grow unpruned, they can soon grow too tall and gangling, falling this way and that from their own weight.  That said, I’ve never had one grazed by deer.

When I pruned our butterfly bush  in the late fall, I was inspired to stick lengths of the pruned stems into a large pot, around a winter blooming Helleborus.  I wasn’t confident that these woody stem cuttings would root, but decided to take the chance.  By early spring, we noticed new buds and leaves appearing and we could tell roots had formed.

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I transplanted most of the rooted cuttings out into the front garden when I refreshed the pot in late spring.  But we left the largest and strongest in place to grow on this summer in the pot.

All of the rooted cuttings have put on abundant growth this summer and are now well-established and blooming.  A seedling Rudbeckia has also appeared in the pot along with a Caladium  I tucked in this May, some Verbena cuttings I planted in June, and a division of Dichondra argentea. 

If this sounds like shamefully haphazard planting, well…. what can I say?

The Hellebore took a long time to die back, as did the foliage of the daffodil bulbs still nestled deep in the pot.  Spreading Colocasia plants have sprung up all around, hugging the pot with their huge leaves.  It may look a bit wild and woolly, but I can promise you that the many hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and this lovely hummingbird moth are happy with the abundance.

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Plants basically want to live.  The magic of simple propagation, whether from stem cuttings, division or saved seeds; is their will to survive against all odds.

The next time you find yourself pruning, consider whether you have space or desire for more of the plant you’re trimming back.  Green stems generally root well in water.  Woody stems will root in soil or a soil-less medium like vermiculite or sand.

There are finer points to it, depending on the time of year you take your cuttings.  But why not take a chance and give those pruning an opportunity to root?  Look at the beauty you have to gain! This is an easy and inexpensive way to give yourself impressive small shrubs for your large pots, too.

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Propagate your way into a full, lush garden filled with plants that you like, and that grow well in your conditions.  Doesn’t it seem a bit magical that a blossom this beautiful will grow from a pruned stem, that would otherwise have been tossed away?

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Woodland Gnome 2017

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A blossom from the mother plant, still growing strong and covered in flowers.

 

Blossom XXV: Elegance

Blossom XXVI: Angel Wing Begonia

Blossom XXVII: Life 

Blossom XXVIII: Fennel