Blossom VIII

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“One joy dispels a hundred cares.”
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Confucius

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2016

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“I slept and dreamt that life was joy.

I awoke and saw that life was service.

I acted and behold, service was joy.”

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Rabindranath Tagore

Blossom I

Blossom II

Blossom III

Blossom IV

Blossom V

Blossom VI

Blossom VII

Layers

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Color lies in layers,

like a living, moving quilt

blanketing the garden,

 preparing for winter slumber.

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Soak  in every vibrant tint and hue

While one may;

While life vibrates

From petal and leaf, berry and seed.

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What more can one do

than wrap oneself, too, in such beauty?

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Woodland Gnome 2015

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Loving Kindness

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We all need a bit more loving kindness in our hearts and in our lives. 

Lama Surya Das, author and teacher, published his personal version of the Buddhist Metta, or loving-kindness meditation, on his blog last week. 

This is a beautiful meditation, which I would like to share with you.  

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May I be happy, content and fulfilled.
May all beings be happy!
May we all be equally peaceful, safe and serene.
May all beings be free from harm, danger and fear.

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May we walk together the path of wisdom and compassion.
May I practice loving kindness.
May I practice equanimity, acceptance and non-reactivity.

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May I be free from suffering and enjoy peace and ease.
May my heart remain open.
May I enjoy and appreciate the holy Now.
May I awaken to the intrinsic Light of my own original true nature.

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May I be healed and whole again;
May the planet be healed and restored.
May I recognize my intrinsic interconnectedness and interdependence with others,
And help overcome inequality and poverty through generous sharing and nonattachment.
May I live in gratitude and grace.

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May I love deeply, and with full acceptance, and may I open my heart also to receive love.
May I forgive and be forgiven.
May I be free from suffering, stress and anxiety.
May I see the radiant light in all people and things, including those who disagree with me.

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I bow to true Buddha-nature, equally innate in one and all.

Lama Surya Das

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“Learning how to love is the goal and the purpose of spiritual life —

not learning how to develop psychic powers,

not learning how to bow, chant, do yoga, or even meditate,

but learning to love.

Love is the truth. Love is the light.”

Lama Surya Das

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2015

These Hibiscus, Rose of Sharon, Crepe Myrtle and Roses were blooming in our garden this morning.  It was nice to discover them between showers, and to share them with you….

 

Rain-Glow

Forest Garden in this afternoon’s rain.   All of our Crepe Myrtle trees, save one, have come into bloom.

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“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”

Confucius

 

You would never know it was August, here in Williamsburg, without consulting a calender.

We have embarked upon another stretch of cool, moist, overcast days.   It is wonderfully fresh outside.

Good sleeping weather, actually, and we count ourselves fortunate that our garden  remains  well watered without our assistance.

Geranium and ornamental pepper  grow near the door.

 

We have enjoyed the garden today, in short bursts, between showers.

How satisfying to see it is growing just as winter’s imagination promised.

 

Begonia,  from the Homestead Garden Center

 

Cooler, moister days give us vibrantly deep color in petal and leaf.

Leaves grow into gigantic versions of their springtime selves.

 

Colocasia, “Blue Hawaii” just keeps growing to gigantic proportions. There are also a few “offsets” at the base, nearly ready to dig to share with friends.

 

Layer upon layer of life  shimmers with rain-glow today; almost as if we were suddenly transported to the beautiful Northwest, or the magical gardens of the  British Isles, from the view out of the window !

 

Cannas fill in this border nicely; Colocasia, Sages, and Lantana at their feet and Hibiscus behind.

 

Our hummingbirds have grown plump and sassy.

Every view punctuated with nectar rich flowers, they drink their fill, then pause on a handy branch to survey it all.

And we watch them, and talk to them like pets.

 

Ajuga, Coleus, Ivy, and Petunias.

 

Who knew August could be so lovely in Virginia?

We have been blessed with the sort of comfortable day which finds one reaching for those favorite jeans, a cup of coffee, and a good book.

 

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”

Sir Francis Bacon

 

Autumn “Brilliance” Fern with Creeping Jenny

Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

Opening

The first ever buds opening on a “volunteer” Crepe Myrtle which has finally grown large enough to bloom this season.

Hours into days, days into weeks, weeks into seasons;  as we drift through the unfolding year something new  always opens up for us, even as something spent is crumpling and falling away.

Gardenia

The first week of July, well into the summer, hosts a fresh round of openings and beginnings here in our forest garden.

Buddleia, “Harlequin” has come into bloom this weekend.

Hibiscus and Buddleia, Dill and Crepe Myrtle are all opening and unfolding the first of their flowers at the moment.

The first bud of the season ready to open on our hardy Hibiscus, H. moscheutos .  Japanese beetles have been active eating its leaves this summer.

I love to find a plant covered in buds; full of potential and beauty, ready to open itself to the garden.

Tiny grapevines have sprouted from the Muscadine seeds I planted last fall.

 

July, as flower-filled as May in our garden, also offers up an incalculable array of shades and hues of green.

 

Canna, gift from a friend’s garden, survived our harsh winter.

 

When rain has been plentiful, as it is this year, greens are fresh and vibrant.

 

Redbud “volunteer” has grown well this season. Perhaps next spring it will bloom.

Greenness generates the energy needed for growth; and one may almost hear the whispers of unfolding leaves and lengthening stems on a warm summer evening.

 

Joe Pye Weed planted about a month ago is growing well now.

Change comes minute upon minute in the garden during deep summer.

Abundant moisture and  constant heat provide the hothouse for outrageous growth.

Rose of Sharon

Vines stretch and new seeds germinate.

Shrubs magically expand and ferns fill in the open spaces.

Buds constantly opening fill every breeze with sweetness.

First Crepe Myrtle blooms of the season open on this favorite tree>

 

Every part of the garden glows with color.

 

 

A garden serves as a reliable text book for life.

 

Fungi  are key to opening the fertility of soil to plants.

 

Lessons trivial and profound are written daily in the sky and soil.

Pruned hard exactly a year ago, this beautiful old oak shows strong new growth.

 

Every creature and plant is a willing tutor to those who engage with them with mind and heart open to their wisdom.

 

 

The changing light weaves a new story each day; a faithful Scheherazade for those who will listen and take pleasure in the tale.

 

In July, the garden’s theme is abundance and profound love.

Source is generous with its gifts, nourishing through its fruits, and rich in its beauty.

 

 

Nature is ever at work building and pulling down,

creating and destroying,

keeping everything whirling and flowing,

allowing no rest but in rhythmical motion,

chasing everything in endless song out of one beautiful form into another.

John Muir

 

 

Words and Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

 

Crape Myrtle: One Hundred Days of Flowers

Crepe Myrtle in James City County, Virginia

Crape Myrtle, Lagerstroemia, offers bright color and happiness wherever it is planted.  One of the most beautiful ornamental trees in all seasons, Crepe Myrtle is especially loved in coastal Virginia.  Our Crepe Myrtle, one of over 50 species, is the Lagerstroemia indica, originally from China and Korea.  It is hardy as far north as Zone 6.

Crepe Myrtle in front of Brusters Ice Cream shop in Williamsburg.

White Crepe Myrtles front the Kingspoint Clubhouse property.

In fact, the streets of Norfolk, Virginia, are lined with beautiful Crepe Myrtle trees, a project of the much loved Fred Huette.  Mr. Huette began the Norfolk Botanical gardens in 1936 with WPA money from the federal government, and spent the rest of his career beautifying the city of Norfolk with his staff and many, many, volunteers from Norfolk garden clubs.  Driving through the streets of Norfolk today one is mesmerized by the beauty of thousands of Crepe Myrtle trees lining its streets.

Crepe Myrtle trees line the entrance to the Holly Hills neighborhood in Williamsburg.

Mr. Huette, who went on to be appointed the Superintendent of Norfolk’s city parks, understood the impact the trees make when planted uniformly along a street. He sent his staff to plant two Crepe Myrtle trees in front of the home of any city resident who would allow it.  Since they were all the same color, and many planted at roughly the same time along a given street, they make a spectacular show today, some 80 years later.

Still popular throughout the area, residents today have a wide choice of cultivars from which to choose.  Crepe Myrtles are available in many different sizes and colors.  The newest hybrids are dwarf shrubs which can grow in a pot, and stay under 4’ high even when planted out in the garden.  The largest Crepe Myrtle cultivars of L. indica top out around 30’.

Crepe Myrtles at the entrance to the Foxfield neighborhood in James City County, VA.

McDonald’s Garden Center, based in Hampton, VA, offers its customers a Crepe Myrtle Festival each July, right at the end of the active season for buying summer plants.  For the past 23 years, customers have collected “Myrtle Money” from purchases earlier in the season to spend at the festival, which is a high point of the summer in Tidewater.

A dwarf Crepe Myrtle Hybrid, “Cherry Dazzle,” growing in our friends’ garden will remain at this height indefinitely.

Thanks in part to their promotion of this beautiful plant, Crepe Myrtle trees are a familiar sight along city streets from Virginia Beach to Williamsburg.  Used extensively by VDOT for beautifying median strips, they are also found in neighborhoods, shopping centers, apartment complexes, and around public buildings.

Crepe Myrtle trees grow beautiful trunks and branches.

Originally from Asia, the first Crepe Myrtle tree was imported through Charleston SC in 1790 by French botanist Andre Michaux. The largest species, L. speciosa, originally from tropical India, can only be grown in the southernmost parts of Florida, Texas, California, and in Hawaii.  It can grow to nearly 70’ tall.  L. indica is the common species found throughout much of the southern United States north of Zone 9.

Crepe Myrtles produce flowers in white, red, many shades of pink, lavender, and purple.  All of the flowers are relatively small, but grow in large panicles which cover the tree in late summer and early fall.  The orange stamens are more visible in some cultivars than in others.  Sometimes called, “The tree of 100 days,” Crepe Myrtle will bloom between 90 and 110 days each summer depending on the cultivar.

Street side tree growing near The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.

Crepe Myrtle growing in front of a local James City Co. garden center.

Crepe Myrtle, although not native to North America, has naturalized in many areas, and is an excellent tree in a wildlife garden.  They self seed easily and grow along the sunny edge of the forest in my ravine. They are much loved by birds for perching, nesting, and feasting on seeds in winter and insects in summer.  Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds visit their flowers.  They are rarely touched by deer.

Though beautiful, the flowers can make a mess when they fall in heavy rain.  It is best to avoid planting the trees where they will shed onto a driveway or other area where cars are parked.  Spent flowers can be annoying on walkways near the house where they can be tracked inside on shoes.

Similarly, the bark exfoliates as the tree grows.  This makes for beautiful stems, but the gardener may wish to clean up the fallen bark.

Crepe Myrtle bark peels in summer while the tree is growing.

Crepe Myrtles can be trained to a single trunk, but many cultivars prefer to grow as a multi-stemmed shrub.  Suckers form from around the base of the plant each summer and are usually trimmed off.

Crepe Myrtle at the entrance to Kingspoint was brutally pruned last winter and now struggles to survive.  It has numerous suckers coming up from the roots which need pruning.

Some gardeners indulge in a particular form of Crepe Myrtle cruelty by heavily pruning the tree each winter.  Often done to control size, this heavy pruning leaves the tree looking like an amputee all spring as the tree struggles to produce new branches.  Crepe Myrtle flowers on new wood each season.  It is a fast grower, especially when the summer is wet.

Better to purchase a cultivar which will grow to the size required than to butcher the tree annually to control size.  The grace and beauty of the tree’s natural shape is completely lost.  The tree can still be cut back an thinned in late winter or early spring, but severe coppicing is unsightly and ultimately weakens the tree.

Crepe Myrtles shade the picnic tables at Bruster’s Ice Cream shop.

On smaller trees, spent flowers can be trimmed back in late summer before seeds form to encourage another flush of flowering.  This extends the season of bloom into September.  Once seed heads form, they linger throughout the winter months.  They can be left to feed hungry birds in winter, or can be snipped off of smaller trees without interfering with the beauty of the branches.

Crepe Myrtle blooming near the Williamsburg Airport in early August.

The beauty of Crepe Myrtle extends into the winter months.  Although somewhat brittle, they are open and sculptural enough to be a good support for white lights during the holidays and into the new year.

A naturalized Crepe Myrtle blooms in the edge of the woods behind a Butterfly Tree.

Plant Crepe Myrtle in sun or part sun in any well drained soil.  They are widely adaptable.   Crepe Myrtle is a tough tree.  Although fall is considered the best season to establish new trees and shrubs in our area, potted Crepe Myrtle trees can be planted most any time.  Water well during dry spells for the first year or two until they establish good roots.  Fertilize in early spring with Espona’s Plant Tone organic fertilizer.  Newly planted trees also respond well to Neptune’s Harvest mixed in a dilute solution every few weeks.  Neptune’s Harvest, poured over a small tree or shrub, is a good foliar feed and offers additional minerals to encourage early growth.

Powdery mildew will afflict some cultivars during especially hot and humid weather.  Newer hybrids, especially the ‘Fauriei Hybrids’ (with the Native American Indian tribal names) are resistant to mildew; are strong growers; and have good fall color and beautiful bark.

This small crepe myrtle is still a favorite for nesting birds.

This group includes Natchez (white), Muskogee (light lavender), Tuscarora

These beautiful old trees are growing in the Eastern State Hospital Cemetery on Henry St. in Williamsburg.

(deep watermelon pink), Tonto (deep watermelon red), Arapaho (deep red), Sioux ( intense pink),  Catawba ( purple),

A remarkable tree, Crepe Myrtle adds beauty and drama to the garden throughout the year.  Planting one is a loving gesture to all who will admire it and to all of the garden creatures who will enjoy its shelter and nectar for decades to come.

Crepe Myrtles on the lawn of the William and Mary Law School

All photos by Woodland Gnome taken in Williamsburg and James City Co. Virginia

Another view of the Crepe Myrtles at the Kingspoint Clubhouse, this time with orbs.

For more information:

Wilson Bros. Nursery

Illustrated List of Crepe Myrtle Cultivars

My own white Crepe Myrtle remains small enough to dead head spent blossoms to encourage a second wave of bloom.

More information on Fred Huette

Crepe Myrtle Plants locally

McDonald Garden Center