WEDNESDAY'S WISDOM: The Last Leaf Gardener (LLG) "Accepts" the Social Media Inevitability! LLG Joins Facebook & Twitter – – – posted by the Physocarpus opulifolius (aka Coppertina tree's) flower, today's guest blogger

Remember me? I'm one of the flowers from the Physocarpus opulifolius (Coppertina) tree that grows in the urban (New York City) garden of Patricia Youngquist, the person who maintains this blog The Last Leaf Gardener, and, nearly six months ago to the day, on May 5th (Cinco de Mayo), this tree which I grow upon, authored his first blog entry, which you may refer to by clicking here. 


I had not bloomed at the time, but I learned about the Coppertina's posting soon after I bloomed, around May 19th 2011, because I (along with the other flowers that bloomed with me on the Coppertina) was featured in one of Youngquist's blog entries — on this very blog — titled, My Physocarpus opulifolius (Coppertina) and the Prodigal Son's Brother, which you may refer to by clicking here.


A short time after that, a Monarch butterfly landed on me — as evidenced in the photograph posted below,

and this image  of me is most likely very familiar to you by this time, because it is the one Youngquist currently uses in the 'About' section of this blog (upper left hand corner), and she also uses it so folks can identify her on Flickr as well as tumblr, and, addtionallly, Youngquist uses it for her Gravatar, and I am thrilled — as she has many flowers from her garden to choose from — to be featured in these venues.



Moreover, I was equally thrilled when the butterfly first landed on me, as it, too, could have chosen to "land" on any one of the beautiful things which grow in this garden. I still recall the day the butterfly was flitting about this garden whilst I hoped he would choose to land on me, and, lo and behold, he did! And now, that event — the butterfly looking for a flower and finding me — is going to be the trailer for Youngquist's second garden movie! I can't tell you the plot right now, as I am sworn to secrecy, but if you'd like to see this trailer, it is posted on Vimeo or you may click here.


Meanwhile, as you may recall, dear reader, in Youngquist's first garden movie, The Kiwi Speaks! Fifteen Minutes  of Fame (almost), which was discussed in a prior blog entry that you may refer to by clicking here, and is now available for viewing on Vimeo by clicking here, one of the "partners" of her Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines), was the narrator. I must confess I was a little jealous of that vine until I was reassured —  in the aforementioned blog post that includes the Prodigal Son's brother in the title which once again you may refer to by clicking here).


However, I must say that, even though it is fun to be in a movie trailer, and it is gratifying to be featured in the 'About' section of this blog (upper left hand corner) as well as on Flickr and tumblr, and to be her Gravatar, the butterfly is blocking some of my finest features! This is the reason I am so thankful that my image has been chosen — without the butterfly —  to be the representative on The Last Leaf Gardener's just released Facebook (FB) Page, where you will see a photograph of me without the butterfly. You may view it by clicking here  which will lead you to the full FB page, and I have posted a "copy" of the FB image below:

Pretty cool, huh? But I gotta say getting Youngquist to bite the Facebook (FB) bullet wasn't easy, and I'll tell you what convinced her to try FB: As you undoubtedly know, dear reader, my gardener, AKA the main author of this blog, is a big fan of Dagwood Bumstead (the "cartoon" character associated with the comic strip, Blondie). Her appreciation for this character is evidenced by a couple of her prior posts which you may refer to by clicking here as well as here. However, one of Dagwood's recent scenarios (regarding FB) is posted below:

It was Youngquist's realizing, that since even Dagwood Bumstead weighs in on FB, coupled with the things (such as me the Coppertina flower) which grow in her terrace garden convincing her that she should give us FB time, that The Leaf Gardener join the "FB" community!


And believe it or not, Youngquist, a "renaissance soul" is now finally a step ahead of Dagwood Bumstead, because she also set up a Twitter account! The address for it is: @THELLGARDENERNEWYORK and you may visit it by clicking here. I am happy to say that Youngquist also used my FB picture on Twitter! Her twitter slogan is, "Giving voice to what grows in a garden," and I would like to think that I was the inspiration for the slogan as a result of the post I wrote on Cinco de Mayo which I mentioned earlier in this entry however, for your convenience, I have posted another link to that post right here.


But, if truth be told, giving voice to the things which grow in Youngquist's urban garden has always been the norm. As the matter of fact, even the pumpkins, which were only here in the garden for the Halloween season, were impressed with how we express ourselves, and their thoughts were featured in this past Saturday's blog entry, which you may refer to it by clicking here.


Snippets of what this past Saturday's entry pointed out is that the things — such as myself, the Coppertina flower — which are grown in this terrace garden feeling the freedom to express ourselves, "all started in April of 2010, when [this] blog was only a little over four months old, and one of the beautiful flowers from [Youngquist's] Paeonia suffruiticosa (Tree Peony), posted a photograph of herself with a short narrative. (If you would like to refer to this, please click here.)"

"Meanwhile," last Saturday's post also pointed out that Youngquist's, "Helichrysum bracteatum (Strawflowers), has also "penned" (or shall I say "key-boarded"?) her thoughts too in a blog post which may be found by clicking here, while [Youngquist's] Penniestum setaceum (Purple Fountain Grass), on behalf of herself and [Youngquist's] Acer palmatum, posted a letter requesting assistance, so that an image of them taken by [Youngquist] could be rendered in a manner that it, too, could be used for one of the greeting cards, invitations or event program covers that [Youngquist designs, produces, and sells] within the Card Shoppe Pages (which you can view by clicking here) of [her] web-site, Patricia Youngquist Photo-Art."

I am just a Coppertina flower, so I don't know for certain, but I suspect, that it was this past Saturday's posting (and there is much more to it besides the snippets which I've included here) that made Youngquist realize just how prolific the things which grow in her terrace garden are, and that is another reason she may have decided to set up both Facebook and Twitter and give us more opportunity to share our view points and thoughts!

I do hope she keeps me as her profile picture! Therefore, if you agree with me that this is a cool opportunity for me, and that the things which she grows in her terrace garden were right to convince her to go the FB and Twitter route, please let Youngquist know in the "comments field" of this blog, or go over to her FB page and give it a "like", because if you do either or both of these things, then she'll keep me in the profile picture! 


P.S. If you are new to posting comments on a blog, you may click here for directions.

Today's the last Saturday of October 2011! Question: Will it be Halloween's Last Stand?

If you have been following my blog, then you are probably aware that some of the things which I grow in my urban (New York City) terrace garden have taken it upon themselves to express their thoughts and opinions by authoring blog entries and posting them within this blog.


This "hoopla" — which has caused one of the Halloween pumpkins that I currently have in my garden to be overcome with laughter as seen in the image to in the upper lefthand corner —  all started in April of 2010, when my blog was only a little over four months old, and one of the flowers from my Paeonia suffruiticosa (Tree Peony), posted a photograph of herself with a short narrative. (If you would like to refer to this, please click here.)

As time passed, word got out among the plants, vines, flowers, herbs, trees and shrubs — which totaled a little over eighty when I last took a census — that the flower from my Paeonia suffruiticosa had done this, and many of the things which I grow began authoring entries on my blog. (This fact has  caused another one of the Halloween pumpkins that I currently have in my garden to also be overcome with laughter as seen in the image at the right.)



For example, this past April (2011), a little over a year to the day of my Paeonia suffruiticosa flower's post, one of my tulips had a reaction to the poem, Tulips, by Sylvia Plath, and she, my darling tulip, expressed her feelings in an entry which you may refer to by clicking here. Moreover, she even followed up on her thoughts about Plath's poem in a subsequent entry which you may refer to by clicking here.


However, in the "interim" of my tulip's "prose", not wanting to be outdone, my Physocarpus opulifolius (Coppertina), went to great lengths to weigh in with his position on life in my urban terrace garden, and if you'd like to read what he had to say — I'm sure he would appreciate his voice being heard — you may do so by clicking here. 


Meanwhile, my Helichrysum bracteatum (Strawflowers), has also "penned" (or shall I say "key-boarded"?) her thoughts too in a blog post which may be found by clicking here, while my Penniestum setaceum (Purple Fountain Grass), on behalf of herself and my Acer palmatum, posted a letter requesting assistance, so that an image of them taken by yours truly could be rendered in a manner that it, too, could be used for one of the greeting cards, invitations or event program covers that I design, produce, and sell within the Card Shoppe Pages (which you can view by clicking here) of my web-site, Patricia Youngquist Photo-Art. 

Knowing that my Physocarpus opulifolius was allowed to be so prolific in its blog post, and knowing that my Helichrysum bracteatum shared her deepest concerns in "blog-format", and knowing that my Penniestum setaceum took to the task of letter writing, has caused some of the other Halloween pumpkins that I currently have in my garden to now join in with the laughter — seen in the image posted below.

Meanwhile, part of all of the "pumpkin laughter" that is currently taking place in my terrace garden as Halloween approaches (it arrives in three days counting today) is because not only do they know that many more of the things which I grow in my garden have authored posts on my blog, but the pumpkins are aware that the things which I grow have also let their opinions be heard in different ways in addition to directly posting to this blog.


For example, my yellow rose not only authored a post (this past May, which you may refer to by clicking here) for the blog which you are reading now, but she convinced me to state one of her positions regarding the term "eye-candy" on nybg's (New York Botanical Garden) tumblr! This can found by clicking here, and scrolling until you see pictures of yellow roses (taken by yours truly). These images are accompanied with my rose's thoughts — exactly as they were told to me.

Some of my other pumpkins seem to be in joyful agreement that it was their 
heartfelt reaction to my rose's thoughts on the term "eye-candy" that brought them some "well-deserved" press that
they received in this past Thursday's blog entry, which you may refer to by clicking here.


But, having proclaimed throughout today's blog entry that my pumpkins are sharing in the joy of seeing what I grow in my garden be given the opportunity to express themselves, I should have suspected that they had an alternate motive! (In spite of how "innocent" they look in the image posted below.)

Yes, even pumpkins have their price! I have come to realize the main reason for my pumpkins' laughter today is from their over hearing the latest "news" regarding Halloween. They have brought it to my attention that Timothy Larson, an elected representative from Connecticut, wants to move Halloween to the last Saturday in October instead of keeping it on October 31st, as it has been since the beginning of Halloween tradition.


"How," my pumpkins are asking, "can a holiday such as Halloween which is equated with All Hallo'ws Eve  (the night before All Saints Day which is celebrated on November the First) be moved?"  My pumpkins did not stop with their question, but they continued with their thoughts and reminded me of how "silly" this idea is, given that, "the very word Halloween is first attested in the Sixteenth Century and it represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ('evening') that is, the night before Hallows Day." 


As you may have surmised, dear reader, from my pumpkins' accurate interetation of the misused term "eye-candy" by certain gardeners, (discussed in yesterday's blog post which you may refer to by clicking here), they are quite well read and make informed remarks; they tell me their source for the aforementioned fact about the "Scottish variant" as well as other interesting facts surrounding "the reasons on why Halloween is celebrated on OCTOBER THE THIRTY-FIRST, " can be found by clicking here.  


My pumpkins point out — and rightly so —  why are law makers spending money on things like moving a holiday which is  rooted in history, instead of creating jobs and heath care for their constituents? Will this lead to only celebrating the Fourth of July on the closest Monday for the public's long week-end convenience? (This happened with Memorial Day, a fact that I mentioned (yes the things which I grow in my garden do let me do the blog posting from time to time) in a couple of blog entries this past May which you may refer to by clicking here and here). 


Moreover, will the beginning of a calendar year change to the first Monday closest to January 1st to create a long week-end for the law-makers who spend their time creating such changes instead of programs that their constituents need?


How long will it before lawmakers try to forbid it to snow or rain on days that precipitation would cramp their style? 


Be that as it may, the conversation regarding changing Halloween has been started; there is a lot of media agenda surrounding it, including a You Tube video on the subject which is posted below:




AND WITH THIS,  WE MAY SOON BE NEARING THE END OF ANOTHER TRADITION, BUT NOT BEFORE WE CELEBRATE THE "OFFICIAL" HALLOWEEN THIS COMING MONDAY!  If you are interested in getting any of my Halloween cards (that have been mentioned in previous posts throughout this month of October) you can view the selections of cards that I have designed for  Halloween via the Card Shoppe Pages of my web-site Patricia Youngquist Photo-Art. A link to the specific location for these cards within the Card Shoppe Pages may be found by clicking here. They are only available in boxed sets on the Internet due to shipping regulations. However, if you live in the New York City area, my Halloween cards may be purchased as "singles" via Gifts by Helen, the woman who sells the painted cat rocks which have been featured in a number of my previous blog posts that you may refer to with a downloadable brochure that can be accessed by clicking here or by referring to the labels menu on the left hand side of this blog entry and referring to either Gifts by Helen or Painted Rocks. Please click here for her vending location and her contact information. If you decide to e-mail her, please indicate in the subject line of your email that you read about her endeavors on this blog. And, if you would like to contact me about any of the content in today's blog post and prefer to leave your questions or concerns in a "comment" as opposed to sending me an e-mail, but you are new to posting things in a "comments field", you may click here for directions.

Mushroom Madness

This past Sunday, August 20th 2011, as I prepared my blog entry for this Tuesday's publication, rain — severe rain — with thunderstorms was predicted. That weather report caused me to think back to the prior Sunday's (August 14th) torrents of rain.

While Texas remained under a severe drought, on Sunday, August 14th of 2011, the amount of rainfall in New York City set a record. According to radio reports, newspapers, and countless Internet materials, including one found at this link, "New York's Kennedy Airport received 7.8" of rain, its soggiest day since records began in 1948. Its single-day rainfall output was about twice its average monthly total."  As a result of this immense rainfall, there were "scattered power outages and transit disruptions. Cars got caught in flash floods, and the Long Island Railroad reported localized flooding and trees on the tracks, delaying several dozen trains....in the subways, water flooded into the tunnels, knocking out seven lines of power . . . "

Besides the rhetoric, newspapers were, if you will excuse the pun, flooded with images of this occurance. Many of these images are available to see via Flickr or general Google searches; so, dear reader, if you are interested, I will leave finding them up to you, rather than me hand-picking some, and then pointing you to the links to see them. Not that I mind doing this, but I think that reading the aforementioned fact about "cars getting caught in flash floods" will leave you with a mental picture of just how much rainfall we had in New York City.

The only photograph which I took of my terrace garden on that rain-filled day is one of a tiny watering can (obviously not one that I use to water my garden) that rests on the the second of three bamboo shelves which are attached to my terrace railing by copper-wire to provide me with an "urban hedge".  (The EXIF info on this photograph tells me it was taken at 16:57:13; which, from my military time conversion, means I took it a little after 4:57 P.M. — most likely the only small window of time on that Sunday in which rainfall was not occurring, as I am not camera savvy enough to shoot pictures in the rain.)




The first  bamboo shelf of of these "urban hedge" can be seen in the photograph below.

This photograph was not taken during the rainstorm, but has been included in this blog entry to give you an idea of what I mean by my "urban hedge" of bamboo shelving. These shelves serve as one of my "urban hedges" — giving me privacy from voyeur neighbors as discussed in a few previous posts, including ones which you may refer to by clicking here and here. These particular bamboo shelves are located at the extreme southwest corner of my garden, which means they are to the immediate left of the door that leads from my apartment to my terrace garden, and therefore I did not have to venture very far into my garden to take either of the photographs of my bamboo shelving. An orange arrow has been added to the image directly above, to show you, dear reader, just how close the neighbor's window is to my urban garden.




However, the point of today's blog entry is not solely dedicated to "urban hedges"  or to sensationalizing August 14th's rainfall, rather it is to shed light on the prevailing belief that the things which urban gardeners — or at least ones with container gardens — grow truly thrive as a result of such downpours. At times of heavy rainfall, many folks — as most of them know that I hand-water over sixty things that grow in my terrace garden — always say to me, "well at least you don't have to water . . . "




And with that assumption, I want to clarify something that I may have alluded to in a blog entry, in which I discussed hand-watering my terrace garden. First of all, rain does not always fall into the many containers that "house" the herbs, plants, flowers, vines, shrubs, and trees which I have in my terrace garden, so at times, even in heavy rainfall, I still have to water it. Secondly, if the rainfall is heavy enough to do damage to subway systems, think what it can do to the root systems of things living in garden containers. A number of years ago it rained every day in the month of June, and a few of my shrubs that I had successfully wintered over, and that had thrived beautifully for part of that spring season, succumbed to mold and mildew brought on by their roots being unable to dry out. Since mold and mildew can spread, I had to get rid of the afflicted shrubs, and replace them with other things.




Hence, the type of rain New York City experienced on Sunday, August 14th, because it was followed by heavy rain on Monday the 15th, Wednesday the 17th, Thursday the 18th, had the potential of endangering some of the things which I grow in my terrace garden; but as you can see by the photograph posted below (which was taken by Juan V on Thursday the 18th), fortunately that was not the case.

The things that grow in my terrace garden – so far — do not seem to be in danger of mold or mildew, which is a good sign, especially since it has continued to rain after Juan V took the photograph.




Unfortunately, another problem has come up in my urban terrace garden as a result of so much rainfall: Since the days following the time that Juan V took the aerial photograph of my urban garden, it has rained heavily again, and that rain, or rather my herbs, vines, flowers, plants, shrubs and tree's inability to dry out from that rain, has caused unsightly (in my humble opinion) mushrooms to make their home in the container which houses my Continus Coggygria (Smokey Bush) as seen in the photographs posted below.

I use the term "humble opinion" in conjunction with my observation that mushroom are "unsightly" because when I saw them on Sunday morning, August 21st, their sudden appearance nearly gagged me; and it sent me straight to Google for answers, where I came upon a mushroom lover's web-site by someone named Michael Kuo which you may refer to by clicking here.




Before I go any further, I will confess that this is not the first time I saw a mushroom in my urban garden, I did see a "lone" mushroom "hidden" beneath the delicate foliage of my Thom-Thumb shrub, but I dug it out immediately —  out of a reflex reaction — rather than photographing it. A few days later, I spotted a mushroom growing in my Creeping Phlox, and this time, I took a photograph, (posted below), and then I pulled the mushroom out!

Unlike Mr. Kuo, I do not appreciate their presence, and upon reading what he has to say about getting rid of them, I am quite discouraged. Here is what Kuo has to say about removal of mushrooms:"Mushrooms are roughly comparable to apples on apple trees; they are the fruiting body the organism creates when it wants to reproduce. The apple tree's "plan" (I know; I'm giving human thoughts to trees and mushrooms, but it's the easiest way to talk about this) is to put its seeds in a nice, plump morsel that will fall to the ground and attract a hungry animal who will then, um, pass the seeds to new territory for germination and a new apple tree."




Mr. Kuo continues, "Mushrooms have similar plans. Their seeds (microscopic things called spores) cover parts of the mushrooms; one of the best ways to understand mushrooms is to think of them as 'spore factories'. The entire structure is an excuse to get spores out into the world . . . the 'real' organism – the part that corresponds to the apple tree, rather than the apple — is called a mycelium (pronounced so it rhymes with 'my helium'), and is found in the mushroom's substrate: the ground, leaves, a log, woodchips, and so on. It is a mesh of tiny threadlike cells that plow through the substrate, consuming nutrients . . . "




"Now it should be obvious why you can't get rid of your mushrooms; you would have to get rid of the mycelium rather than the mushrooms. If you have been picking or stomping on your mushrooms to make them disappear, you might as well have picked every apple in an orchard , trying to make the trees go away."




"HUH?," says yours truly to the blinking monitor.




"You would need to remove all the soil and natural debris in your yard or garden, and replace it with something inorganic like concrete or plastic — in which case you would 'probably' be mushroom free. I say 'probably' because Pisolithus tinctorius, Scleroderma, and other mushrooms might still erupt through your concrete."




And I thought bamboo shelving would shield me from unsightly things! The blinking monitor hears me wince!




"What I haven't mentioned yet is your mushroom is an integral part of your yard or garden's ecosystem. Its mycelium is probably doing one of two things, either which is crucial to the health of your yard."




But, I have a container garden!




"  . . . mushrooms are involved in a symbiotic relationship with plants and trees. The plant's rootlets are surrounded and protected by the mushroom's mycelium which help the plant absorb water and nutrients . . . "




Not convinced that their value is worth the eye-sore!

I will concede that I am willing to consider Mr. Kuo's view, because, after all, anyone who presents their argument by "giving human thoughts to trees and mushrooms" has a way of winning my heart, for as you know, if you follow this blog, there have been a number of occasions when one of my plants, flowers, shrubs or trees have expressed themselves by authoring blog entries. My Paeonia Suffruiticosa's (Tree Peony) self-expression is here, my Tulips "two-cents" can be found here and here; my Physocarpus opulifolius (Coppertina) views are here, my Roses weighed in here; while my Helichrysum bracteatum (Strawflowers), took the helm here.




Moreover, my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines) were cast — although my Actinida kolomikta did all the talking — as narrators of my first garden movie, The Kiwi Speaks! Fifteen Minutes of Fame . . .  almost; which is now on Vimeo, and is accessible at this link.




And, not to be on done, my Hens and Chicks insisted on giving a thumbs up to a colleague of mine (which you can see at this link), while my Echinacea and Tropaelum majus (Nasturtium) insisted their placement in my Flickr Galleries be announced by them. They made their announcements in these respective links (here and here).




I am still not too pleased to have unsightly mushrooms invading my Continus Coggygria (Smokey Bush) and my Creeping Phlox, but if it doesn't bother them, I'll try to take the same attitude and let things take their course. Besides, once upon a time, I thought mushrooms were cute, well, at least ceramic ones, such as the variety yours truly is sitting on in the photograph posted below. The picture was taken on my fifth birthday, at Santa's Village, a place that was filled with amusement, and mushrooms (the purple double-sided  arrow on the photograph is pointing to two of the many) and now, as I celebrate my (ahem) birthday tomorrow, I will make a wish to be childlike and not childish about mushrooms.

Salve! Mihi nomen est _______________________ (OR The Name Tag Project Part One)

Salve! Mihi nomen est__________

OR

You may have surmised, dear reader, that a few of the things which I grow in my urban terrace garden like to express their thoughts, since some of them have taken it upon themselves to author posts for this blog. As you may remember, this started back in April of 2010 when my Paeonia suffruiticosa (Tree Peony) took to the keyboard and made a short blog entry which  you may refer to by clicking here.

Then, as you may recall, this past April of 2011 — almost a year to the day of my Paeonia suffruitcosa's flower's post — one of my tulips posted entries about Sylvia Plath, when it thought her poetry was insulting and hurtful. You may review how the tulip weighed in on Ms. Plath's poetry by clicking here and here. 

And your memory is serving you well if you are thinking that not to be outdone by my poetry analyzing tulip, my Physocarpus opulifolius (Coppertina), Rose, and my Helichrysum bracteatum (Strawflowers) all put in their two cents about urban garden life in posts that you may find by clicking here and here as well as here respectively.

The latest one to join the cyber-world was my Echinacea Plant who recently showcased itself on Flickr; then blogged about the opportunity! (You may click here if you'd like to see it.)

At this time, all of the herbs, plants, flowers, vines, shrubs and trees, which grow in my terrace garden have gotten together and informed me that life in my urban terrace garden has become a real social networking opportunity that is being hampered by the fact that it is difficult to remember everyone's name what with over sixty different things making their home in my garden. Moreover, because my herbs, plants, flowers, vines, shrubs and trees are surrounded by windows of neighboring buildings, they have come up with an idea for remedying this – an idea sparked by something that they saw on the televisions through the windows!  

I have not had a television since the late 1970's, so the fact that they even glimpsed at the "boob tube" surprises me, but they have confessed that this is exactly what they have done, and in doing so they learned a thing about social networking from a Bud Light commercial. Please take a look at what they saw as I've posted it below.

From their having seen this advertisement, they are imploring me to finish the name tags that I started a while ago. You may recall, dear reader, that in a previous post which you can read by clicking here, I stressed the importance of calling all things by the name that they wish to be called. In any event, the tags which I got for my plants are copper, as seen in the photograph of my "tagged" Juncus effsus (Unicorn Soft Rush) plant posted at the top of this blog entry after the screenshot image of your average name tag for people to wear at events which are not so attractive, but the copper name tags are very attractive and unique, which I am sure the things that I grow in my garden will appreciate since they have such high standards even though they watch television and get their inspiration from Bud Light commercials!
The copper style tags were suggested to me by Juan V, and you may have noticed one or two of the name tags in photo-collages that I included in my posting about my Echinacea Plant which you may go to by clicking here. The writing on the tags is unique too and very special as evidenced in the tag for my Ajuga plant seen in the photograph posted below.

Each tag's script is slightly different and was done by Jennie from a shop called "roam", which is located on Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper Westside of New York City. An image of their store-front's window can be seen in the photograph posted below.

The paper flowers you see in the window were also made by Jennie, and as you might surmise, she is multi-talented. I am grateful to have her "stamp" on my urban terrace garden in the form of her "script" on my copper name tags.  At this time, forty-three name tags (there are forty more to go) have been scripted by Jennie, and photographs have been taken of each one of the scripted copper name tags with their respeectivre plants. These images are posted on my Flickr Account which you can access by clicking on this link. A "sneak" preview can be seen below:

I will post another entry when the remaining thirty-one name tags are completed. Meanwhile, dear reader, if you are a gardener, do you "tag" the things which you grow on your garden? If so how? 

New Arrivals: The Coccinellidae novemnotatas aka THE LADYBUGS

In the photograph posted above, all arrows are on a teeney tiny Coccinellidae novemnotata aka ladybug, which is perched on a leaf of my Farfugium japonicum 'Cristata' plant — a lovely plant that "resides" in the southeast portion of my urban terrace garden. The picture was taken before seven o'clock in the morning last Friday — the morning after I had released ladybugs into my garden. Juan V had suggested I use ladybugs as a means of getting rid of some pests that were starting to nibble on my Farfugium japonicum 'Cristata' plant as well as other things which grow in my garden. Since I am legally blind, I do not always notice such things until it is too late, so I was grateful he made me aware of the munching pests, as well as for his suggestion that I bring on the ladybugs.



Prior to Juan V's suggestion, I had not realized that ladybugs were good for combatting plant munching pests. In fact, I had not realized that all ladybugs have    "special organs on their feet to help them smell", or that they "use their antennae to touch and taste". 


I also did not realize that ladybugs "chew from side to side and not up and down like mammals do" — at this moment in time — the ladybug's method of chewing would be a problem for yours truly, because, as you may recall, from a previous post in which I wrote about the Spilanthes oleracea plant, I have recently had a tooth extracted. This tooth was on the lower left side of my mouth, and since its extraction, I have not been able to afford the follow-up treatment needed, which has limited my ability to chew. Whatever ability I did have to chew as a result of the tooth extraction, was curtailed this past Saturday morning, when a bridge in the upper right hand side of my mouth came out while I was brushing my teeth; making the ladybug's method of chewing virtually impossible.


Apparently ladybugs — during hibernation —  feed on their stored fat, now this action,  I suppose, is something I could do as I have plenty of stored fat in my belly. (BTW, my sources for the aforementioned ladybug facts as well as much more information regarding them may be found by going to this link.)


Speaking of eating, it seems ladybugs are quite the noshers and can eat up to 4,000 aphids in their lifetime (read more by clicking here). As I stated earlier, I have not seen any aphids in my garden due to my poor eyesight; but from time to time I've seen some consequences of their having been in my garden, so I welcome the ladybugs to my terrace garden, and I encourage them to do their thing. The ladybugs seem to be enjoying my garden, as indicated in a few photographs where they can be seen on the leaves of my Yellow Rose Bush, as well as the leaves of my Physocarpus opulifolius (Coppertina) Tree, my Strawberry Plant, and on the pod of my Echinacea Plant. These pictures were taken before the camera-shy creatures headed into the soil for their "real food"  and they are posted (respectively) below.

Perhaps ladybugs feel comfortable in my garden as they are true New Yorkers in that they are our state's insect, or perhaps they are comfortable in my garden because, like the ladybug, I have spots which are due to the fact that I have the neurological condition known as Neurofibromatosis Type One (NF-1) which is something I have referred to in a number of previous blog entries, including ones which you may go to by clicking here, as well as here, and here and here, or to see all of my posts regarding Neurofibromatosis, click on the label in the labels menu (on the left hand side of all blog postings) bearing that name.


Because of my NF-1, I have six cafe´-au-lait spots; but as for the ladybug and its spots, here are some interesting facts (which I discovered in the link that I posted in the fourth paragraph of this blog entry): "most of them have red, orange, or yellow wing covers with black spots, some are black with red spots, they usually do not have their spots for the first twenty-four hours of their adulthood, and the spots on the ladybug fade as it gets older." 


Unlike the ladybug and its spots, the cafe´-au-lait spots of someone afflicted with NF-1 do not fade, ever, but, fortunately for me — because I have an olive complexion — they are not very pronounced. However, what is pronounced, are the thousands of lumps and bumps which appear all over my body as a consequence of having this medical condition. These lumps and bumps are referred to in the medical community as neurofibromas. They are fibrous tumors that wrap around any nerve ending and push up through the skin causing lumps and bumps in varying sizes o appear everywhere, giving one afflicted with NF-1 the appearance of having a case of Elephant Man's Disease.


Since NF-1 occurs at birth, I have obviously had it my whole life, yet I am often taken off guard when someone refers to my appearance. As it happens, i was at the Greenmarket this past friday, and one of the farmers asked me if I was from Queens, which is one of the five boroughs of New York City. I told her that I did not live in Queens, but I also inquired as to why she asked. "A man I have seen living there has your skin condition", she replied gesturing at my lumps and bumps. Perhaps because I was caught off guard, the hurt and shame that I have felt as a result of having this condition welled up inside of me as I tried to explain to her that what she saw on my body was not the result of a "skin condition" but was tumor related as a result of a neurological condition.


While there are many remedies — such as ladybugs — out there to protect gardens from aphids and other invasive pests, I've yet to find a remedy against human cruelty towards those who suffer from a physical condition. According to Wiki, "In many countries, including Russia, Turkey, and Italy, the sight of a ladybug is either a call to make a wish or a sign that a wish will soon be granted." 


Hmmmm . . . I wonder if . . .