What's blooming???

Lots of stuff!!!

It's not a flower, but it is the something different on the cedar trees.

Cedar-Apple Rust

Cedar-apple rust is just one of several similar fungal diseases which could be broadly classified as Juniper-Rosaceous rusts. All of these rusts have very similar disease cycles but differ in exactly which juniper and rosaceous species they infect. The fungus spends part of its life cycle on a juniper host and part on a host in the rose family. It requires both hosts to complete its life cycle. All of these rust diseases are caused by species in the genus Gymnosporangium. Cedar-apple rust is caused by the fungus known as Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae. Two other common juniper-rosaceous rusts are hawthorn rust and quince rust, although there are many more.

Examples of juniper hosts include eastern red cedar, southern red cedar, Rocky Mountain juniper, some prostrate junipers, and Chinese juniper. Examples of rosaceous hosts are apple, crabapple, hawthorn, quince, serviceberry, and pear. Some commercial apple varieties are highly susceptible to cedar-apple rust with both direct fruit infection and defoliation of infected leaves. (from the Cornell University Plant Clinic website)

Metro Monday

You gotta stop and smell the Daffodils!!!

And sometimes the Daffodils need to be watered!!!

And yes, the Daffodils are blooming is south Georgia. General Beau Lee, Ph.D., Georgia’s Official Weather Prognosticator predicted an early spring on Feruary 2nd. With temperature in the upper 60's to lower 70's for nearly two week now, I would say he got another one right!!! In the mean time - his northern cousin, Punxsutawney Phil, has six more weeks of cold, snow and winter in store for those above the Mason-Dixon.

Winter Flowers

There are three Japanese Camellias (Camellia japonica) around our house. One in the center of the front, one on the South West corner and one at the Breeze Way deck. They are all blooming, given a bit of color to grey winter days. When the first bloom appeared about two weeks ago, I had to bring it into the house for Sarah to enjoy!

While picking up pecans yesterday, I noticed the small while flowers in Mama's little garden. The White Narcissus are like the little snowflakes that we would never see this far south.

We didn't just fall...

Off the Turnip Truck, that is.

We have been enjoying the turnip roots and greens and Mustard greens for about five weeks now. Maurice, Sarah’s brother, loves to buy seeds, plant and fertilize and then watch stuff grow. That’s about the end of his involvement, until the bounty comes out of the cooking pot.

Our Turnip Queen, Brooke!!!

Mustards, washed and ready for the pot.

We have been rather selfish with the mustard greens. Of the nearly acre of greens planted back in September, only about 5% are mustards. Sarah's favorite green is by far --- mustard. We gathered the last of the curly tops, if we don't get rain before the next frost.

There is a 60% chance of rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow!!!

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Matthew 17:20

Cotton Pickin' Cotton Picker

Today, as we drove to Macon for Sarah's doctor appointment, we noticed the cotton fields around Eastman. The cotton bolls were bursting with the white fibers, ready to be picked. Before combines took to the field, it was the most labor intensive crop to harvest. The boll has four sections, that when it opens, creates sharp burs, which will prick the hands of those after the white fibers.

A module builder waiting to compact the cotton into a bale.


Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. John 4:35

Blooms in Autumn

A few weeks ago I noticed a shimmer of white on the Pear Tree in Mama's yard. Easter Sunday, with its killing frost, made for reduced crops of peaches, pears, blueberries and pecans in Georgia and thoughout the Southeast. Anything that was blooming that second Sunday of April was stunted. There are no seed pots on the Paulownia trees in the yard this year. But there are many flower buds. We have seen them in past years, but never had any to fully bloom in October, until today:

MayPop

Maypop (Passiflora incarnata), also known as Purple passionflower, is a fast growing perennial vine with climbing or trailing stems. A member of the passionflower genus Passiflora, the Maypop has large, intricate flowers with prominent styles and stamens. One of the hardiest species of passionflower, it is a common wildflower in the southern United States.

The fleshy fruit, also in itself called a Maypop, is an oval yellowish berry about the size of a hen egg; it is green at first, but then becomes orange as it matures. In this species, the yellow mucilage around the seeds of the fruit is sweet and edible, however it is quite seedy and mostly benefits wildlife.

I remember the field just to the west of the house in Daylight, TN. It was full of the purple flowers and green eggs. Very few of the fruit made it to maturity with me around. I would seek out the orbs and apply pressure with the bottom of my tennis shoe...

POP!!!

The sound of the air escaping from made for entertaining a young boy on a hot summer day.

"Passion" does not refer to love, but to the Passion of Christ on the cross. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries discovered this flower and adopted its unique physical structures as symbols of Crucifixion.

For example: the 72 radial filaments (or corona) represent the Crown of Thorns. The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles. The top 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails and the lower 5 anthers represent the 5 wounds.

In North America they are also called the Maypop, the water lemon, and the wild apricot (after its fruit). Native Americans in the Tennessee area called it ocoee, and the Ocoee River and valley are named after it.

Figs

Figs blossom inside themselves!

I didn't know that!!! When I moved from Tennessee to Georgia nearly 18 years ago, the only figs I was familiar with were Fig Newtons and the figs mentioned in the Bible.

They are the only fruit which fully matures, then partially dries, before falling from its tree a perfectly ripe piece of fruit! But not really... It is a faux-fruit. A fig "fruit" is derived from a specially adapted type of inflorescence (structural arrangement of flowers). What is commonly called the "fruit" of a fig is actually a specialized structure- or accessory fruit- called a syconium: an involuted (nearly closed) receptacle with many small flowers arranged on the inner surface. Thus the actual flowers of the fig are unseen unless the fig is cut open. In Chinese the fig is called 'fruit without flower'. The subtle crunchy texture you detect when you chew into a Fig Newton are the blossoms of the fig.

Beginning in the Garden of Eden, the fig, with its astonishing health-giving and healing powers, is mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible. In fact it is the first fruit specifically named in Genesis (3:7) the leaves of fig tree used for covering nakedness. Figs are a traditional food in the Jewish Passover celebration.

Only one of the fig trees in Mama's yard is showing any sign of 'fruit' this year. Mostly because of the killing frost on Easter Sunday. The largest of the fig trees is protected beneath the canopy of the huge pecan tree in the side yard. The figs are just starting to ripen. If you have never had a fresh fig - you have missed a sweet and crunchy treat.

Ficus carica - Common Fig

Crinums

I had been told they were amaryllis... And I called them by that name for several years. Last summer I was better informed, "They are crinums, do you have some spare blubs you can sent me?"

I just wish I had the knowledge to identify (by Genus and species) the flowers in our gardens and the wildflowers on the farm.

Kylee, I bow to your gardening skills and widsom...

From Wikipedia

Crinum is a genus of about 180 species of lily-like perennial plants that have large showy flowers on leafless stems, and develop from bulbs. They are found along the sides of streams and lakes in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide, including South Africa. In addition, swamp lilies are members of this genus which are cultivated for their attractive flowers like ornamental plants.
Crinum leaves are basal, typically long and strap-shaped, with colors ranging from light green to green.

'Maters

Ain't nothing like summer time --- yellow squash, purple hull peas, sweet corn, snap beans, okra, cucumbers. But most of all, TOMATOES!!!

Tomatoes Sandwiches

• Two slices of the freshest, softest white loaf bread
• Mayo spread on both slices
• Vidalia Onion slices so thin that you can read "tomorrow's Newspaper through it"
• Tomatoes slices - the more the better
• Salt and Pepper to taste
  

Repeat, PRN - YUMMMMMMMMMM....

Need more recipes ideas??? John Denver said it best...

Homegrown Tomatoes

There ain't nothin' in the world that I like better
Than bacon 'n lettuce 'n homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin', out in the garden
Get you a ripe one, don't pick a hard 'un
All winter without 'em is a culinary bummer
I forgot all about the sweatin' and the diggin'
Every time I go out and pick me a big 'un

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and homegrown tomatoes

You can go out to eat and that's for sure
But there's nothin' a homegrown tomato won't cure
Put 'em in a salad, put 'em in a stew
You can make your own tomato juice
You can eat 'em with eggs, eat 'em with gravy
You can eat 'em with beans, pinto or navy
Put 'em on the side, put 'em in the middle
Homegrown tomatoes on a hot cake griddle

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What would like be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and homegrown tomatoes

If I's to change this life I lead
You could call me Johnny Tomatoseed
Cause I know what this country needs
Homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see

When I die don't bury me
In a box in a cold dark cemetery
Out in the garden would be much better
'Cause I could be pushin' up a homegrown tomato

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What would like be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and homegrown tomatoes

When they are gone, I will go into mourning... In the meantime, I am enjoying myself!!!

Blooms

It has been a long time since I put my hands to an arrangement. But this is a special occasion! Sunday will be Sarah's Mother 93rd Birthday!!!

Last year we went to one of the local florist to have them place plants in the Picnic Basket that is usually tucked away in the metal storage building under the huge pecan tree. LAST YEAR, we thought it was beautiful. And it was. But this year we wanted to do something extra nice and with our hands.

I called Susan (who takes care of the flowers at church - among other things) to see if the extras she had stored at her house had been delivered to the fellowship hall. We drove into town with Metro (shhhhhh, Metro went to church) and loaded the "extended cab" with arrangements and loose silk stems that had seen their better days.


Sarah and I were on the same wavelenght. Our combined creativity flowed as we started placing the base and background in the floral foam. Then she did something, that at first, surprised me. She stepped back from the dining room table. She was telling me, "That's good" and "Just a little to the right with that one" as I stabbed the green wooden picks into the Styrofoam. We forgot about the time we begun the project (about 10 ish) and work until it was officially Tuesday morning EDT. About 20 Pink, White and Red Gerber Daisies were in place. The teeny Pink, White and Red flowerets swept to the right and the ivy made up the opposite sweep to the left.

We stood back. It was awesome. But was still lacking something... The next morning, splashes of Yellow was applied and three of Mama's Bead Angels were the crowing touch.


Sunday morning, the basket will be on the table in front of the pulpit during worship. Then I will carried it back to the fellowship hall for the covered dish lunch in her honor.

In the bulletin it will read:
"The flowers this Sunday are placed in honor of Mildred Brown to celebrate her 93rd Birthday, by her Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren and Great-Great Grandson."

Whatcha think?

Metro seems a bit bored with the whole thing!

Bloom where you are planted...

Did the seeds get dropped? The crack in the cement in the parking lot on the west side of the Fellowship Hall has been in blooming for a couple of weeks.

Did the flowers dead head and self sow by floating down to the "just enough dirt" in the joint?



"Behold, a sower went forth to sow..." Matthew 13:3

• the wayside
• stony ground
• among thorns
• Good Ground

"Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Matthew 13:9

Here comes Peter Cottontail… Brrrrrrr…. Ouch!

As we rode to Sunrise Services this morning, the thermometer in the overhead console glowed 30° F. You come to expect a cool snap around Easter, but this year was very unusual. This Easter falls right in the middle of the five week span which defines the day.

Easter festival should be celebrated throughout the Christian world on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox. If the full moon should occur on a Sunday and thereby coincide with the Passover festival, Easter should be commemorated on the Sunday following.

Full moon was this past Monday – after the first day of Spring last month on the 21st. Spring has been kinda strange across the eastern half of the nation. Three of three MLB games scheduled in Cleveland this weekend were cancelled – DUE TO SNOW!

The air conditioner was running just four days ago (temperature was just short of the 90° mark) --- the heat has been on for the last 3 days.

Standing on the front courtyard of church this morning, jackets covered pastels. Sandals were endured for the few moments until Grace was said for the breakfast that waited in the Fellowship Hall. And damage was done to the tender vegetation around the farm.

Crepe myrtle

Pecan

Paulownia

Potatoes in the Garden

Hydrangea and Metro

Watching the Master's this afternoon, Amen Corner (and especially the 13th) is just beautiful with Dogwood and Azalea.