Monday Work

I've been reading again ( really must stop that....especially since there are apples to be picked) And it seemed appropriate to the day. A poem by Richard Le Gallienne "I Meant to do my Work Today"

 (baby Varied Thrush)

I meant to do my work today, but a brown bird sang in the apple tree...

                                   

      .....and a butterfly flitted across the field......

                          ............and all the leaves were calling me.

                              And the wind went sighing over the land.............
              
                                             Tossing the grasses to and fro...............

                           .....And a ranbow held out its shining hand...............
                 
                                   So what could I do, but laugh and go?

 ( Verbascum)

                          (Can always pick apples tomorrow....................)

WONDERFUL THINGS

 So many things. Sweet Peas. First ones. Scented like summer. My favourite thing of summer.

       

Cats that flop. Cats that like Sweet peas............

    .....a lot. Pye's true love. She will snuffle more bouquets of sweet peas as summer wears on. She pulls them out of the vase. One by one. And I will systematically replace them.

                                 Then there's a Spencer that flops.

 A Penguin that sits. Pots that pop.

                        And roses that are beautiful.

                               In the shade, bells of blue.

                                Mists of fog on a cool day. Foghorn sounding. A reminder that fall is coming not long from now. Gives way to muggy steam.

                  And the tall Vebascum towers over all.

                                               And cats who grace you .

 Sweet peas on massive stalks.Popping like popcporn.

                                     Cats who wait. Cats who don't want to wait. But have to.

                                    

           And by the end of the day, the fog has lifted, the foghorn stops its din, and the cement is warm. And Smokey rolls.  Happy in  this world of wonderful things.........

Hummingbird on Verbascum

 Hummingbirds  are frequent vistors to the garden. Often I can hear their little wings whizzing asthey divebomb the flowers. Today I was on the porch, and had a moment to grab the camera. This one was after the Verbascum

 Verbascum can get so tall....this one must be about 6 feet. I think a lot of gardeners consider it to be a type of weed.I think it is an amazing plant. The hummingbirds seem to like it. This one perched on the leaves and stems before whizzing off.

 Soon, this Verbascum will stop bloomin and the stalks will become brittle, dry and hollow. But for hnow they are bright yellow....have also heard it called a "False Sunflower."

Verbascum

Lots of Verbascum

The gardeners in this area call this a Verbascum. But I didn't get this perennial on the island, but on the mainland, where the greenhouse, in White Rock, called it a Perennial Sunflower. Verbascums are from the Mullein family, and generally have small blooms on a tall spike.

This definitely resembles a sunflower of some sort. The plant divides really well...I have three offshoots from the main plant that we left behind in White Rock. They must be 8 feet tall.

This isn't exactly a mullein "spike", so I'm not sure why the garden people here call it a form of mullein. It must be an off shoot. Doesn't matter. I think it's an incredible plant.