I've been a bit bee-hind in posting photos and stories. What can I say? It's hard to stay vertical when you are constantly about to toss your cookies. I took this week off Lyme meds just to catch up all the things happening in the garden's macro world and the cracker and criminal's world. I don't want to leave anyone bee-hind so I'm letting you know, that this is where I'll post most of my nature and dog photography with stories going forward rather than on social media. Of course this blog has an FB page you can use to follow along there if you'd like.
Here's a bumblebee nomming on the newly planted Alstromeria (Peruvian Lily) we planted in the garden. I hadn't been a fan of this plant because the colors that I've seen in person seemed drab, but when I saw the varieties available online, I just had to have them. This variety is called Rock-N-Roll and we planted six, three in two different locations. It's a little taller and floppier than the other varieties which are compact and leafier. We had to stake them at first because they were so floppy. I'm not sure they'll do well in one of the locations (steep hillside) and having them has been a bit of challenge in terms of keeping them looking good. You pretty much have to pull the spent blooms from the bottom of the stem, so the entire stem comes out of the ground, not just dead head it. This really makes the plant go crazy and start shooting up new stems with bushier leaves. So now we're pulling out the stakes one by one hoping we don't need them much longer. But honestly, I've never seen bees and other pollinators so happy. Next year I may try a more compact version if these don't do well and stay looking good.
Gardening is sure keeping me in a busy learning-mode which continues to be a nice distraction while I'm still unable to be useful in a work setting. How weird is that by the way? On one hand I seem perfectly fine, because here I am, writing stories and learning about what's in my garden. But on the other, I have no idea when my body will bonkers and out of commission. Frankly, I'm still being held together by a lot of meds, herbs, supplements and sleeping remedies. I can't be accountable to a full time job just yet until I have some sort of management handle on this. I do miss work and my own income.