Message from the Mountain

One Hosta plant in blossom does not make a big impact in the garden, but several plants blooming together create a beautiful bouquet. One action combined with like actions can make a big impact.

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Hostas have big leaves leading to big expectations by people not familiar with them that they would produce big flowers. They happen to be very small. Sometimes big ideas with expectations produce sm…

A different color day lily provides me a variety of the same plant all summer long. Life is full of varieties, and I sometimes look at that as the same thing, only differently.

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The meteorological summer is halfway over and, as always, passing too fast. Keeping watch of day lilies as they bloom helps me focus on each day with the appreciation of the beauty surrounding me. It…

We have many different kinds of bugs (insects) that find their way to the mountain. Some are good for the plants and trees while others are not. Some exist below the surface, such as termites. We als…

Back in May we purchased and erected a new screened gazebo for summer picnics at the Cabin. So far it has been a summer of waiting for the weather to cooperate. Then again, I consider resistance as s…

The forecast was for torrential rain, and we watched it turn our gentle brook ugly and listened on our scanner to emergency calls about roads being washed out. In a flash our environment changed, but…

Now the pink lilies are in bloom, adding another color to the garden at the Center. I am surrounded with beauty, both from Nature and people who bring beauty to my life.

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Derek recently spent a day and a half weeding and cleaning up his flower garden at the Center. My wife and I drove by just after nine in the morning expecting to see him working. Instead, there was a…

We stood beside the small frog pond at the Center admiring flowers when we heard a loud croak, and then another one from a different location. Following the sound, I searched for the frog. It was hid…

I have found it takes a while for transplanted shrubs and trees to reestablish their root systems before they start to really grow. The hydrangeas at the Center took about five years. When people mov…

I love the different variety of daylilies in the gardens that provide color from June to September. When one runs out of flowers, another one begins. Then there is one variety that flowers all summer…

Another flower in bloom is the white astilbes. Their delicate appearance makes it easy for them to be overlooked by larger and bolder flowers. There are people who have a lot to say while others are …

Years ago I planted a slender shrub with pink blossoms that, when trimmed, keeps flowering all summer. They have also reseeded themselves, jumping the stone wall. I think of people who go about their…

When Derek began to plan the gardens at the Center, he saw it in his mind. He brought some lilies from his own garden. Now they are beginning to bloom. The future began with the planning. It is an in…

When we had the Lupine Field created, the forester also included a healthy planting of clover to provide feed for the animals and nectar for the insects. That move has brought us many moments of joy …

Recently when we were walking over to the Lupine Field, we discovered a small mud puddle filled with tiny bubbles. I had never seen that type of thing before. I realize that there is always something…

My wife is very goal orientated. She is always active and often at her computer or her sewing machine, and when we walk the trails, she carries a hand pruner to snip branches that grow in the way. As…

People are often labeled creatures of habit when they repeat certain things on a steady basis. These habits can be positive, like exercise or meditating, or destructive, such as smoking. We have a si…

The little flower garden at the Cabin has gone wild over the past few years, but it still has a few domestic plants hanging on. We are slowly introducing new ones to fit in with the still remaining o…