In the Garden

One of the things I miss most about St. Louis is the opportunity to go to the Missouri Botanical Garden, widely considered one of the best botanical gardens in the world. We had a membership there for many years, and visited frequently as the gardens were always showing off different blooms. 

Here in our area we have the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, which has just been renamed the Daniel Stowe Conservancy. There is no comparison between the gardens, though that is not surprising as the Missouri Botanical Garden was opened in 1859. Stowe, while much larger at 320 acres, only opened in 1999. It has not had a lot of time to mature, nor does it have the funding of the garden in St. Louis. Much of the property has been left to its native state and is not planted in gardens at all.

Nevertheless, we have been to Stowe numerous times, including three years in a row to see the holiday lights. In March we purchased a membership to help support the garden. An added benefit is that the membership entitles us to entry into 300 other reciprocal gardens throughout North America. We recently were able to gain admission to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, which has already paid for the membership.

We went to the Stowe garden last week for the first time this year. We had barely made it through the door when we heard our names being called. One of the gals that works at a pickleball center that we go to was there with her family, and saw us come in. It always surprises me when someone knows us in Charlotte, even though we have been here over five years now.

It was a beautiful day, and a nice time to enjoy the spring flowers and get out in nature.

Daniel Stowe Conservancy

 

Oh, My Corona

magnolia in bloom

Coronavirus. Are we still talking about this? Why yes, yes we are. Ugh! We have some travel plans coming up, and we are locking ourselves down even more than usual to hopefully avoid getting sick. Jim and I have not had the virus yet, which is kind of a mixed blessing I suppose. We have had all the shots, including the boosters, so I'm sure that has helped. But in some ways it feels like we are waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

World-wide, this virus shows no signs of abating. The latest statistics are: North Carolina has had 3.44 million cases and 29,279 deaths. In the United States there have been 102 million cases and 1.1 million deaths. (That statistic is down from the 1.5 million I last reported, though I use the same website for the statistics each time. Makes me wonder what someone is doing with the stats.) Worldwide there have been over 672 million cases and 6.85 million deaths. The number of cases is no doubt vastly underreported since so many people are taking home tests and those results do not need to be reported. I also think that the health care systems have changed their reporting habits regarding Covid as well, due to a lessoning of federal reporting guidelines. Regardless, the numbers remain staggering.

Spring is around the corner, and we saw magnolias and daffodils in bloom on our bike ride today. Perhaps once people spend more time outdoors, the virus numbers will once again be on the decline. We will have to wait and see. In the meantime, I am always so grateful for where we live and the beauty that surrounds us as we navigate these challenging times.

this morning's sunrise

Spring Sighting

March can be a somewhat gloomy month here as we eagerly await spring and all the colors it brings. My next door neighbor and I went to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte Botanical Gardens earlier this week to see what was in bloom. My husband and I are still trying to get a handle on plant materials that do well here as this is a different planting zone than St. Louis. We haven't done any plant installation at our new house other than annuals in the 2 1/2 years we have lived here. We have been watching to see what our neighbors put in, and what has survived and thrived.

We will be expanding our screen porch this spring, as well as extending our back patio. We are working with a landscape contractor for the hardscape, and will pick his brain on plants that will work well with the design. But until then, it was wonderful to go to the botanical garden and see some early signs of spring.

UNC-Charlotte Botanical Gardens

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Yesterday I asked the ladies who live on either side of us if they wanted to go to the UNC Charlotte Botanical Garden with me. One of the things I miss the most about St. Louis is the absolute beauty of the spring season there. North Carolina is pretty in a different way, but the abundance of dogwoods, redbuds, rhododendrons, azaleas, tulips, daffodils, etc. in Missouri are unparalleled, at least in my opinion.

I needed to go to UNC to fill my heart with flowers. Neither of my neighbors had been there, so I was excited to show them what this urban campus has to offer. It did not disappoint at all. The weather was perfect for a stroll along the blooming paths winding through the various gardens. We had a really nice time there, followed by lunch outside at a local restaurant. It almost felt a little normal, despite Covid.

UNC Charlotte

Learning about Trees

One good thing about staying home is that I've had the opportunity to really look at the plant material growing behind our house. Because we only moved here the end of October, this is our first spring in North Carolina. Our property is on Mountain Island Lake, one of the bodies of water created by Duke Energy when they built dams on the Catawba River, in this case in 1924. Duke owns a 100' setback on the lake, and so the hillsides down to the water are very natural and dotted with native plants and trees.

It was exciting to recently see that we have many white dogwood trees scattered along the back. (The state flower is the dogwood.) But there are also some other white flowering trees as well. The flowers on the trees sort of look like white colored bluebells, and we have never seen anything like them. In doing an online search, we discovered that they are Mountain Silverbells. Sometimes they are referred to as Silverbell Trees, and they grow in Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina. Silverbells also grow as a shrub, and we have plenty of them on the hillside as well. It makes for a beautiful display right now.

Mountain Silverbells

As we stay hunkered in at home due to COVID-19, it will be exciting to see what else springs up in our yard and neighborhood.

Photography Challenge Weeks 12 and 13

The Dogwood Photography Challenge for Week 12 was Inspiration: Trash. Since my husband and I owned a commercial composting company for many years, talking trash is something near and dear to my heart. Over the years we have acquired many yard decorations that have been made from scrap metal. Broken items that would have gone into the landfill became repurposed into something fun for the house or garden. Here is one of ours.

Dogwood Photography Challenge Week 12

Week 13 inspired us to tell a story of a new beginning. With the raining pouring down yesterday, I took a photo of the droplets lined up on our Japanese Maple tree, which is just beginning to put out its new buds.

Dogwood Photography Challenge Week 13

Easy Come, Easy Go

We had relatives in town for the past couple of days. While the guys headed downtown to a Cardinals game Monday night, the ladies were able to dine al fresco at a local Mexican restaurant. Tuesday's weather was perfect, and I tried to take them to the Missouri Botanical Garden. Everyone had the same idea, and we couldn't even get into the parking lot. Thinking I would show them the Old Cathedral, and the new Arch grounds next to it, I drove downtown. But I was forgetting that there was an 12:25 ballgame. Cathedral parking was $15, and there were no spots in the lot at any rate. I was finally able to maneuver our way out of the downtown gridlock, and I took them to Forest Park instead.

Boathouse at Forest Park

Though it was a long shot, I thought we might try to eat lunch at the Boathouse. It has just reopened for the season, and is under new management. I dropped them off to see how long it would be to get a table outside, and then miraculously a parking spot opened up. Taking that as a good sign, I quickly pulled into the spot. After a 30 minute wait, we had a delightful lunch by the lake.

Following lunch we spent some time at the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, which is where Jim finally caught up with us as he had a meeting he could not reschedule. From there we grabbed some steaks at a local butcher, and the evening was spent sitting outside on the deck enjoying the nice weather. Our company headed out to their next destination early Wednesday.

Today I ran to the Missouri Botanical Garden for a couple of hours, arriving just as they opened. The temperature was still moderate this morning, but the next few days are supposed to hit around 90 degrees. I figured this would be the last opportunity to see the tulips, azaleas and other spring flowers before the heat takes care of them. So much for spring...

Missouri Botanical Garden

Has Spring Finally Arrived?

tulips

The weather has been so goofy, with above average cloud cover and rain, and below average temperatures. And not just in our area, but across many parts of the U.S. We are all just sick of it. I can take the cooler temperatures, but bring on the sun for crying out loud! If I wanted clouds and rain, I'd live in Seattle.

Today brought sunshine and temperatures finally in the 70s. It won't last for long as they are calling for rain on Saturday and a high of 42 on Sunday. I decided to make a break for it and headed to the Missouri Botanical Garden. I arrived shortly after 9, and there were not too many people in the garden yet. Many of the magnolia trees and bushes were impacted by the cold temperatures, so they were not very pretty. But the spring bulb plants were up and showing off their colorful little faces.

It was a treat to be able to walk through the garden without a coat, stopping to take as many pictures as I desired without having anyone grumble about how long I was taking to get the shot I was after. The garden will be in much better display in a couple of weeks, but for today it was a perfect way to get me out of the elongated winter doldrums.

Missouri Botanical Gardem

Spring Beauties

In honor of tax day, I began my morning by spending two hours at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It is truly my happy place, and I haven't been able to get there for a couple of weeks. In the spring I like to go at least once a week as things are changing so quickly there. My friend and I tried to go last Friday, with the intention of eating lunch outside on their terrace followed by a walk in the garden. We could not even find a parking space, so we went somewhere else instead.

But the garden opens early on Wednesdays, so I was there at 8:20 and it was glorious! I was able to stroll at a leisurely pace and take as much time as I wanted with my photos. After 9:30 it was much more crowded, particularly with school groups, so I was out of there by 10:15. As a fellow photographer commented, "With all the school groups, it is time to get the hell out of here and get a drink!" Amen, Mr. Shutterbug, amen.

Has Spring Finally Sprung?

hyacinths and mini tulips

When the temperature hit 70 degrees today, the call of the Missouri Botanical Garden was so strong that I dropped everything and drove there. My husband, as usual, is out riding his motorcycle so it was another solo trip to the garden for me. But I don't mind as I generally take a lot of photos and most people are not patient enough to go with me. I didn't realize they were having a special event today. When I arrived the "Lot Full" sign was at the entrance to their drive. I ended up parking on a side street. There was an ambulance at the entry door, which was an auspicious start to my visit.

I don't believe I have seen that many people at the garden except at one of their festivals. I guess everyone had spring fever today. As I walked along one of the pathways two women passed me saying the rosary. I can't think of a more beautiful place to pray! Then I happened upon a grandfather softly singing to his grandchild. It was so sweet! But the biggest excitement for the day came when a small boy took a header into one of the reflecting pools. His mom leaned over to grab him, and as she was about to fall in her mother grabbed hold of her. The boy was plucked out screaming bloody murder! And this is why parents should not let their children walk on the concrete ledges next to the pools of water.

As I was leaving a toddler was crying and yelling, "Mama! Mama!" It took me a moment to realize that in the crowd of people, he actually had been separated from his mom. Several of us were glancing around trying to spot a worried mom when she finally made her way to him. Hold onto your kids, people. That fast he could have fallen down the steps, or worse yet been snatched by someone and carried off. On that cheery note, here are a few of my favorite photos from today.

Three's Company

My husband's younger sister was visiting us from Iowa this weekend. She brought along her dog, so Kirby had a cousin to play with. Neither one of them has another pet in their house, so they are both pooped after a long weekend of keeping up with each other. The weather cooperated, thankfully, so we had a lot of outdoor time. Friday night we had tickets to the Fox Theater to see "Cirque Dreams". Since Katie is out of town for the DECA competition, we invited our friend Dale to go with us as we had four tickets. We grilled the Iowa steaks JoEllen brought down with her, and had a great meal before the show. The production was great, with lots of "guy candy" for the ladies. Wow - that's the first time I have ever seen a true 8 pack on anyone. Thank you, Warren, for the second row seats! The cast was extremely talented, and the two hour show passed quickly. Saturday JoEllen and I went to the Thread and Thimble Quilt Show to see over 300 quilts displayed. It is always educational for me to see what other quilters come up with. That evening she and Jim went to a charity event out in O'Fallon and I stayed home to get some quilting done. They did not get home until 2:30 in the morning! Needless to say, no one was moving too quickly Sunday morning. But we spent a beautiful afternoon at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where lots of trees, shrubs and flowers are already bursting forth with color. What a way to welcome in spring.

Pretty as a Picture

It is cold again in St. Louis, with the temperature currently at 23 degrees. What's up with that? The weather around here never seems to be "average", whatever that is. We are always "above average" or "below average" for this time of year, blather the forecasters (can anyone say oxymoron for that word?) But my little amaryllis is blooming like crazy to assure me that spring can't be too far away. My husband gave me the bulb for a Christmas present, and it has been fun to watch it defy the cold temperatures and burst forth with blooming quadruplets; alas no octuplets here to stir the media pot. The flowers bring vibrance to an otherwise gray season, and a sense of anticipation for the new colorful carpet which will be unfurled outside as the days begin to warm. And that is something the media, with their persistent coverage of all that is negative, can't take away from us.