Tag: Garden

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Showy Creep

ellenparkerwrites

Usually I avoid creeps. I find them between unpleasant and scary on the human rating.

However, when it comes to plants, I’m more open-minded.

Creeping phlox, is the first to bloom in this particular raised bed. Spreading from year to year – hence the “creeping” — it is a bright spot and attracts early pollinators. If you want an accent ground cover near a walkway or garden feature, this plant deserves consideration.

Popular in gardens, this low-maintenance plant is the sort that would appeal to Janet, the heroine HVAC tech in the sweet romance, Comfort Zone. I can easily imagine her smiling at these blooms under a front window. For more information on her second-chance romance tale, click on the link: https://amzn.to/2ZvL0Av

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Love and Modesty

ellenparkerwrites

Poets applied these attributes to the violet. Perhaps that leads to the phrase ‘shy violet’.

This small, woodland spring flower can do some mighty things. Native to Eastern North America, it thrives in woodland but tolerates full sun.

Invasive? This non-expert gardener welcomes early violets into her flowerbed. Did you know the blooms are pollinated by bees and then the seeds distributed by ants?

If you live in Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey, or Wisconsin, the violet is your state flower.

When photographer Serena Carter visited all the Missouri State Parks, she would have encountered many patches of violets in spring and into the summer. Check out her adventures in the sweet romance, Morning Tryst. https://amzn.to/35gH37S

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Smile: The Daffodils are Here

ellenparkerwrites

Actually, I’m a little late with the greeting. In St. Louis, the daffodils have had their moment. Aside from crocus, these bright yellow, or yellow and white, blooms are cheerful indicators of spring.

Yes, some years the bulbs, like humans, misjudge the weather and end up blooming above a fresh snow blanket.

This happy looking group of daffodils was photographed on March 1st of last year.

Early to bloom in the season, daffodils often symbolize rebirth and new beginnings. Have a friend with a March birthday? Daffodils, a card featuring the bloom, are a spot-on token.

Pretty and cheerful, daffodils do come with a caution. DO NOT EAT! However, this has not prevented them from being used historically to induce vomiting or numbness.

During her year photographing Missouri State Parks, Serena Carter would have encountered daffodils throughout the month of March and perhaps into the first portion of April. Either wild, or escapees from long-ago farm gardens, daffodils bob their blooms in a cheery “hello” from all portions of the state.

Morning Tryst, the sweet romance featuring Serena, also introduces the reader to Zack Sans, a man of few words and many secrets. Follow the link to learn more: https://amzn.to/35gH37S

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No Trespassing

ellenparkerwrites

Sometimes you see a sign. Or a fence. Or both to signal that a certain area is off limits for visitors.

The reasons are numerous. Perhaps the owner is a very private person. Or there is a danger — poisonous snakes or predator. Sometimes the danger is not visible — heed the warning.

Sometimes no sign is necessary.

These plants and sculptures sport an international, multi-lingual “no trespassing” sign. Stay away or suffer the consequences of my sharp spikes. I need space.

Space — and the ability to own land — brought many immigrants to the United States. Check out the story of one small group in the sweet, historical romance, New Dreams. https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

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Fiddle among the Ferns

ellenparkerwrites

Is that right? No? Let me try again.

“Among the Fiddlehead Ferns.”

Is that better? Instead of conjuring an image of a violin player standing in a patch of ferns — we have created an image of you, dear reader, in a patch of unfurling ferns.

Translated to glass… the artist came up with this.

Green and graceful the fern unfurls in the spring air.

Can you see the tight coil unwinding as the plant draws nourishment from the soil? If you can identify the fern species the coils make a spring treat — be sure to cook — and have been eaten by numerous generations.

Alas — the glass will only remain in the public garden for a limited time. I do hope I can pay another visit before the exhibit ends.

No ferns cooked by the immigrants in New Dreams, a sweet historical romance. I wonder if some of the native-born in fictional Elm Ridge harvested the treat in early spring.

More book information here: https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

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Please Pass the…

ellenparkerwrites

Gorgeous! Huge! Splendid!

I can see it now. This year — these giant, glass, cupped flowers are a hit at the public garden.

A few years from now — will we find the design copied in snack bowls at the local big box store?

I can see it at the outdoor party now. Please pass me the red bowl — the snack mix is delicious. Oh, you have mixed nuts? In the blue bowl. How delightful. The bright dishes liven up the party.

Parties can be held for many occasions. In Comfort Zone, a sweet romance, Janet holds an engagement party for her daughter and soon-to-be-son-in-law. How is she to know that his uncle is the intriguing HVAC customer? More book information here: https://amzn.to/2ZvL0Av

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Unlikely Companions

ellenparkerwrites

Hey! Toss me that chunk of wood. No need to worry if your aim’s not perfect. Wood’s sturdy — only breaks when you work at it.

Careful! Hand, don’t toss, that piece of glass. We break it — we’ll have a mess and a half to clean up. Never mind the explaining.

Glass and wood. Wood and glass. Not the mostly likely pair — unless you think about a window. Or art.

Glass and wood together make this dramatic outdoor feature. Logs supply a sturdy base and a rustic feel. The straight glass — reeds — according to the sculpture title add a touch of wonder and delicacy. The color, in case you wonder, is given by the metal neodymium. (Yes, metals are often used to color glass.)

Humans sometimes come together in pairs as different as wood and glass. Take, for example, a woman who is retired military, busy with a satisfying career, and living near a loving extended family. Would you ever expect her to make the acquaintance — let alone more — of a semi-reclusive millionaire with an attitude of toleration, not enjoyment, from immediate family? Find their story in Morning Tryst, a sweet romance available at major on-line retailers. Click here to learn more: https://amzn.to/35gH37S

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Beauty in a Small Space

ellenparkerwrites

Garden. Flower bed.

The words conjure images of large scale plantings. Or perhaps long and narrow along the length of a building or walkway.

May I present an exception.

This small, precise, medallion garden is found on the grounds of an extensive, public garden.

However, one of my neighbors maintains a similar beautiful spot where a tree was removed several years ago.

Remember, the area of planting need not be large to be a showy spot for the neighborhood.

Janet, the heroine in the sweet romance, Comfort Zone, attempts a more conventional flower bed with plants flanking her home’s front entrance. (With a moderate amount of success.) She’s better at HVAC repair — and living with gusto. Find her story here: https://amzn.to/2ZvL0Av

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Golden Shrimp, Please

ellenparkerwrites

Sorry if the headline made your mouth water. Yes, I enjoy a nice plate of golden, fried shellfish as well as the next person. But I’ve a different sort of Golden Shrimp in mind today.

Shall we modify to Green & Gold Shrimp?

Pleased, and surprised, to find this bed of a tropical/semi-tropical, flower in an outside area of the Missouri Botanical Garden on a summer visit. I knew we were having a warm July — but really — have the planting zones moved this much???

Considering their location, I expect before the frost arrives this fall, the plants (or a portion of them) will be moved to one of several greenhouses on the property. I’ll need more visits to follow their appearance in this outside area.

Outdoor photography is an art — practiced by Serena in the sweet romance, Morning Tryst. Focusing on Missouri State Parks, she captures flora, fauna, and sunrises. Check out her adventure here: https://amzn.to/35gH37S

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Garden Greeter

ellenparkerwrites

Welcome to the Missouri Botanical Garden, 2023 edition.

The “WOW” moments start before you exit the glass doors into the grounds. I knew the glass exhibit would be good — and it did not disappoint.

The artist named this “Vivid Lime Icicle Tower”

I certainly won’t dispute the color. And it’s certainly a tower. But this viewer, and I’m thinking many others, find a resemblance to other things in life. Can you see hints of a barrel cactus? A bottle brush?

Books, like art, let you use your imagination to complete the image. Test your mind with a sweet romance set in fictional place more than a century in the past with New Dreams. Can you see, hear, smell, and taste the people and items presented on the page?

https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

I’m getting hungry for a fresh-baked cinnamon bun.