Today at VP, I was able to get (half-price) some of the tomato and pepper plants I needed to fill out the rows a little.  The ones I sowed are taking their time.

I think I’ve ID’d the purple plant–it’s supposed to be Mexican ruellia, so definitely not a native.  It bloomed purple today.  At some point I’ll move it.

I finally sowed all the flower seeds I had left, into various beds.  More amaranth (love-lies-bleeding), jasmine-scented white nicotiana, tithonia (Mexican torch), assorted heirloom columbines, African marigolds, more CA orange poppies, and a part-shade wildflower mix.  Most of it is non-native, so shoot me.  I’m going for a 360-surround cottage garden.  Must Have Flowers.

I’ve included a photo of Loucious and Billie having a standoff.

Yesterday’s VP finds were a cranesbill perennial geranium which went into the hosta garden, and a mystery plant that I put in along the woods edge for now.  Both areas are turning into actual gardens, even if not strictly native.

I dug all the water bowls into the ground more for easier critter access.  Birds and amphibians tend to utilize “puddles” more than raised bird baths.  I added rocks to each so nobody drowns.

I was able to photo this monarch on the milkweeds!

I’m getting to the garden tweaks phase now, refining it for aesthetic and practical purposes.

Loucious and Billie were actually outside together with no real issues.  They mostly ignored each other, Billie nervously grazing, and Loucious showing off maniacally to keep his status intact.  At one point Billie got the zoomies, as if wanting to join in the action, but L continued to ignore her.  So that’s progress.

After my whole weekend at home, I ventured back to the Avdi’s, by way of VP and Ace.  VP is having their big BOGO sale before wrapping things up their season, so I took advantage and got some great perennials half price: Joe Pye, Jap painted fern, red yarrow, a red and yellow coreopsis, and deep pink coneflowers.  Not natives, but a compromise to fill in some gaps.  I also got a brand new red hose nozzle, to replace the old broken ones.

The yard of course had flooded from all the rain, but it kept everything watered, so I didn’t have to.

Loucious was relieved to finally see me after his tragic ordeal of having to meet and deal with little Billie, who it turns out, can hold her own.  No one was murdered, and now it’s like an uneasy truce.  Loucious thinks he’s being supplanted as the #1 exclusive favorite; you can hear the violins in the background.  It’s good practice for working him up to a more challenging foe.

Loucious and I spent the day outside gardening and frisbeeing.  I planted the new perennials in their appropriate places, and transplanted some previous annuals to more conducive spots.  It’s really looking festive all around.

E and I had a great conversation, probably the first we’ve had of that depth on a grownup level.  He’s obviously done a lot of thinking and learning, and we had a lot to catch up on.

More work to do, so I’ll leave it there.

I got somewhat back on track yesterday.  I stopped briefly at VP (for mental health reasons!) and got a liatris (sadly, not a native species, but close enough) and a freebie annual impatiens.  I planted the liatris along the edge of the woodsy area, where my natives still haven’t come up, and the annual in one of the patio beds (where the perennials and natives I sowed never appeared).  More aggressive natives keep crowding things out.

A beautiful E. Tiger Swallowtail butterfly showed up on the milkweeds and let me get close enough to take a picture.  So far I haven’t seen many Monarchs.  A lot of flowers are about to explode in colors and reveal what they are (I forget what I planted!) and that should attract all kinds of pollinators.

K and E have been attending summer classes at the HS every half-day.  E has been industriously building his greenhouse and planting his seedlings back in the SG.  He seems to be able to propagate anything!  Y will be going back to Camp Indigo Point this summer.

I baked challah and made a big caesar-type salad, including the first lettuces and greens from the garden.  Y had two friends over, who joined us.  I think they like our Shabbats more than Y!  (Y doesn’t seem to like anything unless it centers around him and his instant gratification or “needs”, and doesn’t get why grownups can’t cater to his every sudden demand.)

Allie and Billie the Dog are visiting this week, and I’m curious to see if we can convince Loucious it’s really a tiny sheep so they get along!  It will be good practice for when Stacey and S bring their dog to stay while house-hunting, coming up soon.

Also my brother Robert is briefly visiting in early September, can’t wait!

In fact, this whole summer should prove to be interesting and a game-changer, hopefully for the good.

I was having one of my off days, which is somehow different from day off.  All I got done was watering, then I had to lie down on the sofa.  I didn’t even attempt to clean up.  I was feeling useless, so I went home and slept for hours.  Try again tomorrow!

I think this is a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly on the Asclepius (butterfly milkweed)!  I’ve never see this type before.  And I saw my first hummer of the season, flitting between the purple poppies and the tall milkweeds.  This is what creating habitat for native wildlife is all about.

Someone (E) has been very busy in his SG (secret garden).  He says he’s building a greenhouse.  Lots of plants are growing back there in raised beds.  I enjoy watching his project unfold.

I direct-sowed some heirloom pole shelling beans into the 3-sisters,  I just keep chucking relevant seeds into that bed and hoping something will come of it!  So far various beans and squash are coming up.

I’m even trying to germinate some Passiflora (passion flower) seeds in the basement.  I’m determined to grow some!

Avdi and I moved up our next date to yesterday evening.  We checked out Zia’s, on The Hill (Italian).  It was very family-friendly, and the food was great.  We got to catch up a little.

I carved out the small remaining space in the veg garden for some assorted melon and watermelon seeds next to their plant counterparts.  A robin right next to me waiting for dinner didn’t even flex a feather.  Now the garden is officially filled.  And we wait.

I’m excited to see lots of mushrooms growing in the “woods”.  It means I’m doing it right, and the network is up and connecting.  As for flowers, it looks deceptively like a lull until you look closer.  There’s always something blooming now.  Also the rabbits are back.  An evil omen?

My Gson E and I were talking the other day, and he suggested I take time out from my family commitments (what?!) to meet like-minded people of my own (mental) age in appropriate social spaces (like gay/ Black/ etc.), NOT (as I conveyed) stupid boring old-people hobby groups which hold no interest for me.

He said something I think about sometimes, that there’s got to be a person like me out there, but I don’t know where to begin.  My social skills aren’t that skillful.  I am NOT talking about dating apps!  Just a thought I’m contemplating.

Today was Memorial Day.  I was feeling so run down and lethargic that I almost didn’t go to the A’s, but the gardening talked me into it.  These symptoms will not leave me alone.  Maybe all the OTC drugs I ordered will keep me functioning.

Once again I got lots done in the garden.  In the new front bed I added more luffa seeds to the pots, and mixed perennial flower and zinnia seeds on top of all the mixed wildflower seeds in the bed.  Something colorful should come of it.

In the back, I planted almost the entire remaining veg bed with an assortment of leftover veg seeds.  A few more things and it will be filled!

I also seeded more cilantro, this time in the apothecary bed, which will be shadier in the hot weather, and more mixed sunflowers and lupines in their respective strips around the outside.

Finally I watered everything.  Then Loucious and I collapsed on the sofa in a pile.

This time I got more sleep, and got up fairly early to drink coffee outside with Loucious.  This morning two big purple poppies were blooming, with more on the way.  I planted the red nonstop begonia in a patio bed.

It’s very quiet here.  I think the kids are sleeping off the long school year.

E and I had a very unsettling experience while picking up a bike from a guy.  The whole conversation (more of a monologue) was getting into suspicious territory, when he came out with something I’ve only heard of and read about, never actually met a spewer of this delusional conspiracy crap.

He claimed he knew that teachers and parents were forcing kids to become trans and have surgery, and trans kids were assaulting cis kids in bathrooms, because of all the “new” trends.  E and I froze.  It was time to wrap things up and go, before one of us said or did something to legitimize his prejudices.  The irony!  He never guessed whom he was talking to!

We were so rattled and angry on the way home, it led to us being able to talk about it, which was the one good thing (plus a good old Schwinn) to come out of the transaction.

It’s like an obscenity when you encounter a seemingly intelligent person who actually believes this twisted version of “reality”.  It was disturbing.  My mind feels violated.  I know E wanted to punch his face in!  Instead, I threw the head of romaine lettuce from his garden next to our driveway!  Tainted!

I know, welcome to nothing new in this country.  They find marginalized victims to blame because the depravity and perversion is in them.  Our country is built and maintained on it.  But it’s one thing to know of it playing out in places like Jeff City and affecting our lives, and another to have it shoved in our face in that conspiratorial knowing tone full of lies about “those people”.  The people we are and love.  It’s an assault.

Time for some more flower power.

I took my time at home today getting stuff done, then took myself to DollarTree and Ace Hardware to get some gardening supplies, including the strawberry plants I needed.  Now I was able to finish some projects.

I added some soil and straw to the new front garden, then sowed a lot of wildflowers to fill it in.  It looks a lot better.

I set up some improv bird baths here and there.

I planted the new strawberry plants in their patch.

I weeded several beds.

The tall poppies finally started to bloom today, a magnificent dark purple.

I’m spending the night, the first time in a while.