Many of you know that Ann and I sold our home, located a few blocks from the Prospect Gardens, and moved six blocks west to an apartment. A thirty year era ended. We are transitioning into a more urban street environment with the traffic of Monroe Street a reminder of the busy world surrounding our new refuge. We will maintain contact with the Gardens and good neighbors who live nearby as we continue to enjoy and experience anew the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood.
Our apartment, even with an expansive 30 foot deck, couldn't accommodate the butterfly house in this picture. So now the house is part of the Gardens. Several years ago Emily, my daughter, gave me the house as a birthday gift. I could not totally let go of this precious gift. Like me, it is showing its age while still being strong and sturdy. I will watch if butterflies make this a temporary refuge, which never happened when the house was in the backyard of our former home. Monarchs visit the Prospect Gardens, as do Yellow Tails and delicate cream-colored butterflies. How do you conduct an open house for butterflies?
Pictured here are a few more garden mementos that I couldn't part with. The round wheel is a grinding stone once used to sharpen knives and farm tools. I found it several years ago, buried in our flower bed. It now is a reminder of time gone by and that even stones wear away. Once there was a wooden frame that cradled the stone with an axle going through the square hole and at the end of the axle, a crank. Turning the crank spun the wheel and sometimes sparks would fly, depending on how hard you pressed the metal tool against the stone.
A complete grinding stone sat idly in an old granary, one of the out-buildings on our family farm in Pulaski, WI. The stone, along with other old farm implements, such as a hand-held sickle for cutting grain, were artifacts of a vanished farming era when horse power and human labor were the norm.
The two ornaments in the upper right hand quarter of the picture are gifts from relatives. All are now part of the hosta garden, adding some additional beauty.
The following pictures show the summer bliss of the Gardens with yellows being the predominate color. Pictured are Joe Pye mixed with Tall Coreoposis. These grace the south side of the Gardens, spilling over the old picket fence.
In the background are Rhus typhina Tiger Eyes, which are in the
staghorn sumac family. Tiger Eyes, while adding beauty and texture to the Gardens, are rather aggressive, sending out runners in an effort to propagate. Tiger Eyes were among the first shrubs planted nearly seven years ago. The shrubs are the Garden's backbone providing an overall design framework.
In the upper portion of this picture is another Tiger Eyes, one of the originally planted ones. It's smaller because of being accidentally pruned several years ago by the city snow removal crew as they pushed snow into the Garden . We thought the plant died and as you can see, we were wrong. Mark Twain's statement applies:
“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
The red blooms in the center of the picture are of a Cardinal plant, installed this spring. Several Cardinal plants, located in other sections, did not survive the winter. I miss a spectacular one, bushy and rather tall for a Cardinal plant. Last summer, two representatives from a Wisconsin native plant association, while visiting the Gardens, admired the plant and took its picture. Little did I know, at that time, the admired plant was in its last season. This spring I searched for its shoots. As time passed, I let go of my expectations that the beautiful plant would magically reappear. Another lesson in the impermanence of life.
This slightly out-of-focus picture (reminds me of Renoir; just a little) shows the transitions happening in the Gardens. On the right hand side of the picture are the Queen of the Prairie with its once deep and fluffy pink blossoms, now with golden brown hard seeds waiting to mature and spread.
Still vibrant are the pink phlox and the yellow Ox-Eye. The Ox-Eye's large yellow heads signal the blissful months of late summer. Initially, these came from a neighbor's rain garden.
During the past seven years of tending the Prospect Gardens, its been fascinating to watch how some plants spread to different locations. The Ox-Eyes are one of those that like to relocate, as do the Columbines and Queen of the Prairie.
Bunches of ripe Black Elderberries, pictured to the right, are another sign of transition and late summer. These will be picked by Janice, a neighbor, and turned into juices, sauces and maybe a pie. Enjoying pie made of summer fruit generates in me a blissful state.
As we move from summer to fall, the Gardens and our worlds will continue to change. We will once again feel the cool breezes of fall and experience the bliss of colorful leaves and the serenity of purple blooming Asters. The Asters are the last to bloom before they too let go as the cold, invigorating winds of winter envelope the Gardens.
This anticipation of more transitions brings me to a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, a Bohemian- Austrian Poet and novelist (1875-1926).
"I
live my life in widening circles
that reach out across
the world.
I may not ever complete
the last one,
but I give myself to
it.”
Last week Ann and I returned for the first time to work in the Gardens since our move. All the necessary tools are now stored in this shed located on the property adjoining the path. The shed has been there for years and borders Ernie's lot. Here's hoping Ernie and his wife, Jeanne, remain in their home for several more years.Otherwise, we will need another storage place for the tools.
Here I am, looking a little like the stern man in the "American Gothic" painting. Ann and I already worked nearly three hours. I achieved my goal of completing mulching that began early this summer after removing very tall weeds. Our focus was on the hosta garden underneath the trees in back of me.
