These pretty “Cosmos bipinnatus” flowers are growing in a flower pot on our patio. Sometimes called Mexican Asters, cosmos were grown by Spanish priests in their mission gardens in Mexico. The evenly placed petals led them to christen the flower “Cosmos,” the Greek word for harmony or ordered universe. Cosmos, like many of our warm weather annuals such as marigolds, originated in Mexico and South America. Click the image for a larger view.
Backyard Computing
Times sure have changed since I got my first home computers over 20 years ago. They were big, slow, had limited storage and were not networked. These days, we each have a computer plus a laptop (with WiFi) for travel and to use other places around the property. Verna snapped this candid photo of me as I sat on the backyard swing uploading a post for our weblog.
Red Red Ranunculus
There’s a bunch of these in the back patio this week. They are very bright red. The Easy to grow Bulbs website says this about these flowers:
Red roses are great, but waiting until summer for them isn’t. In spring, lovers of this vibrant color turn to snappy red ranunculus. Tucked between your early perennials they’ll energize borders and provide long-lived flowers for jazzy bouquets. No thorns, no black spot, no mildew. No kidding.
Self-Portrait and Injury Update
I have a little decorative sculpture of a fish that sits on our fake waterfall. The sculpture is studded with nickel, dime and quarter-sized glass beads of several colors. I took this closeup of the sculpture and managed to get a number of self-portraits of myself.
The rip in my forearm is much better today. The stitches are in and the swelling is down. I think it’s healing OK. It certainly didn’t interfere with actuating the fore-end on our Remington 870 Shotgun when we went to the range today.
St. Patrick’s Day Mishap
Verna had a little accident today. We were working in the garden and she got a little too close to the thorns on a Mexican Palm. It was a pretty nasty tear on her forearm and deep too. No band-aid and Neosporin for this one. I took her to the urgent care center where they stitched it up (three sutures did it). While we were waiting to be admitted, this cute little hospital Leprechaun was spreading good cheer in the waiting area at the hospital.
Little Daisies
Every Spring I like to populate the garden with colorful flowers. We have several varieties of daisies growing out there. These are little delicate white ones that have been out there for a couple of weeks. We’re going to Lowe’s this weekend to get more since we’re making room for them by clearing out the flowerbeds of old stuff. Click on the image for full-sized picture.
