time of rest

Today I gave another talk to 60 members of The Lake Minnetonka Garden Club. It was well received. I so love doing these Garden Club of America talks–such engaged and enthusiastic members. Today’s talk marks the official end of my Book Launch events; for a couple of weeks anyways. And, boy oh boy, I am ready for a break. The past four weeks have been a pace I have not tried to maintain for at least two decades. I did my best. It was, by all accounts, a very successful Book Launch. We sold out the entire print run, and are going into a second printing! Woop! Woop!  Thank you all who bought the book! I may be spent, but it is a very happy fatigue. Thank you.

I think we have only one native toad in our yard: the eastern american toad. This well camouflaged not-so-little guy became visible when we started moving the terra-cotta pots around on the front stoop this afternoon. He absolutely did not want to sit still for a portrait. This was all I got before he disappeared into the tall grass.

eastern American toad (A. a. americanus)

here today, gone tomorrow

I have been eyeing these buds for a week. Finally pinched a few from some corporate landscaping today (my own yard is too shady for peonies). I think I caught them just in time. Tomorrow they will look totally different. Neither better nor worse, just different. Another example of the magic of dailiness.

pink peony buds (Paeonia)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I turn 60! I started STILL in my 40s. Time flies. The dandelion photo is apropos of nothing. It just happens to be the photo I made today. I used to think of dandelions as summer flowers, but now I realize they are more a spring flower than summer, and an incredibly important early food source for our bees. We try to practice No-Mow-May at our house. But this year I caved and mowed the grass yesterday because it had gotten so high I feared the mower wouldn’t be able to get through it in another week. I grabbed this lanky specimen before I began. He was a good 18 inches tall. It reminds me of a Giacometti sculpture :-)

dandelion flower gone to seed

title

There are 310 accepted species of irises.

iris buds

She finally hatched!

Do any of you remember the butterfly chrysalis I posted back on February 27th?  It was rescued from the roadside mowers by my friend Madeline. I have been babysitting it since February. I was afraid it might not hatch, as Madeline told me to expect it hatch around May 1. Well, she may be a late bloomer, but she’s a beauty! I snapped a quick photo while she was still moving a little slowly, and then let her go. She fluttered off like a pro. What a beautiful creature! I am so relieved my little charge survived the winter (and the mowers).

female black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes)