This morning as I was drinking my coffee and looking out onto our deck, I saw a trail of bright yellow cucumber flowers. They looked so pretty in the sunlight shining onto the deck. Through all my neglect and amateur skills at vegetable gardening, this cucumber plant has been a star performer bordering on miracle plant.
I looked away and then my subconscious told me to take another look. I looked again and right above these flowers hung a new cucumber, which I had not noticed the day before. This has happened a few times with this plant. I notice nothing, and then the next day I see a fully developed cucumber. I have wondered is my vision so selective that I miss things. I don't know the answer here. I feel I must have a guardian angel watching over me to keep my spirits up. It also makes me think I should not give up on future plans of growing vegetables. I will show proof of produce that has been recently picked. I won't show the ugly mess of pots and yellowed leaves.
This picture was taken by me today on my deck, including my most recent ‘miracle’ cucumber.
Picture taken by me with my cell phone at Meadowlark Botanical Garden in Vienna, Virginia. These totems are in the Korean Bell Garden.
Totems can be misunderstood. They are not meant to be worshipped. They are not religious. They are a memorial of sorts, and some say they can frighten away demons. I enjoy them as an art form which I find very interesting.
Happy First Day of Fall!
Meadowlark Botanical Garden will begin to show spectacular fall color. Go there to learn more about this Bell Garden and the totems.
I was looking out my kitchen window today and saw a bird feeding on one of the cattails that have become invasive in my pond. I have been too overwhelmed to tackle my cattail problem. I got my binoculars out so that I could better identify the bird. It turned out to be a female goldfinch. I had never seen one feeding on my cattails before today. Now, I feel that the cattails were a blessing for the birds.
I looked up cattails and goldfinches, and it turns out they have a close relationship. I read that not only do the goldfinches feed on the seeds of the mature cattails, they also use the white fluffy fibers to line their nests.
Since the daily visitation of a neighborhood hawk scared all the birds away, bird sightings in my garden have been very limited. The birdfeeder has been mostly avoided even though my husband keeps it filled with fresh bagged seeds. The first to return has been a female cardinal who looks to be rejoicing with her exclusive rights to the feeder and garden. Today she shared the garden with this female goldfinch who looks healthily plump. Perhaps she has been feeding on the cattails under my radar, and was not noticed until today. Her coloration does blend well with the collection of cattails that now find their home in my garden. Now I do not feel so bad about dragging my feet in cleaning up the pond. I will wait to do this until the birds have their fill of seed and fluff.
I thought about going out to get a picture but the goldfinches are notoriously hard to capture in a picture. I simply open the door to the garden and they fly away. So, I borrowed the above image from a website that sells garden print merchandise. The address is in the caption.
I will welcome September with open arms. The full Corn Moon will shine bright next Sunday, the 7th, though in North America we will not be able to see the total lunar eclipse that will turn it into a blood moon. (The next total lunar eclipse visible to the United States will be March 3, 2026.) The Harvest Moon will rise in October.
We can still enjoy the full Corn Moon. It is already candy corn season in the stores, and I have purchased my yearly quota. I cannot seem to let go of this tradition that dates back to my childhood. Once a year I buy a bag to consume by myself. Now that I am older and wiser (ha) I spread it out over a few days, thus avoiding a sick stomach. I never eat it at any other time during the year.
The autumnal equinox will arrive the 4th week in September. Bird migrations will be in swing and they will continue through October.
Snow geese, black ducks, and American coots…take a rest stop in Chincoteague, Virginia.
These are just a few pictures of some of the birds that migrate and take a rest stop in Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. I have many more pictures. Hopefully, I will be able in return there in the future for another migration season.
A blue heron is among…the migrating birds.
The cooler air coming in will be a welcome relief from the hot, hot summer that is coming to an end this month. Possibly, I will get outside and try to take some picture with my old Nikon of the hawk that comes daily now into our garden in Sterling. It perches in the lower branches of the tall crepe myrtle tree closest to our patio. It is visible from our kitchen window and the big dining room door that exits to our deck and patio. It has scared all the smaller birds from our feeders, and no scurrying feet of other garden wildlife can be seen either, which in some cases is a good thing. Overall, I welcome the hawk's presence. The food chain is in action.
Speaking of food chains, here is a white heron eating something it caught in the water, fish or frog…
This bald eagle pair was far away and I did not have a long enough lens, however, you can see that they caught dinner. I think they were feasting on snow geese.
After looking at the Ricola bag again I realized that I grew another edible and flavorful flower in my garden. The leaves of the mallow plant are eaten around the world and cooked in various ways, often stuffed and wrapped around meat and other foods. I found several foragers who wrote about being overjoyed finding mallow in the wild and harvesting it for food. I grew it because I thought it was a beautiful plant. There are several types of mallow. I grew the Zebrina mallow for its lovely flowers.
Looking through my files looking for the mallow I remembered growing, I found this good picture of a soldier beetle also known as a leather wing beetle. It is considered a beneficial bug in Virginia. It is a pollinator. The flower that the soldier beetle is enjoying is a peony.
Very prolific flower. Easy to grow. No problems. Honeybees love its scent.
Above you can see a black swallowtail butterfly and carpenter bee enjoying a blazing star. The middle picture shows my pond in its heyday. The third picture shows a clearwing moth enjoying a butterfly bush. The screenshot of the significance of hyssop according to E-Bible taught me something new today. I grew hyssop in my garden for many years. I loved it, and many butterflies of all sizes loved it. Interestingly, I saw very few hummingbirds around it, and this possibly was because the red cardinal flower held their interest (not pictured here.)
The other day I was reading something and playing with numbers when I was reminded of a TV series that was on during my late teens (1976-1981). Do you remember the original Charlie’s Angels? I do. I even tried to make my hair look like Farrah’s hair. I never quite pulled it off, not to mention I looked nothing like her. Anyways, this morning I looked at what happened on this day June 25th in history. I was surprised to see that Farrah Fawcett died on this day in 2009. Her death was a little overshadowed by the death of Michael Jackson which happened on the same day. This coincidence with thinking of the TV series, and then seeing that the anniversary of Farrah’s death is today, made me look up the series opening soundtrack. Listen to it above.
The weather today is still too hot and humid for me. I am busy inside with other responsibilities, and when given the chance I still like to enjoy my favorite past time of looking at old garden pictures. It serves as a motivator for me. Look above at a picture from my past. I don’t have too many pictures of damselflies because they were shy and not as noticeable as the more flamboyant dragonflies.
I hope you are staying cool and refreshed. Don’t read the news if you want to stay in a good mood. This is my strategy when I can muster the willpower. The weather needs to get a little cooler and less sauna-like for me to get outside in the garden.
I have posted in the past about Maple helicopter seeds (whirly gigs). I ran across this Swamp Milkweed seed picture this morning and was impressed once again by the beautiful silky fibers of this seed. These fibers allow the Swamp Milkweed to go airborne (in a different way than the helicopters). I have posted the picture to show you the beauty of these seeds.
I have been thinking about planting a Swamp milkweed again. It really does bring in the Monarch butterflies. It is a host plant for them. I have been getting out into my garden, though today the weather is making me stay inside. Outside feels like an intense sauna.
Yesterday morning I started organizing all my garden supplies by cleaning out my long deck storage box and my garden shed. I have many old garden gloves, however, the two long sleeve pairs I had are now damaged. So, I ordered two more long garden gloves to protect me from all the bad plants that could hurt me. I also found my head netting that goes over my garden hat, and protects my face, ears, and neck from garden bugs.
Looking through my pictures brings back plant memories to me. I also found a cool picture of the aster flower with a flower spider and its prey. Perhaps I will plant more of these. Look below.
I also ran across a picture of a beautiful dahlia flower that used to grow in my garden. I used to order dahlia corms from Swan Island Dahlias. Dahlias do not grow year round in my garden because we are in a plant zone where you have to dig them up to keep them. I still get an occasional email from Swan Island Dahlias, so now I am considering whether I could grow them again. My garden has changed drastically since then. Here is a picture of the beauty from the past.
I need the weather to move out of the danger zone before I can make serious progress. I have been taking advantage of early mornings and late evening for some garden clean-up. Patience is needed right now.
Stay hydrated if you have to be out in the heat, and be careful.
The recent storm caused power outage pushed me to rearrange the deck and uncover my Big Green Egg. I had a big enchilada casserole in the oven when the power went out in the late afternoon. I waited, thinking the power would be restored soon. After a couple of hours I covered the casserole still in the oven. Around 6am the next morning when the power was still out I fired up the grill, and placed the casserole on the stone shelf. It finished cooking this way. It was delicious!
We kept the two refrigerators cold with a generator we had not had to use for over 10 to 15 years. Neither my husband or I could remember exactly the last time we had an extended power outage, though we knew it was a long time ago. The small portable Jackery power station my husband uses occasionally with his business came in handy for smaller electrical necessities.
I read about the heat wave that should be arriving this weekend or early next week. I prayed that our power would be restored before this time. The power came back on last evening when the day was winding down. Thank God, and thank you Dominion Energy and all your dedicated service workers.
The 2025 calendar on my refrigerator was purchased from the National Park Foundation. April 16in 1908 the National Bridges National Monument in Utah was designated.
Our family trip to Natural Bridge, Virginia came into my mind, though, this is a Virginia state park, and is not the one advertised on my calendar. We have not been to the Natural Bridges in Utah.
This was a pleasant reminder of our trip in 2011. I have posted a few pictures from our trip.
Perhaps one day we will visit the National Bridges Monument in Utah.
This is a screenshot. It is incorrect with the claim of it being the largest natural land bridge in the North American continent. I believe the Rainbow Bridge in Utah might be the largest.
movingforwardslowly 