GARDEN BLOGGERS' MUSE DAY

September

The golden rod is yellow;
The corn is turning brown :
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.

The gentian's bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
in dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges flaunt their harvest
In every meadow nook;
And asters by the brook side
Make asters in the brook.

From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes' sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer's best of weather,
And autumn's best of cheer.

But none of all this beauty
Which floods the earth and air
is unto me the secret
Which makes September fair.

'Tis a thing which I remember;
To name it thrills me yet ;
One day of one September
I never can forget

-Helen Hunt Jackson

AUTUMN GARDEN RENOVATION

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. 'robbiae '
aka Wood Spurge

" Rich deep shiny green evergreen leaves are tipped spring to mid summer with interesting chartreuse yellow flowers held on thick wiry stems. " Sold . All I need to do now is to thin out the Rudbeckia and plant it there.

I'm on a mission this Autumn : Divide and conquer the rudbeckias, phlox , sedum and Korean bellflowers.

Add some more perennial mums, coneflowers, daffodils and tulips.

THE COMPULSIVE GAMBLER OF THE PLANT WORLD

Polyrrhiza lindenii

Watched an interesting story on the news recently about a woman looking for owls in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary outside Naples, Florida. She discovered a rare ghost orchid growing 60 feet up on a bald cypress tree. The orchid is estimated to be 30 to 50 years old.

What is so rare about the ghost orchid is that it exists at all because it is dependent upon the giant Sphinx moth that flies only at night to pollinate it. As if that wasn't enough, its seed needs a specific strain of beneficial fungus to survive and if there's not sufficient peat to feed its host, the Cypress, it will likely perish. There's more. It must get enough water to saturate the air and prevent temperature swings. All this for an irregular and infrequent bloom . What odds if you were a gambler.

Fewer than 1,000 of the species remain and only in Southwest Florida and Cuba. Now that the location is known I would venture to guess that orchid enthusiasts will be visiting the site with bags and baskets in hand.

HOW GREAT THOU ART

Greatest Artist of the 20th Century

This August was the 30th anniversary of Elvis's death at age 42 and if you are a big fan like me you watched all his old movies and documentaries on tv. No other artist had greater influence on our music culture than Elvis and yet he was born into very poor circumstances in a two room house in Tupelo, Mississippi.

More has been written about Elvis as well and I think I've read just about every book published. His life was remarkable and if one were to see his movies and listen to his music without knowing he was a country boy I don't think there would be the slightest clue.

A "tiger can't change his stripes " is a true idiom. It was evident in many ways that Elvis never forgot his roots. He had a big heart and was known to give away many expensive gifts on the spur of the moment and he secretly supported many charities that people didn't know about. He was also a big " Mama's boy. " In later years, true to his country raising he recorded an album of country music favorites and gospel as well. Gospel music is a very spiritual and emotional thing for most Southerners who grew up singing it in church.

Food is always a connection to your childhood and Elvis was no different with his butter fried PB & J sandwiches. Unfortunately, Elvis's ideas of love and marriage were flawed and in my opinion that and his wild lifestyle paved the road to his eventual demise.

Elvis was a big part of my youth, when he first came onto the music scene. Parents and pastors didn't like him and pronounced sentence on his "morals " early on. But rock and roll had just been born and we teenagers thought that Elvis was the " coolest . " That's right, cool. We had that word back then. In fact , we coined it. And guess what ? Elvis is still " cool " even today. A new generation has re-discovered him.

FOR MAX

My new blogging buddy Max at Flicker Days was posting about her Korean mother whom she has been caring for since her cancer reoccurred. I usually visit her blog frequently but missed a few days. When I logged on it on Saturday I was shocked to find her obituary posted and the words " I love you, Mom. " She was only 58 years old.

She then posted about what a gift it was that her mother allowed her to take care of her in her last days. I don't know if Max realizes that in Korean culture she would be considered a most loving and dutiful daughter and a precious gift to her mother. It must have meant so much to her to be able to stay in her home until the very end and to experience the love of a devoted daughter . I have so many Korean friends who lament about the fact that they weren't there when their parents passed.

Max, I know you mourn the passing of your precious mother who is now at peace after suffering so much. Gather the wonderful memories of her around you for comfort .

I send you a bouquet picked from my garden this sad August day along with my thoughts and prayers on the loss of your precious mother.

TWISTER

It had been raining almost everyday for a week. Non-stop. Last Thursday, I stared in disbelief at the message on the tv screen : Tornado warning for Chicago area. What, a tornado in Chicago ? You've GOT to be kidding . So I switched over to the weather channel and sure enough it was sighted near the Eisenhower expressway !

Suddenly the sky grew very dark and 80 mph winds whipped the trees nearly to the ground. An eerie feeling came over me as scenes from my childhood flashed through my mind : Twister. How many countless hours had I spent underground in a storm cellar waiting for one to pass over ? I sometimes feel that I spent so much time in a hole I could be a mole.

I am terrified of severe thunderstorms, lightning and tornadoes because I've seen the damage they have done. Neighbors homes totally destroyed, barns ripped off their foundations and sent through the air to the next county, huge trees uprooted and dead chickens everywhere.

My first thoughts were to go to the lower level for protection but almost as soon as the announcement was made, the storm subsided. Then came the tv coverage of 300,000 chicagoans out of electricity, huge trees felled everywhere, roof collapses and homes flooded in the suburban areas.

Was it really a twister or just a funnel cloud ? No one seems to know. One thing's for sure : It was a hell of a storm. We were lucky in our neighborhood but not far away in Lincoln Park it looked like a war zone. The weather this August has really been one for the record books.