Colors of Winter...

It is too cold to write. It is too cold to take pictures. But I am forging ahead any way. (I was just informed that if I was a sculptor, I could forge a head.) I braved the freezing temperatures and the frigid wind and ventured out to capture the colors of winter.

{Buddleja davidii var. nanhoensis 'Nanho Blue'}

I think of winter as being a grey, colorless time of year. Except for my Johnnies, of course. But the past few days, I have been noticing subtle colors.

{Hydrangea macrophylla}

These are definitely not the bold, dashing colors of summer. Or even the sweet, enchanting colors of spring. They are wise, subdued colors, beckoning closer inspection.

{Gaultheria procumbens ‘Red Baron,’}

The leaves of the Creeping Jenny trailing over the edge of an abandoned birdbath have bronzed.

{Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'}

Shifting shadow patterns have sun-burned the camellia's leaves.

{Camellia}

One lone periwinkle bloom hangs on despite the cold.

{Vinca minor}

The underside of the leaves of one of my coral bells shows an astonishing purple.

{Heuchera}

Sunlight glows through the new leaves of one of my pitcher plants.

{Sarracenia}

Delight! Oh, delight! I was thrilled to discover a bud forming for a bloom to come in spring.


Have a beautiful day!

Pumpkin crop...

Yup. That’s it. That is my entire pumpkin crop for 2009.



The Baker’s Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog says about Pipian from Tuxpan (C. mixta): “A lovely 6 lb. round squash that has fine white and green stripes! Very easy to grow, and the long vines produce an incredible amount of fruit here! We collected this variety near Tuxpan, Mexico from a gentleman at a roadside stand; he said this variety is grown for its large, tasty seeds that are used in Mexican desserts and other foods. These fruits are very seedy, with loads of big white-skinned seeds that have silver rims. Inside the skin, they are filled with tender, nutty seeds that are great raw and superb roasted.”



Well, that sounded good to me! I thought I would try growing my own pumpkin seed pumpkin so I ordered the seeds. They were lovely: large and silvery. I didn’t want to put them in the dirt! I picked my spot – full sun, of course. I bought soil (gasp!), worked some into the existing clay, made a nice mounded row for my plants, which I had diligently started indoors, under lights. I planted my little pumpkin seedlings and they grew! They were beautiful! They had strong vines and huge leaves. There were even blooms. But then the squash bugs came and they sure made a mess. And then there was the humidity. And maybe not enough rain. Nevertheless, a fruit formed and was growing nicely. But one day when I went out to check on it, it was slowly turning to mush. A month or two or three later, when I was cleaning up some stuff in the garden, I discovered this adorable little prize. It obviously hadn’t grown to its expected 6 pounds, but it sure is cute! And it did look very nice on my Thanksgiving table.

So maybe this isn’t the right type of squash for me to be growing for my area. Or maybe next time I need to actually try to do something about the squash bugs. Anyway, I will try a different pumpkin next summer and see what results I get.

And I never did get around to planting the orange pumpkin pie variety.


Have a beautiful day!