Ah, damn! Who made it October already? Frost cannot be far away. It would be a miracle to get another 4 weeks in before it hits. Hopefully we will get at least 2 more weeks of temperatures above 32.  Soon all my beautiful tropicals will be gone from the landscape and all that will be left is that hardy crap. Oh, I know. Like Frosty the Snowman they will be back some day. But in the meantime there is the bleak period filled with cold rain, blowing snow, and worst of all, never-ending gray skies. What the ancient ones called the Midwest Winter.

To be honest I am at a bit of a loss for ideas for this week’s blog. Well, not at a loss for ideas really, but at a loss for ideas that the muse can turn into a blog. The muse is being a rhymes-with-witch this week. Some weeks I can pound one of these out in a couple hours. Other weeks are like this one, three days off and on and I’m still not there. And the blog is hardly something I can afford to spend too many hours on. So it finally came to me to describe in a bit of detail this summer’s design for the circle bed in front of the Museum. I can’t let you into my head for the entire thought process however. It is a far too dangerous place. There are things in there that even I’m afraid of.

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Filed under: Horticulture

It’s Friday the 13th. Oooooooooo. I’m so scared. If you want a history of why this day is considered bad go here. If you want to know why I don’t buy into the theory stay here. Black cat, you want to cross my path? Go right ahead. When you get to the other side I’ll give you a bowl of Friskees (Frisky!). I might even change your litter box. Ladder up ahead, I will walk right under you. Crack in the side walk, I will step on you. Then patch you so a stiletto heel won’t get mangled (To quote Karen from Will and Grace, “Kill one piece and the whole ensemble dies!”).

Personally I don’t think a date on the calendar brings bad luck. Frequently what appears to be bad luck is actually the result of bad judgment. When I rear ended the car in front of me many years ago it wasn’t bad luck. It was stupidity. Why did I take my foot off the brake at a red light? Maybe I was distracted by the Scotsman in the other bucket seat. When I don’t have a presentation ready and I have an article due and a blog to write – all on the same day, it isn’t bad luck. It’s procrastination (I almost said procastration. Entirely different. And as a general rule I am not but sometimes…..) We make much of our bad luck in my opinion. So on this day that is rife with superstition I’m looking at why this is a GOOD day.

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Filed under: Horticulture