Accessible Gardening: #19 Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners , 1 by seacanepain

seacanepain wrote:

The first time Nadi preps a new recipe; she follows it to the letter. By the fourth or fifth time she makes the dish, it may not bear much resemblance to the recipe she started with.

Yay, I can sit up again. I’ll buy Kay the liquid B12. I would not wish injections on anyone. No one is coming near me with a hypodermic any time soon. I can’t believe this. I bet I had close to 100 injections in my lifetime including risky ones like gamma globulin. The military once gave those before sending a soldier into high risk areas. I never had a problem. This one was routine and I’ve had it before. For a day or two it hurt worse than the back surgery. I’ll never be nonchalant about injections again.

My Lady of the Night isn’t blooming yet, but I’m still out on the deck huffing sweet air. The Mexican tuberose and deep sea crinums are blooming at the same time. It’s the first time that has ever happened. Smells like the perfume counter at Neiman-Marcus. A double helping of nose candy and I don’t gain an ounce. Someone posted a comment on the tuberose page of PlantFiles describing them as “Gardenias on a stick.” Kay describes tuberoses as gardenias all grown up and wearing a little black dress and spike heels…whatever that means. The variety of crinum blooming has a haunting sweetness. The two scents don’t clash at all. That is something we have to think about with this many fragrant plants growing in a relatively small area. Bloom times have been off this year, but we have been lucky so far. I wish I could capture the scent and send it to everyone like a postcard. It’s relatively cool and there is a soft breeze churning the two fragrances. It’s so peaceful.

We must have missed a bulb when we were moving bulbs and perennials closer to the house. I found the crinum growing in a wild area. It is doing so well there I decided to leave it and plant some wildflowers to compliment it. There is a white yarrow growing nearby and I like the contrast between the long, wide , strappy foliage of the crinum lily and the ferny foliage of yarrow. I have seeds for some pastel colored yarrows. I will ask Nadi to plant them there tomorrow. Many perennials do best here planted in the fall.

I’ll let Kay write about the native cacti and agave. I would have to look up all those plant names. Kay carries them around in her head. Enough sitting for now. Catch all of you later.

(Jim)

Photo: Deep Sea Crinum