Designer

……………………”A society grows great when old men plant trees the shade of which they know they will never sit under…..Good people do things for other people……that’s it……the end”

………………………….The two potted Rose trees were anniversary presents to Jac and me from her sister Marianne over 7 years ago. Every fall they come in the house and I put them on the sun porch that gets a good southern exposure…….Every winter they loose their leaves, and no matter how much I spray them they get these cobwebs all over them with tiny bugs…..WHERE do they come from???? I always think, okay this is it they are done for….In the early spring, before I bring them outside again, I spray them again, and give them a heavy dose of “rose food”, and hope for the best…..As soon as the weather is warm enough for me to bring them out….out they go…..It’s like a miracle…..the webs and the bugs disappear, and new shoots start to grow……This spring they are just bursting with new shoots and tons of roses!!!! I couldn’t be happier! As a matter of fact the photo in the middle at the bottom….is a new rose tree that started to grow from one of the originals trees last summer. One day, last summer, I saw this new  [what almost looked like a small twig with leaves] growing out of the dirt…..When it was big enough I dug it up and transplanted it. It looked pitiful in the house this winter , but I wasn’t giving up on it…..The minute I brought it outside all new shoots started to grow and it’s filling out nicely…..On top of that a new shoot sprung up out of the soil, and it too is growing in leaps and bounds……However, I’m not going to transplant this one. I will just let it grow and be happy with its’ Momma…….All of the trees must be very happy!!! They are all doing so well……They are wonderful reminders of our anniversary……………HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to JAC and ME!

…….I look at a garden the way I look at life…..it is always in transition……….Somethings die…..and others take their place………The Lilacs and Pansies lived their life….They were beautiful and gave me lots of joy….but now they are gone. I told Franco to remove the pansies when I wasn’t home….the way I used to have him remove them when Jac wasn’t home….it’s very sad…..but….the pots weren’t empty for too long….we quickly replanted the pots with new summer annuals that will have all summer to grow and flourish…..They will once again bring me joy all summer……until the fall when once again the pots are emptied, cleaned and stored away for the following spring……The circle of life………However, that’s a long time from now, and I have all summer to enjoy them…….The climbing roses along the drive are almost in full bloom and look and SMELL glorious! They too will soon be gone, but the Black Eyed Susan’s along the drive are growing tall and come July will be blooming. They will Last until the fall season too…….Another TRANSITION……The seasons are coming and going too quickly! ! !It’s already mid June…..Is that because I’m getting older, and the days fly by?…..Well, as they say……”STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES!!”

……………………..This was a great year for my Rhododendron bushes……They were so lush you could hardly see the leaves…..However, their time has come and gone and they are quickly fading……..In their place are the Hydrangeas. They are just starting to have small blooms, but they are still mostly budding [photos upper left]. The photos in the middle bottom of the fuchsia and white flowers [don’t know their name] are spreading like wildfire. It’s a good thing I love them…..It’s always fun to plan which flowers to put together in which posts. I try to mix them so no two pots are the same…..they are all different, and the eye can move from one to the other…..like dancing!

………………….My parents were married in October of 1935…….They took a cruise to Florida, which my mother told me at the time was a pretty big deal…..They then stayed in a hotel for a week before taking the ship back to NYC…..The bottom picture at the right shows my mother sitting on the ship wearing a wrap coat……My mother told me one evening my father was wearing a white suit to dinner….She whispered to him “Jim what kind of underwear are you wearing?” He replied “Why, I’m wearing my polka dot boxers”…….My mother said, “well you better change them because I can see the dots through your white pants!” Needless to say he went to change and never made that mistake again….My mother thought that was a funny story, and thought I would also find it funny, which I did picturing him in his dapper white suit with polka dots showing through…I’m so glad I have these old pictures of them in their youth…..They had their whole life together ahead of them…… They were married for 70 years, but they knew each other as children so they knew each other their entire lives…..Like many couples the paths they took to be with each other wasn’t always clear or straight, but love won out……. My parents both passed away at the ages of 95……one week apart……My mother went first……My father told me “your mom’s calling me”, and one night in his sleep his heart stopped…..They were lucky to have each other for so long……..Sometimes I wonder what will happen to all of these pictures when I’m no longer here to treasure them.