Cold Statues

The bride and I love landscaping and gardening.  Our humble abode is kind of a showplace of horticulture. 

Of late we have been selectively adding tasteful statuary as enhancements to some our our flower beds, but in roaming around the other day I was struck by how cold and forlorn some of the figures look in the midst of this cold winter.

 Image credit for all = Gary 

Bashful Betty

 

Granite owl

 

Terra cotta renard

 

Chilly mermaid

 

 

Kold kitty

Sammy's final resting place**

 

 

I'm always on the lookout for appropriate statuary.  High on my list is finding  just the right gargoyle....

 

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**By the way (and I hope this does not come across as crass commercialism), I have a business on the side for people to chisel their own pet memorial markers.  It memorializes your beloved pet.  Moreover, it provides wonderful therapeutic benefits from working through your grief with your own two hands.  And--seriously--it is not difficult, and if you don't like your results I'll refund your money.

 

Link is here if you are interested in reading more.

 

 

Jack In The Pulpit...and Ultrarunning

Continuing yesterday's flowery post, this photo comes from my yard, where we have a plethora of Jack-In-The-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) plants, all native and naturally-occurring on the property:

[image credit Gary]

 

 

This is the fruit as seen in late September here in southern PA.  It's a stunning unmistakable red, about 3-4 inches in height.

 

The plant and flower are pretty plain green, nothing showy, so the plant is obviously saving up all its goodies for the fruit.  Here's the plant, which illustrates the "pulpit" arrangement from whence the plant derives its name:

[image credit Connecticut Botanical Society]

 

 

I lied--there's no special connection to Ultrarunning.  This plant likes open, moist woodlands; it definitely does not favor dry uplands or ridegtop trails.  So while, say, on the Appalachian or Tuscarora Trail you might encounter it when you drop off the ridges to the hollows and valleys.

 

 

 

 

Reese Hollow Flowers...and Ultrarunning

Over at "my" trail and shelter (I am the volunteer overseer of the Reese Hollow Shelter and the Reese Hollow Trail off the Tuscarora Trail near Mercersburg, PA) there are a number of wildflowers.

Right now there's a particularly perplexing yellow flower that when keyed out seems either to be Rattlesnake Weed (Hieracium venosum) or Two-Flowered Cynthia (Krigia biflora):

[image credit Gary, sorry it's a bit fuzzy]

 

 

The flower is a better fit with being Rattlesnake Weed, but the leaves don't quite synch up; the leaves match up better with Two-Flowered Cynthia but the flowers are off.

 

Both plants are likely to inhabit Reese Hollow.  So, I must be content with just admiring the beauty of these flowers; after all, as one of my Bio profs once said, in a remark that obviously stuck, "The name is the least important piece of information about a plant."

 

Oh, and the link to Ultrarunning is that spotting flowers is one of my favorite incidental activities while running.  I often stop dead in my tracks to admire some posie that happens to be within eyeshot of the trail.  And while I may wonder about its name, I (usually) don't get obsessed about it and instead just enjoy the sight.

 

 

More Flower Beds, Rock Walls...and Ultrarunning

I just posted a couple weeks ago, here, about a major new landscaping effort in our yard.

Well, I'm nearly done with another, and am proud of the dry stone wall I used to terrace the bed to mitigate the slope of our front yard:

[image credit Gary]

 

 



The wall is about 2' high at its highest.  The stones are all local limestone (Franklin County, PA is almost inundated with the stuff) that I snag from farmers' fields, their rock piles, wooded areas, etc. 

Some of the largest stones came from the foundation of a particular nearby barn that was destroyed by fire.  I made a number of trips gleaning rocks from that source, and some of them still bear the whitewash that was used on the inside walls of the barn.  In my wall I made sure to place those stones prominently and not to cover up the whitewash, so I will remember that these stones were once part of a barn and now have a second life in my wall rather than being bulldozed for fill.

The link to Ultrarunning is that whenever I run I am on the lookout for wall stones.  When I find a decent rock, meaning having at least one flat side and say up to the size of a microwave, I pull it to the edge of the road and go back for it later in my pickup.  When I use the example of a microwave, a stone much beyond that in size I simply cannot lift because this particular geologic formation, the Chambersburg Limestone, is quite dense, checking in at approx 166 lbs per cubic foot.

I've done a bunch of dry stone walls in my life, and the two main "secrets" I've learned:

• Stagger the joints (for strength and better appearance)
• Lean the wall inward 10-15 degrees to compensate for the outward hydraulic pressure of wet soil

Bear with me for some simple physics.  Since dry topsoil weighs approx 2000-2500 lbs per cubic yard--that's better than a ton, people--imagine its weight when it gets wet.  There is enormous pressure against the inside of your wall, trying to force it out.  You equalize the game in two ways: by the sheer volume, bulk and weight of your wall stones (the bigger, the better) and by the inwards lean.

Oh, and one other tip that I forget to include in my previous post, but it's relevant here: when you mulch, go deep.  I use shredded bark that I get by the truckload, and I go at least 4" deep.  The mistake many people make is to scrimp on the mulch, going only an inch or two deep...then wonder why they get weeds. 

The tradeoff is more upfront costs versus ineffective coverage.

 

Little Ultrarunning, Just Flowers

[photos by Gary: click to enlarge, ESC to return]

Well, the bride's Yellow Lady's Slippers are thriving.  This plant is about 3 years old, planted in 2009.  In the springs of 2010 and 2011 it had only a single stem and a single bloom. 

Now this spring the plant has exploded, pushing out 3 stems with a total of 4 flowers as seen above.  Unfortunately the yellow washes out a bit in the image above (damn that autofocus/autoexposure!). But below is the money shot, a close-up of one of the blooms:

Meanwhile, out back in the water garden, we're seeing our first water lilies:

I guess there is an Ultrarunning connection after all.  Back in 1998 when I ran the Massanutten 100 miler in VA, I was fortunate to see what is becoming a rarity in the wild: Pink Lady's Slippers.  This species--a cousin to the yellow--does not lend itself well to domestic propagation, otherwise I'd have one.

Yellow Lady Slipper

Just in time for Mother's Day, the Yellow Lady Slipper flower that I purchased last spring burst forth its flower.  The bride was quite pleased, as was I.

Although the overall plant and its flower are fairly petite, it still was a stunning morning sight when I paused along my south flower bed after coming back from a windy run this weekend. 

I saw numerous Lady Slippers along the trails of the Massanutten 100 Miler; in fact, that is one of the vivid, enduring memories I have of that run back in 1998.

First Water Lily Flower

No ultrarunning content today, just a shot of my first water lily flower.  This in honor of all the mothers out there who have done so much.  

To the four mothers closest to me (Mom, the bride, daughter, daughter-in-law): thank you.