Glorious Fall Sky (In Portland)

I posted this picture last year, but made a mistake-----when you would left-click on it, it zoomed all the way up to poster size so you couldn't get a good look at the overall image.


What a good excuse for me to post this one again, but correctly sized this time.(Left-click to really see it.) ( Djinn, this is one place where splitting the infinitive works. See, I'm not completely hidebound!)

Better Weather, Richer Color

It's been so gray, rainy, cold and dreary here that I feel compelled to post a picture from my garden from last Spring. Behold one of my favorite peonies------a named variety called Old Faithful. It's too early to be looking forward to Spring, but still.....

Have a great Weekend!

What Stinks?

So, here it is in all it's gory glory! (Click the link to see the earlier post if you don't already know about this plant.)


The flash brought out it's true colors.



Perhaps this gives a sense how big it is. And how furry!


I'm just glad I noticed it had opened before I went to bed for the night. I put it outside right after taking these shots. It did not seem to smell foul yet, but I did not want to take any chances.

The Most Expensive Tomatoes-------EVER!

This Summer I wanted to have lots of Brandywine tomatoes, an heirloom variety with few seeds and lots of flavor. They tend to be irregularly shaped and are prone to splitting, and hence rotting. The ones at the grocery store always seemed overripe as did the ones at the farmer's market. I decided I would grow my own.

I bought eight large plastic pots(8 @ $8.49), eight supports (8 @ $2.29 ?), $20.00 worth of good quality potting soil, and then about $10.00 for some young healthy plants, some Brandywine, and one yellow-pear cherry tomato plant and one grape cherry tomato plant.


For a while everything grew really well, and then the deer discovered them. I had not sprayed the plants with anything because I did not want that putrid stuff on our tomatoes. I thought perhaps that I had them close enough to the house and that, furthermore, tomato leaves are supposed to be poisonous, so maybe the deer would not be fans.


The deer ripped one plant completely out of the soil, and bit several of the others back severely. I moved the least damaged ones to different spots on the deck where I hoped they would be safe although they would get a lot less light. The deer even pursued them onto our deck! Fortunately we have an upper level on our deck ( with even less sunlight) and although it is a little crowded with our table and chairs, I made room for the least ravaged of the plants.

The plants took a long time to recover from the setbacks and are just now beginning to offer a few fruits. It appears that I will harvest a grand total of two Brandywine tomatoes, and a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes. What you see in the picture at the top is my largest haul so far. I picked about seven cherry tomatoes five days ago. At least it looks like there are a few more on the way. And of course I am waiting for those two Brandywines to ripen.

It reminds me of the old joke about the two fishing buddies. After a disappointing haul of only one fish on their vacation, they tally up their expenses, cabin rental, boat rental, fishing tackle and bait only to discover that the one fish they caught cost 14 hundred dollars. "It's a good thing we didn't catch anymore!"

A Plant I Did Not Kill-------Yet

For years I have taken poor enough care of my Stapelia nobilis plant that it declined to bloom. For whatever reason, this year it has produced two gigantic buds.


I am rather excited by this even though I have good reason to to dread such an occurrence. You see, the common name for this plant is the "carrion plant". The flowers smell like rotting flesh to attract insects for pollination. The floral petals are furry and flecked with small burgundy striations-----like veins-------to further the deception.



But before they open they are pleasantly impressive. The buds are several inches long, and quite architectural looking-------a bit like some kind of seashell the way they are twisted at the very bottom tips.

I suspect these will open soon because of the pale blush suffusing the base of the buds. I'd better take this plant onto the porch soon. I don't think the deer will eat them.