O Alien Seedpod

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Meredith

O Alien Seedpod

© Great Stems, 2009

What creature lurks within this alien seedpod

That attached to the limb of this passerby

Have you tentacles or tendrils

Cloning slime or plasmic goo

Kind heartlight or superior intellect

With mal-intent, malevolent

Or cautious curiosity

Was it accident or enterprise

That those unearthly hooks grabbed hold

Not taken to my leader but to my home

My galaxy within our universe

The day this earthling then stood still

And kept you upon windowsill

Am I Bilbo to your Precious?

An unexpected foil

To the mission of your star trek

The light side to your dark side

Are you from twinkling star or battle star

What led you on your space odyssey

To our forbidden planet

Do you come in peace

Or were you lost in space

Or sent by evil empire

To make a deep impact

When our worlds collided

Does your presence herald an incoming invasion

A pending war of the worlds

A scout passing through the atmosphere of our sphere

To an obscure landing site in dusty field

Far from human occupation

Those claws the right stuff to hitchhike unobserved

Into the galactic center of our empire

And set the stage for Armageddon

Do you watch us, voyager, from within that protective shell

A wasteful race, a ravaged planet

A vengeful, violent species

Bent on destroying ourselves

Do you pity us or laugh at us? Or do you wait

While we do your work for you

Takeover is imminent, the countdown begins

Will we be assimilated? Or annihilated?

Or already absent when your star fleet lands

O Alien Seedpod

I ponder your existence

And then I ponder my own

Two strangers from distant planets meet

Whether it was fate or force or mul-ti-pass

You found me, and I gave you welcome

Whether that means that I’m ambassador

Or first to be devoured when at last you make contact

And I wonder if you can tell me, before my body is snatched:

Is the meaning of life really 42?

Background to my poem: This seedpod is from the Devil’s Claw plant of the genus Proboscidea (without the original plant I hesitate to try to identify the species). It hitched a ride on my shoe while I trekked through ranch land near Uvalde, Texas, some 14 years ago. Since then, my family has enjoyed referring to it as the alien seedpod and enjoyed talking about how it would snatch our bodies or our brains in the night and/or take over Earth. It wasn’t until yesterday that I decided that because I’m now a gardener I should actually find out the name of the plant it came from.

The plant itself, although I don’t have a picture of it, is a somewhat low-growing sprawling plant with beautiful yellow or pink orchid-like flowers. Apparently it’s stinky, too, due to its slimy leaves. The genus name Proboscidea is shared with the animal order which contains only one family, the elephants. In fact, Devil’s Claw is sometimes referred to as elephant tusks, as well as unicorn plant, ram’s horn, and even devil’s snot, depending on the species.

For you veggie gardeners out there, apparently Devil’s Claw works as an excellent trap for tomato hornworms!

That’s Not a Wildflower on My Head…

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Meredith

That’s not a wildflower on my head, but please don’t pick it, either!

***Got any other captions to suggest? Please share!***

Photo is of a resident peacock at Mayfield Park and Preserve in Austin, Texas. This park is a historical estate known for its beautiful gardens, lovely old cottage, gorgeous peafowl, and many acres of nature preserve. It was pretty wet and drizzly during much of my visit, but I plan to do a photo tour at a later date.

The feathers on top of the peacock are called its crest. It’s interesting to note that the peacock’s crest is blue to match his feathers, and the peahen’s crest is brown to match hers. Here’s another view.

The peafowl were happily looking for bugs on the damp ground. Did you know they eat ticks? They could walk behind the deer in our city and just feast away.

Bad Drinking Habits of Citrus

Posted on September 6, 2009 by Meredith

A citrus tree walks into a bar and says to another citrus…

“Hey, orange you the cutie!”

The lime tree should be careful, lest someone think she’s a little tart.

These little trees developed quite the drinking habit during the summer drought. Maybe they just really wanted to let their hair down.

But they should be careful, because excessive drinking can lead to wanton behavior and unexpected results, like babies.

I guess I should stop now. I’ve probably gone over the top with these bad jokes.

They’re real lemons.

(Disclosure: No plants were harmed in the making of these photos. The bottles are filled with water, of course. FYI, only one makes use of a Plant Nanny, while the others are placed straight into the soil. The key to success with bottle watering is to make sure the soil is wet BEFORE you put the bottle in, then the roots just take in more water as they need to. Also, the eggs are ladybug eggs, from my happy little busy bugs. The corn silk is just beautiful every day. And the sugar pumpkins have at last conquered the 8-foot trellis, and then some.)

While the Gardener Is Away…

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Meredith

While the gardener is away, the kids will play.

What they were SUPPOSED to be doing was creating a bed edge using some chalky limestone pieces and digging a hole.

Instead, what I came home to find was this:

And this chalk-covered creature:

And about — no lie — 80 other pictures of an action-sequence of Zombie Boy, or whatever they were calling this character. I’m just glad they couldn’t find the video camera.

And no, I still don’t have a garden bed edge or new hole dug.

The Formal Corn

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Meredith

The formal corn wears tassels and silk

to an elegant affair. Would you care to have this dance? A pollination waltz, perhaps?

Four honeybees partake in the jitterbug, flitting about from cantaloupe flower to cantaloupe flower. Their heavy pollen sacs don’t slow them down.

Just a few feet away, male sugar pumpkin flowers have finally opened up in the cooler temperatures, but their pollen grains have yet to entice the busy little bees.

Perhaps when the females start to open, the bees will move over to help the pumpkins along.

The cantaloupe grows big, and a ladybug kindly pauses to give a size comparison.

It won’t be much longer before the melon is ripe, and there are more cantaloupes waiting their turn.

Meanwhile, other ladybugs are busy… (gasp) Avert your eyes!

The assassin bug nymph doesn’t notice. He’s too busy waiting for a tasty dinner companion.

Would that it might be this black bug, the larger version of the unknown little red bug…

Their numbers are dwindling, thanks to the ever-watchful predators and (perhaps more so) quick little fingers.

The trellised garden nears the top.

With the promise of a harvest, one hopes that the squirrels that ate their way into the birdseed container won’t turn their little black eyes toward the veggies and fruit.

The jack-o-lantern pumpkin plants get bigger and bigger. The male flowers come and go, but the cooler temperatures bring promises that females will bloom soon.

A checkered garter snake leads the way to another discovery…

that a pumpkin plant is trying to do the great escape…

behind the air conditioner, which broke just last night, thankfully timed with the cooler temperatures.

The “dwarf” papyrus continues on its world conquest, one pond at a time. Its sheer size and weight helped it shift off its support and into deeper waters. Its plan to quickly send out new growth and roots was soon foiled, however. It’s been raised back out of the water depths and is marked for major division very, very soon.

Is that a ghost haunting the house?

It’s too early for Halloween, so it must be tricksy little pole bean seedlings.

An easy move to a planter,

and then nestled in bed…

for another busy day in the garden.

Ladybug Superheroes

Posted on August 31, 2009 by Meredith

Saving the world from organized aphid crime

Our heroes!

Best Words Ever in a Drought

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Meredith

PRACTICE CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN

Rock-a-Bye, Baby

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Meredith

Rock-a-bye, baby

In pantyhose

You won’t fall down

When the wind blows

Snug in your bed

Some melons might laugh

Till they drop right off

And go-o-o CRACK.

Dirty Little Secrets

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Meredith

Did I get your attention? C’mon, admit it. You’re already here. Can’t stop now. And if you don’t admit it, then you know…you’ll have your own dirty secret. 🙂

Well, this post is in thank you to Jessica of The Magical Mundane, who so kindly selected my blog to receive the MeMe Blogging Award. I was so honored by her words– Jessica, you really made me smile! The steps for me to accept the award are revealing 7 things about myself and then passing the award onto 7 others.

But I’m torn. And I had to give this a lot of thought before making my decision. On the one hand, Jessica truly made me feel good, and I’d love to do that for others. On the other hand, wow I just don’t like to send these kinds of things on. I started to, but then stopped. There are so many deserving bloggers out there, and I just don’t even know how to begin to choose, but then I worry about putting someone in a similar predicament of trying to figure out whether they should send them on, too. So with that, I can’t fully participate.

But here’s my compromise. I’ll do the first half — I’ll reveal dirty secrets about myself. It’s ok to talk about dirty stuff — I’m a gardener. (HEY — that might have to be my new motto.) Or maybe I’m NOT really a gardener… but you’ll have to read on to see my confession. Here goes — 7ish things about myself.

1. When I say I’ve been a nature and wildlife lover all my life, I mean it. I have a B.A. in Zoology, and wouldn’t you know it, I long for one in Botany now, too!

2. I have a strong British heritage, and I married someone with Irish ancestry. But I look more Irish than my husband does.

3. When I was young, my dad always hogged and hid the chocolate syrup, not wanting to share with his kids. I don’t hide the chocolate syrup, but I claim all Chocolate Underground Stoneyfield Yogurt! I also have a weakness for chocolate and strawberries. (A moment of silence, if you will, for the yogurt I devoured soon after taking this picture.)

4. I live in Texas, but my favorite region is the northwest coast. I lived in northern California for several years of my childhood. I think if I could be a tree, I’d be a Redwood.

5. Up until this last year I was a triathlete. Back injuries have made it difficult for me to do two of the three sports, but as alternative activity, gardening has actually been fine as long as I’m careful. I love open-water swimming in a lake with a big, big passion. Of course, it would have to be water in a lake that hasn’t been almost dried up due to drought.

6. I live for lime. Any kind of lime will do, but I particularly love key limes. I’m already drooling just thinking about it. If you ever come visit me, I make a mean key lime pie and a mean margarita. I now have three Mexican lime trees. When they start to fruit, I’ll be in lime heaven!

7. Our house is colorful and cozy, typical of most homes, but when you walk into our study, you venture into somewhat of a Star Wars theme. We have a variety of posters and Lego models, primarily related to the original movies. My husband is a true Sci-Fi geek, and I still admit to having a lingering crush on Han Solo, ever since my childhood (I confess to gazing across at the picture of Han Solo on the file cabinet while I typed this).

Ok, I’ll admit one more truly dark, dirty secret. And I’ve already been told that perhaps I’m not really a gardener because of this, but… I don’t like tomatoes. Well, not fresh off the tomato plant. (Stop gasping!) Something about the fresh acidity of the tomato, I guess, which is weird because I do have a passion for citrus, and I love anything with cooked or dried tomatoes. BUT a friend brought over cute little cherub tomatoes last week, and I managed to eat three of them! So there’s hope for me yet. I just need to find out whether I can grow cute little cherub tomatoes in Austin, and then perhaps I’ll really be a true gardener in the eyes of my fellow gardeners. There, MY DIRTY LITTLE SECRET. Err, secrets.

Jessica, thank you again!

Entwined

Posted on August 7, 2009 by Meredith

The darkness of night faded
I turn to the light of dawn
And gingerly I reach out

A shy and uncertain hand

Longing for love, and clinging

At the briefest hint of touch

Will I be made the fool?
My denied hopes a tangled mess

Or will the tendrils of love entwine?

For hand in hand, and more than hugs
Tenderness brings strength to heart

And hopes become wishes true

Oh, be the rock on which I stand
And I will stand proud but grounded

Be the wall upon which I lean
And I will know comfort yet stay dependent

But hold my hand and love me
And I will bloom and grow

High and higher, unbound by rooted doubts
Upon the ladder of heart’s embrace

Toward the warming sun above

And I shall be whole and happy

All because I reached, and you were there.

And love entwined.

The photos show a glimpse of my young food garden: jack-o-lantern pumpkin, cantaloupe, and sugar pumpkin vines, with images of the tendrils of crossvine and caroline jessamine mixed in. The seedlings are growing well, and they are my babies. The cantaloupes are blooming now, and the jack-o-lantern pumpkins are teasing me with buds.

A few days ago I saw my first squash vine borer moth (horror!), and the next day I went out and removed about 30 little brown eggs from my jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Hopefully I got them all. Seriously, I’m checking for eggs every day now. This task will get harder as the plants get bigger.

I’ve planted 32 corn seedlings and all are growing. Yes, that’s a lot of corn! But they all fit with this square-foot gardening.

I’ve had a few leaf-miners tunneling, but I haven’t done anything about it. As far as I know, the overall plants will be fine, though I hate to see the pretty leaves tainted with trails.

And I’ve bought seeds for my third raised bed, for fall: carrots, beans, spinach, and zucchini. Looking forward to and terrified of attempting to grow even more veggies… But having fun, too. 🙂