March Haiku

Azaleas bloom,

Spring returns,

Mucus flows freely.

Nikon D-200, 18-70mm ƒ3.5

Fruit of the Century

The Century plant's flowers have faded and fallen, but it now has some type of fruit on the stalks. Interesting.........

100 Year Blossoms

The Century plants out front are blooming great masses of flowers that resemble white banana peppers.

They say these yucca type plants bloom once in 100 years, thus the name.

Criniums

Criniums are blooming about town. Throughout the year, these odd Sri Lanka imports have huge clumps of ligulate leaves above the ground, supplying humongous bulbs beneath the surface with nourishment. Then, in a spectacular burst of white trumpets they bloom.

Criniums seem to last forever, surviving beneath the surface of the ground long after the gardener who planted them is gone; long after the house they once ornamented has fallen into disrepair , condemnation, and been torn down. Criniums are used in herbal medicine to treat prostate ailments and uterine fibroids. When I see the criniums bloom, it reminds me that the residual effects of our actions last longer than ourselves.

Pruning Time

Several years back, I delved into gardening. I did not have much of a green thumb, I killed a lot of plants trucked into the local Lowes. I learned fairly quickly that tropical plants thrive in Louisiana's heat and humidity. I built a greenhouse to care for some of them through our short winter month. After one trip to Baton Rouge, we rode back home with the Jeep so filled with tropical plants that we had to brush huge leaves back to see the roadway. Bougainvillea, Bananas, Palms, Birds of Paradise, Cane, Heliconias, Canas, and Hibiscus. I grew them all. I also planted Wisteria and Pyrostegia venusta vines to "tie things together, and to provide a canopy of greenery on a pergola over our den's huge bay window in the summer.

Over the past couple of years, the tropical garden has been largely ignored, left to it's own devices. The huge live oak in the back yard is again providing shade that will eventually kill off the lush growth. When I paid tree surgeons to remove the oak limbs from above the house, and to take the grand old tree down to the ground, my wife cried. I relented, turning it into a "poodle tree" instead. Now, like a bad penny, it's back.

I learned later that tropical plants are incredibly invasive. The Wisteria and Orange Trumpet vines not only covered the pergola, but also the rear of the house. Today, I cut the vines back to within a foot of the ground. They were overtaking the house, and getting to the point that I could not keep up with them, separating clapboards and lifting shingles. Hopefully, the roots will not send up shoots. My wife-mate may be pissed, but sometimes you just have to take the law into your own hands.

While I was out back performing my thuggish pruning, I noticed the wild violet lilies blooming. Maybe if I cut back that oak.......

Old Roses

The azaleas are withering away, but the roses are bursting out like pink popcorn. This is my wife's favorite old English rose bush. It is guaranteed to remain in bloom until November starts to creep in.

Azaleas

"Dig 'em up and plant something tropical," I told my wife when we moved into the house of doom in 1999. I had no idea what azaleas were, and during the Fall, the old scraggly bushes were an eyesore to me. Hideous and frumpy. I could not understand why everyone in the entire neighborhood had the withering shrubs surrounding their homes underneath the live oak trees.

"Just wait," my better half said. She was right. Each spring, for a couple of weeks, we are surrounded by huge kaladioscopic mnounds of the most intense hues imaginable, from fuschia to crimson, to violet, as the azaleas burst into bloom. Ah.....The glory of living in the South, in the Spring.

She wanted me to take some photos of them this year. Here they are. Thank you, Sweetheart,for saving me from myself......Again.

Wisteria

The wisteria across my front porch and back patio is in full bloom. The fragrance is absolutely intoxicating, as the blooms drip sweet nectar for the bees and hummingbirds. The scent is unlike anything else. It's a welcome change from the ordinary, as relaxing and comforting as a mother's touch.

Perhaps the world could benefit from more wisteria.

Flowering Quince

Spring is almost upon us here in Louisiana.
My Chaenomeles is blooming.

This demands a haiku.

old grey poet
imagines gardens
forgets worlds