Fern Tales

The only houseplant I can grow…Boston ferns! What’s weird is this…most of my friends who have an otherwise uncanny green-thumb with houseplants…can’t seem to grow a healthy Boston fern for nothin’! Therefore, I’ve decided that it’s an inherited trait!

When I was a kid we had this Boston fern…it was my great-grandmother’s (my mom’s grandmother) (My dad’s grandmother owned a fern that, at one point, was so big, it was finally repotted into a porcelain bathtub!). Our fern sat on this dark-finished table and, when I was very, very little (much smaller than I am now, naturally), I used to curl up on the little shelf and play under that fern! What adventures I had! Of course, I’d always end up in the arms of my hero (proxy-the large rocking chair which had once belonged to my grandpa).

Here in fact, is a lovely glamour photo of me with my parent’s fern! As ever the fashion trend-setter, I grew as did our fern. (Look! Off to the right you can see what my sister and I now refer to as, “the sacred cloth!” All through our childhoods, this marvelous metallic woven cloth nestled under our Christmas tree! Year after year after year my sister and I would sit in awe at its blue metallic beauty! Oh, what a magical cloth it was! Well, one day, several years ago, I asked my mother, “Mom…where did you get the sacred cloth?” Her response, “Oooh! That was an old cow show blanket we used at the fair one year!” Nice!)

Anywho, ferns seem to be in my blood! I have only ever lost one…on our move from New Mexico to Washington. I think the weather change was just too traumatic for “Fernetta,” as my friend called her.

I have four ferns now…this large one being the oldest and most durable! I started this fern in Ferndale, Washington (how apropos, eh?) about 7 years ago! Originally it was about eight inches in diameter. The amazing thing is, when we moved to Colorado three years back and ended up trapped in a blizzard in Wyoming…this fern froze and died down to about five short little fronds! It’s growing at such a rate that, even though I haven’t repotted it for three years…it’s busting at the seams! Here are two photos of about 4 weeks of growth…Sandy with it in May and then another photo in June! Yowzers! I need a higher table and a bigger pot!

This second little fern I started in May two years ago and it was about eight inches in diameter then as well. As you can see, it’s quite happy living in the opposing corner of the room on top of an old trunk that our cat, Jed, thinks is his personal nap-throne! (As you can see…this fern was having a better hairstyle experience in May than it was in June! I sort of know how it feels.)

Two other ferns I have are still struggling through relocation trauma…however, considering they’re only a year old, they look pretty good! Not as full and as long as these…but getting there!

And now you know another one of my secrets…I can’t grow any other houseplant to save my life! But…I can grow a mean Boston fern! At least that’s something…right?

Morning Walks

The sites one sees on one’s morning walk, eh? Not to mention the scents one smells, right? These past few summer mornings have been lovely! The comforting aroma of cow and horse manure wafting over the breeze—the low-hum buzzing of the bumble bees as they flit from thistle blossom to thistle blossom in their rather heavy, bumbling-bee manner—the birds perched on the posts and singing their morning songs—the bunnies hiding in the grass! All of these things combine to make my morning walks so soothing—so greatly needed!

Wishing I could share it with you, I snapped a few photos this morning…just a few little views so that you can see a little bit of what I see when I’m walking in the fresh morning air!

As I stepped away from the house, I glanced down to see the clover, pasture grass and those little miniature daisies lining the dirt road as if Mother Nature had planted them there just to brighten my day!

Mmmmm! As the fresh morning air greeted me, my little bird friend (he/she is there every morning and just sits chirping away as I pass) greeted me with a friendly song! (I need to get a bird book and look up this little guy!)

Next, the bumble bee trail met me! These guys are huge! You know that scene in “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”…the one where the guy is holding onto the bee…well I’m tell you, when one of these guys comes buzzing at you…it’s like a ‘point of view’ shot from that movie! Kind of gives me goose bumps (the bad kind) every time one zooms across my path!

Here’s the fence post…the place where I turn around and head back for home! I love this old post for some reason. You can even see Pikes Peak in the background there!

And here’s one looking down my driveway! You can sort of see the house nestled there among the trees across from the barns!

I didn’t see any bunnies on my walk this morning, but a little ground squirrel was there as I walked up toward the house. See if you can find him in the first photo before you see him up close in the second!

And now you, too, have seen a few of the sights I saw on my walk this morning! It’s a lovely walk! Wish you were here…we could ramble along the dirt road for hours just dodging giant bumble bees, listening to birds and savoring the wonderful, comforting scent of manure!