Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Poetic intention




The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.


Elizabeth Bishop, "One Art"

4 comments:

Puffincentral said...

Just read thro' all of October's blogs. Lovely photos! Scrolling down, tho', I noticed one that appeared to be of a rice paddy - I don't envy you dealing with all that wetland. I have a swampette i.e. about 18" sq. - it has candelabra primula, lobelia cardinalis 'Queen Victoria', kingcup (caltha palustris), meadowsweet (filipendula ulmaria) and astilbe. The garden is very sunny (I'm talking London here!)but all these waterbabies are shaded by some sort of ornamental grass - they grow up through it.

Doctor Mom said...

You brilliant gardener! And how like you to know the Latin names :-)! Check out a previous posting on this mire http://thebackquarteracre.blogspot.
com/2007/04/my-fenway-fearful.html for an allusion I know you'll appreciate! I'm going to explore your list of waterbabies further. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I tried growing Lobelia Cardinalis last year from nursery bought plants, but they didn't survive the winter in my garden in Woburn MA (Zone 6). This year I grew them from seed and have planted them in various beds in the garden to see if they will survive the winter when grown in different places. Since they have also had more time to establish I expect a better survival rate, but we'll see come the spring. Mature specimens of these plants are very impressive, with dark bronze leaves and brilliant red flowers. They like the wet (during the summer), but I'm not sure they would like being wet and frozen solid for 3 months of winter. The primulas I know are pretty hardy in the UK. The RHS gardens at Harlow Carr in Yorkshire are on top of a hill so it gets cold, but still not as cold as here. They have there own hybrid primulas that are found in the Streamside garden. http://www.rhs.org.uk/WhatsOn/gardens/harlowcarr/archive/harlowcarrpomjul.asp

Doctor Mom said...

Thanks, Peter, for the link to Harlow Carr! Any ideas for plants that do enjoy frozen roots? (So far, I've lost an adjacent weeping cherry and a dogwood to this problem.)