Inside By 9

An intolerance of heat is increasing in severity as the years pass.  We tried to get in some garden work early in the day, but dry and dizzy quickly sent me inside.  We are fortunate in that the high temperature forecast for today has been lowered by three degrees to a mere 90.  That is within a degree of yesterday's high and we survived that so today looks like another inside the house day.

My large potted Cardinal Flowers needed weeding.  We intend for these plants to take the place of early spring potted plants.  Each of these will come out of winter with up to six daughter plants growing around the long dead stem of this year's flowering plant.  Planting out multiple young plants should increase the display next year.  I will also be spared carrying in four heavy trays of potted plants when frost threatens.  These twelve pots will likely require six trips to the basement.

A red flower can be seen growing close to the stone wall. Bee Balm is another native plant.  In his writings about the scarcity of Cardinal Flower, John Burroughs suggested the substitution of Bee Balm for a red flowering garden plant.  Its red is a great looking one and the plant spreads invasively.  That said, I do not know why I continue to try and reintroduce Cardinal Flower into the wild and carry it over in the gardens.  Bee Balm would require much less work and both the hummingbirds and hummingbird moths freely feed from its flowers.

Keeping these potted plants free of weeds has allowed me to see things never seen before.  At the end of the growing season, new plants are present around the old stem.  Perhaps these new plants are already up and growing.  Not every pot shows this early growth so we intend to watch and learn.  This pot contains two stems that will flower this year because the choice was not to pull them apart when they were transferred to pots early this spring.

Some time ago the discovery of deer footprints close by and a nipped off stem did not make me happy.  While weeding here today, the footprint was obvious but the cut stem could not be found.  Unable to fiercely trust the accuracy of my memory, I could not find the deer damage but remained shakily sure that it was present.  Becky quickly found it under the three new stems growing close to the damaged stem.  I have seen pictures of the results of pruning Cardinal Flower.  Knee high plants densely  covered with brilliant red flowers left a lasting impression.  Reluctant to prune a native treasure, tall thin natural displays are all that grow here.  This year that pesky fawn will allow me to see first hand the results of pruning Cardinal Flower.

This is the dry stone wall that lines the curved ramp to the basement.  Snakes are sometimes seen both inside of the wall and outside on level ground.  A garter snake and I have had numerous recent encounters.  This morning we found its shed skin and once again wondered just how the serpents use our stones to rub off their old skin.  This snake is already larger than most seen here.  Can't wait to see the larger version dressed in bright new skin.