In Memory of my Maternal Grandfather

MY GRANDFATHER MAKES A WISH

I'm thinking of my dearly departed grandfather, Albert Elmer Herman Louis Melahn, who was born on this day in 1903 (he died in the late 1970s.) The image atop this entry was taken on one of his birthdays in the early 1970's.

My grandmother can be seen helping him blow out his candles and my next youngest sister and I are behind them. We were told to "pose laughing," by my mother, who took the snap-shot when his cake caught on fire. (Our cousin Karl, who is for the most part of camera, is to my left).

Sunday's Sentiments: A Tribute to my G'pa (Albert Elmer Herman Lewis Melahn)

The photograph atop this entry is one you might recognize, dear reader, for it has been featured in many of my blog posts here on Blogger (including one of first entries which was in 2010) when I've referenced my maternal grandfather (Albert Elmer Herman Louis Melahn), the man featured in this picture. Last Sunday would have been his one hundred and sixteenth birthday had he not died at the age of sixty-nine.

I think of him on countless occasions, but he was especially on my mind yesterday when I was at The Conservatory Gardens in Central Park and came upon the peonies featured in  the next set of images.

OTHER PEONIES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1 

OTHER PEONIES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1 

OTHER PEONIES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1 

OTHER PEONIES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1 

OTHER PEONIES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1 

OTHER PEONIES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1 

My grandfather introduced to this awesome flower when I was nearly three years old.

#ThursdayThoughts for 4-4-2019

Hoping this (the "narrative" included in the Mutts comic strip which is posted atop this entry) is not FAKE NEWS; for in the past, as far as my garden goes, Aprils showers have often taken way any possibility of May flowers;

Monday's Musings: Dyngus Day 2018 ETC

Today is Easter Monday and on 2017's Easter Monday I wrote about the significance of the Monday after (here on Blogger) Easter, saying, "according to Wiki, 'Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is a holiday in some countries. Easter Monday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar is the second day of Eastertide and analogously in the Byzantine Rite is the second day of Bright Week.'"

In the country of Poland, the Monday after Easter is known as Dyngus Day, which is also spelled Dingus Day. A web-page within Holiday Insights (HI) describes this occasion as "a fun Polish Holiday (and explains that )"it is very popular in Poland, and in Polish communities across America. After the long Lenten holiday, Dyngus Day is a day of fun. And, perhaps a little romantic fun. It is always celebrated on the Monday after Easter." 

Monday's Musings

A Northern mockingbird, who appears to be checking out a ball-shaped terra-cotta object which is on the floor of my rooftop garden, is featured in the two images atop this entry.

The object of this bird's interest is an upside down planter that is better suited as an outdoor sculpture than the planter it is supposed to be. This is because it is very difficult to plant flora inside of it. You might suspect this from seeing the next image, which was taken in 2011, and features creeping thyme attempting to thrive in the round container.

In any event, to the mockingbird's right (or left in the first two photos) is a grape that has rolled off a saucer of grapes (which can be seen near to the container).

An imaginative person, upon seeing the mocker staring at the terra-cotta object, might envision that the mocker thinks the round structure is a huge grape. Whatever this bird may or may not be thinking, remains private with him/her, for he/she has not revealed any thoughts on the matter.

Admittedly, the two top photographs are quite similar, but they are not identical. The gaze of this mocker is slightly different from picture to picture, the same holds true for the next sets of photos.

No April Fools Day Prank OR Fake News: Dandelion has been retired!

On this April Fool's Day, I'm sorry to report that the announcement made by Crayola yesterday, regarding their retiring the crayon color known as dandelion; was not a pre-April Fool's Day prank!

And it was not fake news either!

The crayon known as dandelion (pictured above) will no longer be a part of any of their crayon collections. It is my understanding that some type of blue color will be replacing dandelion, which seems problematic to me given Vincent van Gogh's philosophy on the color yellow. He is known to have claimed, "There is no blue without yellow and orange," which is something I wrote about here on Blogger in 2011!

Yellow has been an important color in my urban garden, as evidenced by the members of the fauna community who visit my place; as well as by the flora which has grown here.

In Honor of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

CAM, THE NARRATOR OF WIOB

Today, February 27th, 2017, would be Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 210th birthday; and although I have been very familiar with many of Longfellow's works, the wild birds who visit my rooftop garden, as well as the flora I grow have reinforced his quotation, "The best thing one can do when it's raining is let it rain," Cam, the cardinal pictured above.

Cam and I have referenced this quotation in the book, Words In Our Beak, Volume One...

... when we explain how birds withstand rain, as she is doing in the first photograph above; and, as a pair of blue jays and a lone mourning dove are doing in the images below.

BLUE JAYS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

MOURNING DOVES HAVE A STORY IN VOL 1

The book also references Longfellow's wisdom re rain in terms of flora, especially when it comes to the flowers of a Paeonia suffruiticosa (Tree Peony), as seen in the photos directly below.

Is Spring of 2013 FINALLY, FINALLY springing? (PART ONE of FIVE) ASK THE SHRUBS!

Because thirty-six days have passed since spring's hesitant arrival, I'm "due" to make a progress report re the comings and goings in my terrace (roof extension) garden thus far this season. I'll do those over a series of five posts so that I can focus on a couple of "stories" within a given entry, and I'll be taking a look back at how things are doing as of a couple of days ago, Wednesday, April the 24th, when Juan V worked with me in my garden for the the third time since we de-winterized on March 9th 2013 (which means we have already worked together four times this growing season)!

Today's the last Saturday of October 2011! Question: Will it be Halloween's Last Stand?

If you have been following my blog, then you are probably aware that some of the things which I grow in my urban (New York City) terrace garden have taken it upon themselves to express their thoughts and opinions by authoring blog entries and posting them within this blog.

This "hoopla" — which has caused one of the Halloween pumpkins that I currently have in my garden to be overcome with laughter as seen in the image to in the upper lefthand corner —  all started in April of 2010, when my blog was only a little over four months old, and one of the flowers from my Paeonia suffruiticosa (Tree Peony), posted a photograph of herself with a short narrative. (If you would like to refer to this, please click here.)

As time passed, word got out among the plants, vines, flowers, herbs, trees and shrubs — which totaled a little over eighty when I last took a census — that the flower from my Paeonia suffruiticosa had done this, and many of the things which I grow began authoring entries on my blog. (This fact has  caused another one of the Halloween pumpkins that I currently have in my garden to also be overcome with laughter as seen in the image at the right.)

A Coppertina Tree Weighs in on Cinco de Mayo

COPPERTINA TREE 

Allow me to introduce myself on this day known as Cinco de Mayo, a name I like pronouncing instead of saying May 5th.

In any event, my name is Physocarpus opulifolius, however, you can call me Coppertina — just don't call me Coppertone. I am so over those suntan lotion jokes when it comes to my name.

In any event, I am posting an entry to this blog from where I usually stand, in the extreme northwest corner of the rooftop garden belonging to Patricia Youngquist, who normally writes the blog that you now are reading, which she calls The Last Leaf Gardener.

With all her focus lately on her Paeonia suffruiticosa (Tree Peony) and her Tulipa (Tulips) in her blog entries these past few days. I am ready to rename the blog, The Last Straw Gardener, if she doesn't write about me! Did you know that since this past April she wrote about the tulips six, yes six times? Count them:

ONE: May 4th 2011
TWO: May 1st 2011
THREE: April 30th 2011
FOUR: April 29th 2011
FIVE: ;April 27th 2011
SIX: April 26th 2011

Well, actually it's five times, because one of the tulips took it upon himself to post his opinion (the April 27th post) about a Sylvia Plath poem where he bemoaned her reference to tulips. How ungrateful! No poet ever wrote about a Physocarpus opulifolius. I mean the tulips are fairly newcomers to The Last Leaf Gardener's garden, and I have been here for nearly one year, and I don't recall her ever writing a post about me! But the tulips?

All those posts about them occurred in less than one month! I guess I should be used to flowers getting attention by now. After all, last year, my gardener (aka your blogger) posted about her Paeona suffruiticosa (Tree Peony) six times in six weeks, and remember, she was only posting once a week in those days, so the Paeonia suffruiticosa got all the“press”last year!

ONE: May 29th 2010
TWO: May 22nd 2010
THREE: April 24th 2010
FOUR: April 23th 2010
FIVE: April 17th 2010
SIX: April 10th 2010

So, if you'd like some images of me, I highly recommend that you contact my gardener (a.k.a. your blogger) and suggest that she render some photos of me into her unique collection of correspondence materials, or even a fine print.

Additionally, The Last Leaf Gardener has already posted about the Paeonia suffruiticosa four times this year, and she only re–opened her garden the week of April 13th, so it has not even been a month and the peony already has four posts!

ONE: May 3rd 2011
TWO:May 1st 2011
THREE: April 16th 2011
FOUR: April 13th 2011

What about featuring me? After all, with my coppery–orange foliage, I provide a beautiful contrast (if I do say so myself) to the H.F. Young Clematis, whose leaves you can see to my left in the photograph posted above this blog entry, and if you look closely, you might even see the many, many buds that are about to burst into gorgeous purple flowers, which of course, The Last Leaf Gardener blogged about last year without mentioning my name.

I guess I shouldn't take it so personally, after all The Last Leaf Gardener hasn't posted much (if anything) about the little guy to my right (in the photograph at the top of this blog entry), who goes by the name Acer shirasawanum (Autumn Moon) and whom I've nicknamed Limey because of his leaves.

For your information, dear reader, that purple color that you see in front of his container is basil and it smells SO good. And speaking of containers, I can't feel left out when it comes to where she houses me. I have pretty nice digs, eh?

Actually I just got them earlier this week when Juan V did some repotting, and I love 'em! I used to be in terra–cotta, and that's nice too, but my rim cracked (at the end of my growing season last year) while I was being moved out of the corner by Juan V and Patricia, which they did because they wanted to protect me from the harsh winter elements.

I was safely wrapped — like everything else in this garden — for the winter by The Last Leaf Gardener and Juan V before this past winter's onset as you may know from the blog entry discussing urban garden winterizing.

Since I'm not on Facebook (yet), you can check out my photos, both in my former terra–cotta home and also what I looked like in my winer gear when I was just before I was unwrapped for the spring.

However, since I'm in a New York terrace garden, I'm really lovin' my new“Viducci”home, especially since my garden comrades already have Viduccis!

The Autumn Clematis (which is on a diagonal from me so I get to stare at it) got its Viducci two years ago, while the Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines) got their Viducci last spring, and the Continus Coggygria (Smoke Bush, Grace) got her Viducci last fall. These can all be seen in the photographs posted below which were taken this past autumn.

FLORA GROUPING IN MY ROOFTOP GARDEN

YELLOW IS THE FALL LOOK FOR KIWI WINES

SMOKE BUSH AND ORNAMENTAL RASPBERRY

Moreover, the Sweet Autumn Clematis is going to be featured with the Actinida lolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vine) in a YouTube movie about the life in an urban garden from the Kiwi's point of view, as mentioned in a previous post.

And an image of the Continus Coggygria (Smokey Bush, Grace) has been rendered into a greeting card has been the subject of a number of blog posts including this one, this one, and this one.

Hopefully, I'll "join the ranks”and be featured in The Last Leaf Gardener's line of invitations, event program covers, greeting cards, or movies, but for now, dear reader, thanks for hearing me out. I guess my new container has given me the confidence to boast and post on my own behalf. It's black color is pretty elegant, don't you think? (You probably have heard how New Yorkers love the color black, and I gotta say, as a Coppertina who has seen it all, so do I.)

And, before I leave you, let me wish you, once again, a Happy Cinco de Mayo, a great excuse I've heard for having a Margarita. My gardener had this to say about a grapefruit/cilantro variety that is pictured below (and available at Santa Fe restaurant in NYC):

“What EVEN Jimmy Buffet (when he was wasted again in Margaritaville) may not have known is, while having“booze in the blender,” may render a“frozen concoction”that helped him“hang on,”having a Grapefruit (yes, I said grapefruit) Margarita at Santa Fe (a restaurant serving southwestern cuisine in the Upper West Side of New York City, just off Columbus Avenue on 71st Street), you will be doing more for yourself than just 'hangin on.' This is without a doubt the best margarita in New York, and deserving of a nod from The Daily News' Best of New York. The grapefruit Margarita (pictured above) is refreshing, with just the right potency, and it was“designed by bartender extraordinaire, Alex (pictured below) . . .

. . . who gives all the credit to a bar he came upon by chance by traveling to Pennsylvania of all places. What makes it better than the booze-in–the–blender Margaritas? Well, first of all, no blender — just wonderful ingredients that include fresh white grapefruit, agave, guava nectar, fresh lime juice, cilantro infused tequila and of curse the mixology skills and secrets of Ales. The grapefruit margarita can be had at Santa Fe, located at 73 West 71st Street, a fun bar and superb restaurant serving southwestern cuisine. Open Sun–Thurs from 11:30AM–11:00PM and Fri–Sat from 11:30AM–12:00AM. Credit Cards accepted. 212.724.0822.”

Now dear reader, I'm signing off, but do feel free to put in a good word for me, the Coppertina, when you next contact The Last Leaf Gardener, and do enjoy your Cinco de Mayo, whether you are puttering in your garden, toasting with a Margarita, or just going about your day.

FALL 2018 ADDENDUM: 

I no longer actively produce event program covers, invitations and the types of greeting cards described here or on my website but arrangements might be able to be made under certain circumstances. My focus is on the Words In Our Beak book series, pictured below...

MY BOOK SERIES

...whose stories are told from the point of view of Cam, a female cardinal, whose photo is on the cover of each book. Words In Our Beak’s goal is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in my rooftop urban garden in New York City. Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The books include hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books. Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.