National Garden Meditation Day 2021

According to a web-page for National Calender Day, today, May 3rd is National Garden Meditation Day. Here is part of what they have to say re this hoiday: 

"National Garden Meditation Day, annually on May 3rd, encourages everyone to take time for one’s self and relax. Working in the garden, tending to the plants and flowers, or resting quietly on a bench on a beautiful day in the garden are forms of meditation. Both can be restorative to the soul and a refreshing way to be out in nature. Meditation and gardening offer many benefits. When you couple it with the outdoor peace of a garden, you also get to enjoy the benefits nature has to offer."

Part of my National Garden Meditation Day was spent working with Juan V (JV) in my garden and the photo atop this entry shows how it looked when we finished in the early afternoon. At the northend of my garden I have a newcomer.

He is in a planter that is atop some rectangular terra-cotta planters and is to the left (or right when facing this image) of my Orange Charmer Shrub (AKA Pyracantha coccinea) which has her home in a fiberglass container that is black in color.

A close-up of my newbie can be seen directly below.

He is a member of the Cotinus coggygria family. His variety is known by the name 'Ancot' GOLDEN SPIRIT.

We are thrilled to have his presence in my place where another type of Cotinus coggygria whose variety goes by the name 'Grace,' can be found. That one has been here for nearly fiften years and you can read about her as well as see an array of her photo-ops by referring to a number of other posts on this blog.

The container where our newcomer is now planted is happy to house the newbie too, for it has been empty...

... waiting for someone to move in.

Last November just a few months before the coronavirus put a stop to most everything, JV and I thought that a Black Olive tree would be living there. 

He can be seen planting her in the aforementioned container in the next picture.

You may not be able to tell from this image but in it, JV is wearing a face-mask due to allergies. Little did we know at that time that everyone would be (or should have been) wearing face-masks when the ruthless pandemic took away so many lives.

Here what Ms. Black Olive looked like in her new digs:

Unfortunately she was not even here a week, because it turned out the person who recommended Lady Black Olive lied, telling JV that this plant would winter over —  but that was false and we had to return her, then search for a replacement, which due to lockdowns related to COVID-19, we were unable to do anything.

This was not the first time my unique container sat empty. 

In July of  2012, my sweet Larix Kaempferi made her home there but sadly she was killed by grubs during a horendous heatwave.

Hopefully, our newcomer will thrive as his comrade, 'Grace,' has done. 

The flora in my garden and I feel truly blessed to have such a handsome newcomer, this place as you may know, dear reader, is the setting for my three volume hardcover book series Words In Our Beak.

MY BOOK SERIES

The goal of these books is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment (including flora). Set in a rooftop urban garden (mine) in New York City, my story is told in the voice of Cam, a female cardinal, who visits it. 

These books are directed to children and adults who are curious about birds (as well as gardening) and who want to learn about these topics from a unique perspective.

I'll leave it here for this 2021 National Garden Meditation Day as I want to spend a bit of time in my garden before the predicted heavy rain showers begin.