HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Cheers! Here's wishing you a delightful Halloween, dear reader! This past Saturday's snow-slush-ice storm that hit New York City, where I live, could not even put a damper on this fun-loving day, although some of the Jack-O-Lanterns which are in my urban terrace garden, such as the little guy pictured above, as well as the little guy posted in the image directly below, were not too pleased at being caught without hats as they got doused with the slushy stuff!

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.)

Friday Follow-Up: bees in bonnets can be good (Follow ups on bees and SAINTS)

According to one source, when one has "a bee in their bonnet," it means that they are "being preoccupied or obsessed with an idea."

And when it comes to the "visiting bees" in my rooftop garden, I have been preoccupied, actually mesmerized, by the bees which have been feasting on my Hyssop plants. This is evident in the array of blog entries I have made on this blog regarding them, including ones that you may refer to by clicking here as well as here and here. 

Additionally I authored a post related to my "visiting bees" for nybg's (New 
York Botanical Gardens) tumblr that you may refer to by clicking here and then scrolling. 

Even though there are two "visiting" bees that are "captured" in the photograph directly above, the bees which have been coming to my terrace garden are now fewer in number and they appear to be much smaller.

On Not Being "Eye-Candy" for Halloween

If you have followed this blog, then you have probably surmised from a number of my previous blog posts which you may refer to by clicking here as well as here and here, I am a MUTTS (the name of this comic strip) fan, and I highly encourage you to follow it regularly. If it is not available in your local newspaper, you can always catch it by clicking here.

Like a few of Mutt's characters, Earl and Mooch, a couple of the things which I grow in my urban (New York City) terrace garden, have been noticing happy faced Halloween pumpkins, and they too have been wondering, What's so funny? For example take my Rose, Tropaelum majus (Nasturtium), Hakanechola Macra (Japanese Forest Grass All Gold), and my Strawberry plants, all in close proximity of the Halloween pumpkins that are currently in my garden as seen in the photograph posted below:

One of them (ahem) my yellow rose, became disgruntled the other day when she realized that the New York Botanical Gardens  (NYBG) had posted a photograph of a pink rose with raindrop kissed petals and labeled it as one of their selections for "Morning Eye Candy" and she took it upon herself to post her response on their blog! (Please click here to read it, although you may have to scroll a bit, but you'll recognize her picture immediately as it looks very much like the one of her which is posted below):

In any event, my feisty yellow rose (who also posted on my blog this past May in an entry that you may refer to by clicking here), was taken aback that other roses have been referred to as "Morning Eye Candy" by NYBG, AND, that is why my pumpkins are laughing. 

If  there's one thing pumpkins know about (because of their presence at Halloween), it's candy, and evidently they do not perceive the term "Eye Candy" to be complimentary. But then my pumpkins are vey well read,and so they laughed and laughed when they told my yellow rose the definition of "Eye Candy"; and I'll quote what they told her (and you can check their source by clicking here) as I was nosey and eavesdropped.

WEDNESDAY'S WISDOM: "If cats could talk, they probably wouldn't ."

Halloween is a mere six days away (including today) and while it is a favorite time of humans, "who excitedly plan their costumes of spooks, vampires and monsters, in anticipation of (it), cats, particularly black cats, have little cause for celebration this month,", says Franny Syufy (in her article, October: Black Cat Month: The Perils of Halloween, which you may read in full by clicking here).  

If indeed the fate of some black cats  on Halloween is as bleak the aforementioned article indicates, this may explain why the painted cat rock in the upper-right hand corner has such a pensive expression on his face. It seems one never knows what is going on in the minds of cats.

My friends who have cats seem to be in agreement with a quote that claims, "If cats could talk they probably wouldn't, " which is attributed to Nan Porter.

"If it's Tuesday, it must be . . ." tumblr. Week Five

It's Tuesday again! And not only is it Tuesday, it is the last Tuesday of October 2011, meaning there are only seven (including today) days until Halloween. The New York Botanical Garden's tumblr (nybg) pages are full of news regarding events to honor this occasion, especially ones that center around the carving of world's fourth largest pumpkin (which weighs 1,693 pounds) that took place this past Friday (click here for the story) and whose seeds can fetch up to $1,000.00 a piece!