What a DIFFERENCE a week makes!

The image atop this entry is from the Facebook Page for Gowanus Nursery in Brooklyn. It is one of the places where I have gotten some of the flora that grows in my rooftop garden, which is something I mentioned in a post that I published here on Blogger on March 22nd, 2017.

My visiting American robin is honored to learn that his bird type is the one whose been chosen to be part of their announcement. And, I'm honored that an American robin still visits me,

and even did so during snowy times,

as evidenced in a number of my entries here on Blogger.

In any event in the aforementioned entry re Gowanus Nursery, I discuss the fact that they had to delay their opening on two occasions because of wintery conditions; and I also stated that I had to postpone my garden de-winterizing two times for  the same reason.

3 Weeks in the 2017 Season for my Crocuses (among other things)

Today, March the 19th, is the eve of the onset of the Spring season for 2017. March the 19th is also the day many observe The Feast of Saint Joseph. I have a small statue of him on a shelf above my desk.

It can be seen in the picture atop this entry in the company of Saint Francis and Saint Jude, who are standing to his right (or lefthand side of the image).

Everything's TRYING to come up crocuses...

THE STORIES IN MY BOOKS ARE SET IN MY GARDEN

I'm modifying the title of a song (Everything's Coming Up Roses) made famous by Ethel Merman for the title of today's blog post for  I'm inspired by the appearance of a lone white crocus flower (from the Jeanne d'Arc family) poking out of her home (which is a container she shares with my kiwi vines in my garden).

Crocuses are considered to be a sign that spring has sprung and they've been appearing throughout Central Park, but they seem to be hesitant to wake from their slumber in my place, as evidenced by the photo atop this entry, where you this flower type standing alone amongst the "pin-striped" foliage of other crocus flowers who may still be sleeping.

The crocuses's flowers are in bloom again! (Friday Followup)

CROCUSES ARE FEATURED IN V1

CROCUSES ARE FEATURED IN V1

This past Tuesday here on Blogger, I  mentioned that my white crocuses which share a home with my kiwi vines* are in bloom again.

hAlLoWeEn 2013 (ETC)

Today is October the thirty-first and it has been one month since I've posted an entry here on Blogger. I'm obviously not adhering to a schedule I had hoped to keep in this particular cyber venue when I announced my plans for my posting on Blogger in October of 2011.

However, if you follow TLLG's web activity you most likely know that I've been diligent in keeping up with content on TLLG's Facebook Page as well as on my Pinterest Boards, and to some extent tumblr, which are good places to find me if you don't see a posting on Blogger.

Moreover, since June of 2013, I've been posting entries on hometalk, which is a place that reached out to me upon reading an entry I published re bird feeders here on Blogger. And in addition to this, as of August 2013, I am a regular contributor to Cornell's FB Page.

Having said all this, I'd like to get back to posting more frequently here on Blogger and am rethinking a viable schedule for doing so. I hope to come up with an itinerary before the distraction of November and December holidays set in.

For now, let me confess that juggling these venues has been a challenge, and unlike the character pictured at the top of today's entry (who has come to visit my succulent garden for Halloween) I am not a master at juggling activities nor am I good at most types of multi-tasking. The biggest reason for this is I put all my energy into the task at hand and if I can't be as thorough as I want to be with a particular task I put it off until I can.

Be that as it may, I am back here on Blogger today, October 31st 2013, which also happens to be Halloween, a holiday I've written about a number of times on this venue in bygone years.

Often when I've written about Halloween I've included info on how I've decorated my indoor succulent garden for Halloween. This year's decor was enhanced by four groups of visitors who came to visit me for the festivities, including the juggler whose image is at the top of today's entry. The juggler is one of the visitors from GROUP D and he can be seen with his comrades in the image below.

Details about these characters are in a post on hometalk.

"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO-H-2 (Oct 11th — Oct 24th 2012)

Today's entry here on Blogger is part two-H-2 of a series of posts pertaining to a year-end review for special occurrences in my urban garden for the year 2012 (the schedule for this series is described in part one as well as part two-A of this topic) and, as I've said, because October 2012 was the month Hurricane Sandy hit the area near to where I live, my garden went through another upheaval, so I will be posting the review for October in three parts.

Yellow Coloration in Nature

I came upon the Silver-Spotted Skipper (seen in the image atop this entry) when I took a walk in Central Park twith CF his past Saturday and I included facts re him/her in my blog post for that day. This creature is on my mind today because I've been thinking about his/her yellow markings as well as elements of nature who have yellow in their coloring.

SPRUNG? Pistachio Buds?

Today marks one week and a day since the "official" onset of spring, and on the eve of this year's Vernal Equinox, which was also the eve of the first day of spring, my crocuses and my tulips among other things were aready providing some entertainment and ambiance. 

This is the first year, that I have had crocuses in my rooftop garden I find them to be a sweet looking flower and that their brilliant green foliage (which is enhanced with white "pin stripes") is also awesome.

A few of my crocuses can be seen in the images posted below, and these varieties were planted this past November within the large containers where my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida AKA Kiwi Vines as well as my Continus Coggygria AKA Smoke Bush live respectively. 

Some of my Crocuses Sharing Digs with my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida 

Going Solo (View of One of my Crocuses Sharing Digs with my Continus Coggygria)

To me, the crocuses exude joy and their playful nature makes me wonder why I waited until this past November to include them in my garden. These little flowers with their pin striped foliage (although I've never heard anyone else refer to heir leaves with this particular description) have caused folks from all walks of life to be inspired to include them in their prose.

In his poem, The Year's Awakening, Thomas Hardy wrote:

How do you know, deep underground,

Hid in your bed from sight and sound,

Without a turn in temperature,

With weather life can scarce endure,

That light has won a fraction's strength,

And day put on some moments' length,

Whereof in merest rote will come,

Weeks hence, mild airs that do not numb;

O crocus root, how do you know, 

How do you know?

And, like Hardy, I marvel at the presence, as well as the resilience of my sweet crocuses, and I take pictures of them as one does with a new born child; ever conscious that each moment is unique, short-lived and precious. Perhaps, dear reader, you might have surmised this from your own experience with these flowers or from images which I am including  below:

My Crocuses Sharing Digs With My Actinida kolomikta and Actimida  

When I see my crocuses closing their petals to take a nap or to protect their insides from colder temperatures, wind and heavy rain (such as they are doing in the image posted above), I sometimes think of the meaning of my surname which is Youngquist, a Swedish name, that comes from a plant that can survive under any condition.

As for me, I am a bit weary of seeing that indeed I can survive under adverse conditions, and, in my whimsical moments, I wonder if my crocuses feel the same way about being survivors. 

Sometimes it seems it would be nice to have a name that translated into one who survives best under cushy conditions. In any event, my crocuses seem to take life as it comes, and they appear to enjoy their moments in the sun as seen in the image below of to of them mugging for the camera. 

My Crocuses Sharing Digs with my Continus Coggygria 

The feelings, reactions and inspiration that crocuses can cause seem to be as varied as the crocuses themselves. 

For example, Raymond Carver, has quite a different "take" on the sweet flower than Thomas Hardy seemed to have. In his poem, Two Worlds, Carver "weighs in" on on crocuses with the following:

In air heavy,

with odor of crocuses,

sensual smell of crocuses,

I watch a lemon sun disappear,

a sea change blue

to olive black.

I watch lighting leap from Asia as

sleeping.

my love stirs and breathes and

sleeps again,

part of this world and yet 

part that.

Two of my Crocuses Sharing Digs With My Actinida kolomikta and Actimida

Ah, crocuses!

This is the first year, that I have had crocuses in my rooftop garden. I find them to be a sweet looking flower and that their brilliant green foliage (which is enhanced with white "pin stripes") is also awesome.

A few of my crocuses can be seen in the images posted below, and these varieties were planted this past November within the large containers where my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida AKA Kiwi Vines as well as my Continus Coggygria AKA Smoke Bush live respectively. 

Some of my Crocuses Sharing Digs with my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida 

Going Solo (View of my Crocuses Sharing Digs my Continus Coggygria)

For me, the crocuses exude joy and their playful nature makes me wonder why I waited until this past November to include them in my garden. These little flowers with their pin striped foliage (although I've never heard anyone else refer to their leaves with this particular description), have caused folks from all walks of life to be inspired to include them in their prose.

For my Ajuga & Her "unacknowledged" Friends

The other day, these two mourning doves, sitting atop the container that "houses" my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines), were having a heart to heart convo. They were discussing how they felt about the fact that unlike "some birds" that visit my garden, they do not have a baseball team named for them!

4 days left in Celebrate Your Name Week... (and what have you done?)

OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOL ONE

There are four days left (including today) in this first week of March 2017. As I compose this blog entry, the temperature in NYC (where I live) is twenty-nine degrees; with a "real" feel temperature listed as twenty-six degrees! The Saturday prior to yesterday, which was February the twenty-sixth, the temperature was in the sixty degree range, this day was followed by days that found temperatures climb to the seventy degree range!

That recent warm spell in NYC caused many folks to enjoy the outdoors without having to wear winter attire! Most folks seemed eager to peel off winter jackets! People were not the only living creatures to pull off their bulky coats and heavy sweaters!

Many members of the flora community who reside in my rooftop garden, attempted to rise above their "winter wear" (consisting of bubble-wrap as well the burlap that's over it). This is the winter apparel which Juan V and I dressed them in during our last garden winterizing ritual.

The efforts of certain members of the flora community (such as The Caribbean Parrot Tulips), to break free of winter wear, can be seen in the image atop this blog entry. And I don't think their motive in doing so had anything to do with their name (indicated by the name tag seen in the photo) being associated the Caribbean!

The white crocuses are in bloom again! (Tuesday's Truths 166)

CROCUSES

On Sunday afternoon, March 8th, while in my garden, I noticed the crocuses that are planted in the large container housing my kiwi vines were beginning "wake up" from their winterized state of being mulched.

Here's some Friday Follow Up Stuff

If the photograph, atop this entry, as well as the images directly below, look familiar to you dear reader, it's because I posted very similar images of all of these trying-to-bloom tulips this past Sunday; in an entry here on Blogger, albeit without the snow!

Now, today, six days after my posting, we had a wet snowfall that had no sympathy for the trying-to-bloom-tulips or for the foliage of some of my crocuses,

Not everyone appreciates tulips (unlike me). Tuesday's Truths WK 120

The figurine (picture above) who was intent on planting some bulbs (within my indoor succulent garden) and I were comparing notes re our experiences with flowers that are produced by them including; Muscari, crocuses and tulips. Over the years (more than ten) of maintaining my rooftop garden with the help of JV, bulbs for many varieties of the aforementioned flowers have been planted in my place.

This Sunday's (and beyond) Sermon to Self: "Let all the voodoos of ambition sleep."

OTHER BEES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

OTHER BEES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

OTHER BEES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

OTHER BEES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

I came across these images atop this entry (that I took this past April) of a bee taking refreshment from crocus flowers in Central Park. Upon viewing them, I thought of a few lines from a poem ("Today") by Mary Oliver. Here they are:

"...The world goes on as it must,

the bees in the garden rumbling a little..."

In my case, the bees were not rumbling in my rooftop garden,* rather, they were "rumbling" (as I just said) in Central Park. I had gone to the park that day in an effort to take the day off from my busy mind, which at times (many times) is hard to silence.