For Provenance

For Provenance

You wouldn't have known it from the way my mother dressed me, but I was a bit of a tom-boy when young, always rough-housing with the boys, playing football, skateboarding down giant hills (from the top of Mead Street down to Hankock!), dirt-bike riding etc. Some of my favorite places to be were in the fields and wooded areas under downed trees or climbing hills and scouting the local coal fields. Not to mention the local "watering holes," reservoirs, dams, lakes etc.

My mommy dressed me pretty and taught me how to behave, but my daddy had a need for speed and a love of nature that was too contagious to tame.

Maybe this is why I've never moved to the city, though it's been calling me all my life. I'd miss my yard too much. It's a lot of all I've ever wanted.

84 and counting

The squirrels always steal the cherries before they've had a chance to ripen. The peaches are divine, usually healthy - I don't spray. And the plums are perfect, but the tree doesn't bear every year; not sure why, may be just a matter of cross-pollination. Just a little dust on the roses and food for all. Last year I used bat dung. Mmm.

When we first moved in, besides the trees, there were two lilac bushes, three azaleas, the honeysuckle, ivy, a few tulips and the Hibiscus. There were also 6 weeds that had grown into tall trees with tap-roots at least 6 feet deep that had to be dug up. The weeds are almost always more aggressive and vigorous than what's been intentionally planted.

Here's what's in our yard now (that is, the bank's yard); I may have forgotten a few things, and I didn't list all the trees:


Grape Hyacinths, Muscari Armeniacum
Tulips, various
Dutch Iris, Purple Sensation (naturalizing)
Daffodil, Narcissi, Mount Hood (White, naturalizing)
Daffodil, Large Cupped Carlton (Yellow)
Scarlet Meidiland Rose (Meikrotal, clusters, 3)
Red Meidiland Rose (Meineble, yellow center)
Floribunda Rose, Iceberg (White)
Hybrid Tea Rose, Garden Party (peach)
Hybrid Tea Rose, Kordes Perfecta (coral)
Hybrid Tea Rose, Heirloom (magenta, fragrant)
Rosa x, "Nearly Wild Rose" (pink)
Bourbon Rose, Zepherine Drouhin (1868, antique climber)
Rose "Meicoublan" White Meidiland (groundcover)
Rhododendron Roseum Elegans (Purple)
Azalea Satsuki Hybrid, Gumpo White (2)
Azalea, Girard's Crimson (2)
Azalea, pink, vintage (2)
Lilacs, purple, Syringa Vulgaris (2)
Wild Yellow Honeysuckle, Lonicera semprvirens (2)
Red Tatarian Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)
Echinacea (Purple Coneflower, perennial, also drops new seeds!)
Coreopsis (tall, reseeding)
Daylillies, Hemerocalle (Naturalizing)
Daylillies, Hemerocalle, Azucena Anteada (Crimson Pirate)
Thyme, Silver, Thymus vulgaris "Argenteus" (perennial, can be divided)
Winter Thyme, Thymus Hyemalis (perennial, can be divided)
Oregano (perennial, can be divided)
Russian Sage, Perovskia atriplicifolia (perennial)
Lamb's Ears, Stachys Byzantina (S. lanata, spreads)
Silver Lavender Cotton (Santolina incana "Nana")
Showy Pink Primrose, Oenothera Speciosa
Lilly-of-the-Valley, Convallaria majalis
Myrtle, Vinca Minor (spreading evergreen groundcover, purple blooms)
Ajuga reptans, Carpet Bugle (semi-evergreen spreading)
Weigela florida "Pink Princess (pink blooming shrub)
Flowering Quince, Texas Scarlet (3)
Crape Myrtle (3)
Purpleleaf Plum (Prunus Thundercloud, Plum tree)
Bing Cherry, Cerezo Enano "Bing" (Dwarf cherry tree)
Thornless Red Everbearing Raspberry
Hydrangea, Hyd. macrophylla "Glory Blue"
Barberry, Berberis thunbergii, Royal Burgundy (8-10)
Juniper, Sea Green (7)
Green Beauty Boxwood (Hedge)
Arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis "Globosa" (4?)
Dense Yew, Taxus x media "Densiformis"
Dwarf Juniper, Procumbens "Nana"
Spiny Greek Juniper, Juniperus excelsa "Stricta"
Dwarf Japanese Barberry (3), Crimson Pygmy
Winter Gem Boxwood
Euonymus, Emerald Gaiety (6)
Willowleaf Holly (Hedge)
Flowering Quince, Cameo
German Iris, Purple
Iris, Burgundy
Iris, Yellow and Purple
Clematis, Peveril Pearl (pink)
Clematis, white
Purpleleaf Sand Cherry
Lavender, Munstead Lavandula
Dianthus, Floral Lace violet
Dianthus, Picotee
Fountain Grass, Pennistetum Alopecuroides
Maiden Grass, Miscantus "Gracillimus"
Salvia, Blue Queen
Lemon Balm, Melissa Officinalis
Spearmint
Peach Tree
Yew, Dark Green Spreading
Dwarf Mugho Pine, Pinus mugo pumilio
Mums, various
Juniper, Andorra
Cosmos (annual)
Impatiens (annual)
Liatrus spicata, Blazing Star
Phlox paniculata, Summer Phlox
Hibiscus syriacus, Rose of Sharon, Rose Mallow
Ivy
Barberry
Centranthus ruber, Red Valerian
Pink Primrose, Primula
Lathyrus, Sweet Pea
Lest I forget them: Dandelions, Chickweed, Virginia creeper and other various weeds


Before I sat down, I thought to myself: I think I'll make a list of what's bloomed/blooming/planted in my yard.
When I finished, I was amazed. It doesn't seem like that much...
I hope someone loves it when I'm gone.