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So this is Guatemala in March where the Bromeliads are growing on the trees up in the mountains. We are familiar with one type we eat: the pineapple.
Below is a client's container we planted this weekend. The Bromeliad's tall sculptural form and striking bloom (plus orange Angel Wing Begonia, yellow variegated Impatiens and a wisp of Asparagus Fern) add character to a partially shaded nook when the people read the newspaper & watch birds on the nearby Serviceberry. The bromeliads make good house plants too.
Don't miss third photo of tropical plants below.
For fun and comparison, I am also showing a picture I took of impatiens growing in those Guatemalan villages at 10,000 ft. The canna provide a sense of proportion...
I admired this woman's coat in the lobby of the Milwaukee Arts Museum...which I will visit as soon as planting season calms down in July to see "The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the forbidden city." Not exactly paradise here...what with all the fierce storms (a result of the radical weather shifts from low 40s to 90s within a week: record lows and highs),
I just moved all the client plants I am storing under cover. But: can't complain as we are luckily not in Joplin, Misssouri.
Here's some of what we did last two days on roof and ground. I will get better photos when the heat finally happens and furniture covers come off & plants grow.
After I posted earlier today, I received the following comment which my client asked me to post in response to what I had written/shown. At the risk of being immodest, I am honoring her request and also putting up her photo of the previous spirit dog during the garden construction. We imagine he is watching over the garden and encouraging the new puppy to become familiar with the life surround.
"Thankfully, our garden is also infused with your spirit. Four years ago this month, we planted. How did such a tiny urban garden grow to hold so much life? Each year a greater number and variety of birds migrates through, nests, eats and are born here. The butterflies, hummingbird moths, and hummingbirds have found us too. Thank you for creating spaces for us to pause, paths to move along, and giving us views to look out near and far with trees and climbers to make us invisible from city streets and buildings.
Happy Birthday, Garden! Thank you, Julie...."
Thank you to all my clients who let me live vicariously, with gratitude.
Why is this client so Happy? Well, mostly because of the darling new puppy that has just become part of their household. But also because he is so creative and sustainable. He is about to recycle this sucker from the Viburnum 'Blue Muffin' in their garden...he will weave it in their porch gate to keep the puppy in.
These clients do a masterful and loving job of maintaining their garden where the spirit of their previous dog still roams...
Which I normally refer to as "the Evil Bradford Pear," so I will spare you that litany again. And instead show you how the fallen petals make even the dullest garden spot shine.
After months of a prolonged wet, gray, cold spring, yesterday we experienced a record-breaking day of 90 degrees. So those fabulous spring bulbs (like the species tulip above), may be transitory. Which made me actually cut one and bring it inside. Vase by the rightfully renowned Swedish company: Kosta-Boda.
"Rather than wanting the climate, weather and the environment to cooperate with our personal agendas, we are being challenged and encouraged to cooperate instead with nature."
-- Lena Stevens
So, once again, I am reminded of this gift in attitude I witness down in the indigenous Mayan communities where AFOPADI works in Guatemala. Even though these people have far less shelter from the elements than we Gringos do, they exhibit a reverence for nature that I learn from.
