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slideshow and podcast: august gratitude list

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BROWN PATCHES of lawn and garden widen daily, and the “grass” is now a minefield of yellow-jacket nests. Ouch! But the hummingbirds dance around me while I weed, and the tadpoles have suddenly hatched into dozens of tiny frogs (boing, boing, boing!) and an older frog poses on a begonia leaf…and I’m grateful to be here, anyhow, if a little tired and crispy.

My Gratitude List, in Podcast

LISTEN TO my Dog Days Gratitude List on the latest podcast I do each week with Robin Hood Radio, WHDD in Sharon, Connecticut, the smallest NPR station in the nation. You can stream it here, or subscribe free in iTunes or using the Stitcher app. Look for the Aug. 6, 2012 episode. Why not download the broadcast now and watch the slideshow, too? Click on the first thumbnail to start the slides, and toggle between images with your keyboard arrows or the ones beside each caption. Then tell us what you’re grateful for in your garden, despite the inevitable trials and losses.

The Gratitude Slideshow

pruning-water-sprouts
It’s hot, and the gardener can be a little exhausted…but on we push, pruning off lusty water sprouts from the magnolias and apples…
onions-on-back-porch
….and harvesting more delicious things, including the first onions.
harvestman-on-sedona-coleus
I’m trying to look past the brown patches in the lawn and elsewhere, and find little things to be grateful for every day, like this harvestman (not a spider, technically, but related) on gorgeous Coleus ‘Sedona.’
sedum-matrona-early-color
Plants with colorful foliage can really help perk up the tired summer landscape, such as the blue-green Sedum ‘Matrona.’ (Its flowers will turn burgundy-pink and its stems and even leaves will darken later in the season.) Uphill, a blue-needled Concolor fir, Abies concolor, gives the same cooling effect on a massive scale.
poppy-pod-arrangement
The opium poppies, Papaver somniferum, were great in flower in July, and now I get to enjoy their dried pods as lasting remembrances.
black-swallowtail-caterpillar-closeup
Of course there is always some new visitor to get to know, like the caterpillar of the black swallowtail butterfly (and now I have multiple butterflies floating around).
fishfly
This odd insect, size XL, was on the shed siding the other morning at first light. I think it’s a fishfly, genus Chauliodes.
waved-sphinx-moth
Another giant (though not as big as this photo!): the waved sphinx moth. Look at how intricate and beautiful it is, even without much bright color to boast.
clymene-moth
Favorite recent visitor: the clymene moth. Such dramatic markings. (I’m so grateful to have the new Peterson Field Guide to Moths by my side this summer, opening up this world to me.)
frog-on-begonia-leaf
And then, of course, the frogs. There’s hardly a day in the growing season when they don’t entertain me. This one has made a constant throne from a fancy-leaved begonia leaf, and sits on it daily.
young-female-green-frog
Look who’s recently lost her tail and grown back legs and shown up on land (and on the edge of a big pot)?
frog-gives-the-hairy-eyeball
A tiny green frog, newly metamorphosed, gives me the hairy eyeball from the seasonal water garden I “plant” in a terra cotta trough by the kitchen door.
tiny-frog-1
Everywhere, newly metamorphosed young frogs are appearing: boing, boing, boing! (I have to be so careful where I walk right now.)
spring-peeper-in-a-flower-pot
Repotting a begonia last week, look who was living in its foliage: a spring peeper, Pseudacris crucifer (usually heard, not seen).
spring-peeper-on-asarum
When he realized he was outed from his hiding place, he nearly flew through the air to his next landing pad, in the European ginger, Asarum europaeum.
jack-on-windowsill
All the while Jack the Demon Cat takes a posture of the observer, more inclined to survey the landscape than engage in it at the moment. “It’s too hot and humid,” he says, and then: “Got any more kibble, Mom?”
Categoriesfrogboys Nature ornamental plants slideshows
  1. Michelle Beissel says:

    Very enjoyable podcast and slideshow. I like the focusing on small beautiful aspects and going on a ‘safari’ to find something wonderful. Since my garden is mostly a potager, my joy now is harvesting carrots, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupes, plums, raspberries, blackberries, and most surprisingly to me, ever-bearing strawberries from which I did not expect such flavor and abundance.

    Reply
  2. TerryK says:

    thanks for the slideshow. Your frogs are so cute, especially that one peaking out of the water. Of course Jack is still the top banana. He still looks so handsome even as he ages.

    Reply
  5. Ms. Tweetley says:

    Some of the comments on the slide show are below the window and I can’t find a way to scroll them up. Any suggestions?

    Reply
  6. Beth says:

    This was a truly enjoyable and entertaining slide show! What is the name of the tiny plant that the frog is peaking out of in your seasonal water garden?

    Reply
  7. Deborah B says:

    I emailed Margaret several weeks ago with the same problem on the slide shows, where comments aren’t viewable. Her tech guy suggested a simple solution: when you’re viewing the slide show, press CTL and – to decrease the size of the display. That gives enough room to view both the picture and comment. To increase the size again, do CTL and +. (He said it’s CMD instead of CTL on a Mac) It worked for me!

    Reply
  8. Deborah B says:

    I love the slideshow focus on gratitude, which can be tough in a hot dry summer. I’m grateful for the 52 degree night we had last night (picture a fogged up kitchen window dripping condensation this morning), the two beautiful fancy-leaved begonias I have in containers on the front wall this summer (thanks to Margaret’s feature on this type of houseplant earlier), the buckets of blueberries we’ve been picking off our own bushes this month, the three smarty-pants chickens that have been flying out of the chicken yard the past few days to eat bugs in the bigger world but have not scratched up my shade garden, and the owl we can hear in the nearby woods at bedtime. Also, we’ve had a good amount of rain over the past 8 or 10 days, and everything in the garden is happy. Hope it’s not too late for some of the serviceberry and other trees that are already losing leaves in reaction to the drought.

    Reply
    1. margaret says:

      Thanks, Tammy. The frogs are always good for comic relief over here, even in the toughest of times. See you soon, I hope.

      Reply
  10. Carla D'Anna says:

    Thank you for the lead on the fishfly. I recently saw one and took a picture on a walk but had no idea what it was.

    Reply
  11. Sarita says:

    Love those poppy seed pods. I’ll definitely be growing them next year. Thanks for the wonderful moth photos. They don’t usually take a star turn, and it’s about time.
    Regarding the excellent garden cart in slide #1: My ancient all-steel cart is so heavy with rust that someday soon, I’m afraid, it’ll shatter. Maybe it’s time to consider poly. Are carts like yours (big rubber wheels, sturdy) still available? Thanks!

    Reply
  14. kate/5 says:

    Margaret, thank you for the gentle reminder to be grateful. After listening to your podcast, I decided to have an August mantra: thank you for the work that keeps my body strong and limber, my mind purposeful, and my spirit elevated.

    My garden is a true gift in so many ways.

    Reply
    1. margaret says:

      You are welcome, Kate5. So sweet of you to say hello It’s easy to feel cheated or disappointed, so I am working on it day by day, to be more observant of the subtle gifts. See you soon!

      Reply
  15. Kathy says:

    Always enjoy your newsletter from Andre’s Doodles to the slideshows. If I
    didn’t live 1000 miles away I’d come to your open garden days. Continued
    happiness to you and your garden!

    Reply
  16. Trina says:

    As a Northwest native, I’m grateful for out typically cool summer in contrast to the rest of the nation! As August starts heating up and I’m needing to water more and more, I’m grateful to be forced out of the cool house and into the garden to appreciate all of the little things I’ve worked so hard to create and maintain.

    Reply
  17. Dahlink says:

    Margaret, loved the slideshow, particularly your closeups of the fishfly and the gorgeous moths. They look like jewels if you look at them closely!

    Reply
  19. Susan barley says:

    I am sitting on a deck on Highmeadow Road,imagining your property to be up the hill opposite where I am, and thoroughly enjoying your book.
    I garden in Lancaster County Pa. where our climate is
    considerably warmer. It would have been delightful to make it to one of
    your open garden days. Thank you for all the reminders to practice gratitude,
    and encouraging awareness.

    Reply
    1. margaret says:

      You are welcome, Susan, and thank YOU for that very nice comment. Much appreciated. I hope next spring or summer you will come to visit!

      Reply
  20. Pia says:

    Hi Margaret,
    I love your blog, it’s the only one I read.
    With all the amazing things I’ve read here, this is the first time I’m posting, and it’s only to ask what kind of cart that is in the “pruning water spouts” photo. I’m in the market for a new cart, and that one looks manageable, and I like its hot wheels.
    Thanks,
    Pia

    Reply

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