Holiday Blast

Chinese trumpet lily, Lilium ‘Lady Alice’ opens to begin the celebrations of the US birthday, Independence Day, July 4th. Blushing Knockout rose, Rosa ‘Radyod’ was waving darker colors in honor of the holiday. That, or it has decided to go au natural and return to the dark hot pinky red of the original. Stargazer oriental lilies offer a comfy bed for overworked buzzers. Even though it was midday, this bumble needed to take a siesta after so much nectar gathering. July is marked by the blooming of the Eryngiums in the shed bed. Nasella and Belamcanda have self seeded along with the blue sea hollies. In the effort to capture the steel blue of the seedling Eryngiums, a buzzer comes into the shot. Oh my, this looks to be a hornet. In this same area a few years ago a careless slice with the electric hedge trimmer on the Pyracantha row stirred up the proverbial hornets nest built within. They attacked and the trimmer was dropped still running as we ran inside the shed and held the door closed from the inside while the angry mob flew against the wooden door with mulitple thuds and thunks. Through the window the sight of the black and white buzzers attacking the vibrating hedge trimmer caused a shudder to travel up our spine. It was a long wait for things to settle down enough that a mad dash down the steps and into the house could happen. Onto more exiting things. Offspring Semi and her family, Mister Semi and little LTB, aged three and eleven/twelfths came down the interstate to the Fairegarden for some family fun. The first night featured a cookout followed by some popping, whizzing sparklies. Hooray! Bright and early the next morning a trip to the nearby Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanoogo was on the agenda. Click here to find out about this wonderful resouce. There was plenty of interest for all ages. Mister Semi was studying whatever was in this case. If little LTB was going in, he would be shirtless. There are two buildings containing water filled attractions in the downtown campus of the aquarium, the Ocean Journey which included the butterfly garden, and the River Journey next door which can be seen through the window. Little LTB stood still as a statue while studying the friendly flutterby. There were fish of all shapes and sizes. The special exhibit at the aquarium was jellyfish. There were several tanks with different species of the boneless wonders. The room was quite dark and each case glowed with changing colors. The Jellies: Living Art exhibition combined these beautiful creatures with studio glass by four artists in lighted cases in the same space. The above art glass by Stephen Rolfe Powell was particularly fetching. To find out more about the cooperative spirit that created glass and living magic in Chattanooga, Tennessee click here.
Frances

~ by fairegarden on July 5, 2009.