“I’m ready for my close up now, Ms. Fairegardener. Let the music begin and I will work it for the camera”. So says Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ to the woman with the Canon.
Little ditty about Jack and Diane
Two American kids growin’ up in the heartland
Jackie’s gonna be a football star
Diane’s a debutante in the backseat of Jackie’s car
Suckin’ on chili dogs outside the Tastee Freeze
Diane’s sittin’ on Jackie’s lap
He’s got his hands between her knees
Jackie say, “Hey, Diane lets run off
Behind a shady tree
Dribble off those Bobbie Brooks
Let me do what I please”
And say a
(Chorus):
Oh yeah life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin’ is gone
Oh yeah life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin’ is gone they walk on (or) rock on
Jackie sits back reflects his thoughts for a moment
Scratches his head and does his best James Dean
“Well you know Diane we oughtta run off to the city”
Diane says, “Baby you ain’t missin’ nothing”
Jackie say a
(Chorus):
Oh yeah life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin’ is gone
Oh yeah life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin’ is gone
Gonna let it rock
Let it roll
Let the Bible belt come down
And save my soul
Hold on to 16 as long as you can
Changes comin’ round real soon
Make us women and menLittle ditty about Jack and Diane
Two American kids doin’ the best they can
For the answer to every question one might have about supermodel Diane, read last year’s post by clicking here-Faire Diane. Oh how we wanted H. ‘Arnold Promise’ to be blooming at the same time. He coulda been Jack, but it was not to be.
Since this is the first day of the month, we pay tribute to Carolyn Gail of Sweet Home And Garden Chicago.
To listen to John Mellencamp sing Jack And Diane, click
here.
Finding the correct lyrics was nearly impossible. Lyric searches were quite varied, and none seemed right. This is as close as my ears can get them. If you have a correction, please let me know and I will fix it. And as a teenager, I did have a couple of pairs of Bobbie Brooks slacks, in case you were wondering.
Frances
Fairegarden 
Yes, life goes on. Hope the thrill of living also goes on!
I do remember last year’s post…Bobbie Brooks also makes under clothes…or did. Diane is sure strutting her stuff this year!
Good Morning, Frances… Diane is quite the show stopper, isn’t she?! She is certainly one of my favorite residents at Fairegarden. Perhaps she convinced Arnold to stay in the backseat for awhile as she struts on the catwalk…
I love the Detail Depicted of the Delicious Diane! My Dormant Diane is still in the Deep freeze…
Wow, if I looked like that, I would want a close up too!
Dear Frances, What a highly imaginative posting with some superb pictures. One does welcome these blooms at this time of year.
Beautiful photos, a perfect example of you don’t know what you are missing if you don’t take time to examine something closely.
When will you be doing a post on Little Pink Houses?
Perfect song for Diane! She’s so lovely.
Stay warm!
Cameron
She’s fantastic! She deserves a song written just for her! I think these might be your best shots of her~ I keep going back to look at them. Isn’t the color variation striking! H vernalis is blooming up a storm here…I think that Witch Hazels are still underused in most
gardens. Gail ps I fear I shall be singing Jack and Diane all day!
I’m humming “Jack and Diane” right along with Gail… Yes, I remember Bobbie Brooks–that was THE label to have when I was a teen. Diane is such a beauty, Frances, and you caught some of her best poses here. I used to wish I looked like Cheryl Tiegs, but now I’d be happy instead to have supermodel Diane in my back yard!
Man, Diane looks HOT! And, as I sit here looking outside at the approximately 8 degree weather, wondering why on Earth anyone would move back to this, I find just the tonic in the gorgeous Diane. I’m thinking she and I ought to move.
I will have this ear worm most of the morning no doubt. What a clever post Frances. Happy GMD.
Diane has much frillier petals than the native H. virginiana. Where’s the snow?
What a wonderful series of closeups. I love the Diane witch hazel – and since I have a daughter Diane you would think I’d have one but I only learned about Diane the tree a year ago. Now I’m trying to figure out where to plant her.
Was it Hang Ten?
Here comes a member of the bible belt to save your soul, Frances 🙂 Oops! Too late.
Diane is a real show stopper and a star in the tree lot where I work. Your photos of her are outstanding.
Thanks for joining our Muse day this first day of February. Seen that groundhog anywhere around Faire Garden ?
I don’t think Diane need worry, she’s got the part! Incidentally, John Mellencamp is one of my long-time favorite singers/songwriters. Not that song so much, but much else. He says a lot in a few simple words and his style has changed a lot over the years, which I appreciate.
Ooooooo Diane DID work it for the camera! I love Diane and your photos of her are gorgeous! I love Mellencamp too!!
If you get a minute some of your seeds are sprouting in Florida…
Just fantastic! (Your photos & the plant)
Delightful … you’re an amazing gal, Frances! Happy February and Muse Day 🙂
Love that song… and the photos were just breathtaking! You really captured her unusual beauty. 🙂
I sing along with Jack and Diane;
Oh yeah life goes on…
Lovely post Frances / kram gittan
Diane is very beautiful — so colorful.
Haven’t the foggiest idea what’s going on here, Frances, but I want to reach into the pictures and scrunch those . . . whatever they are!
Esther
Fiery, wonderful pictures! I still haven’t ever smelled witch hazel, but I’m looking forward to it.
Witch Hazel’s know that folks like me think they’re so ugly, they’re pretty, and therefore want one or two of them. I ain’t broke down and bought one yet! (I’m savin for an iPhone!)
I enjoyed your post! Diane is very pretty and photogenic.
Super stunning! Gorgeous shots..brilliant beauty!!
Diane is a pretty woman…and we shall never forget her name when we see her from now on;-) Also, glad you wrote down the lyrics to that song ’cause I don’t think I’ve ever quite gotten them all by hearing the song! You have the most beautiful witch hazels around, Frances. In fact, I must admit to not knowing anything at all about them until I read your post last year. I still don’t have one in my own yard, but it’s fun getting educated in case the opportunity arises one day. Not sure my yard would be a hospitable place for Diane;-)
‘Diane’ is a beauty. I bought ‘Jelena’ last year and think that I might have room for a companion:) Is ‘Diane’ highly scented Frances?
Sumptuous flowers – the colours are beautiful. Alas, I haven’t got room for one in my garden (quiet sob and a sniffle!)
Hi Frances love your ditty but I am so envious of your Hammamelis both of them something that was in my garden according to an old plan I have but it must have died before we moved here and I still haven’t bought one and popped it in.
Hello Frances,
Witch Hazel looks somewhat like a plant that Dr. Seuss would create in one of his books, to my southern eyes. They are beautiful!
Photographers are very important for getting the most out of their model, you really got her to work it! 🙂
Wonderful portraits of your Hamamelis Frances… I cannot believe I do not have the one or two that are hardy here. What a clever post… I will have to go and listen to that song. Seems like I am missing something here… memory… needs a bit of a stir… somehow B&W saddle oxford shoes and bobby socks come up … alligator belts… maybe they all go together with Bobbie Brooks skirts… maybe the song will bring it back. I see myself in all of that … all those lifetimes ago. Had to be the 60’s! ;>)) Carol
Hee hee, that song cracks me up. Now it is stuck in my head… Diane, what a showstopper! Glad she is finally out to strut around. Gorgeous!!
Once again you rock!! La la life goes on……….. What fun. (I used to wear lots of Hang Ten t-shirt dresses.)
Love the photos of Diane. Just stunning.
Diane is quite a looker! What a great post. So fun but now I’m going to be humming that song for the rest of the evening. 🙂
Beautiful! Diane is a stunner. 🙂
These plants are very interesting. The flowers are very unique.
Jake
I hear this song occasionally on our Classic Rock station! I had to save my baby sitting money for many weeks in order to get that one pair of Bobby Brooks Slacks! Ah, the memories that song brings back each time me ears hear it. Bobby Brooks was such a big thing in those days and now they can be found at Dollar General Store! How odd is that…
Perfect post. The pictures are perfect. (I mean perfect – how do you do that?) The lyrics are spot on. I was singing and remembering and ogling your lovely Diane. So creative. Thanks for your comments on my witch hazel post – I was happy to hear that you, too, call your plants by name. Jorge, my ficus tree, has been with me oh these many years. I may have to branch out to anthropomorphizing the outdoor ones too! Kelly
When I was younger I always thought Melloncamp was saying ” swimming in men” instead of “makes us women and men”
Funny post, Frances… you never fail to get me smiling.
I used to have ‘Diane’ in my garden, but it always irritated me by hanging on to its leaves all winter and hiding the flowers. Hate to tell you what happened next. Let’s just say, “Rain on the scarecrow. Blood on the plow.”
Love that Diane, BB was a winner for sure. Was the other name attached to jeans?
Diane is beautiful at any age!
You mentioned noticing my Hummels and other thingeys. One of the Hummels was a wedding gift from Larry’s aunt and uncle, one I think we bought, and the third was one of Larry’s mom’s. Since we got the china, the other siblings got the rest of the Hummels. Some of the vases were my mother-in-laws, too. Most of the things are flower frogs that I found in different places, including ebay. I was very active in collecting them for awhile, but finally backed off when I realized I don’t have room for more. There are a couple I will get if I run across them for a good price, though.
I’m taking my laptop out to the dry creekbed where my Diane witch hazel is planted, and I’m gonna play the Jack & Diane ditty and show her your blooms. My witch hazel is 5 years old, 4 feet high, leafing out nicely, but in winter I get eensy teensy little pseudo blooms. They’re red and look like delicate spiders, but very very small. Is hamamelis slow to establish? Will I ever get big strappy blooms like yours… or are they really small and your closeup lens makes them so gorgeous? I really enjoyed this creative post, (except for some plant envy and garden jealousy issues).
Love the witch hazel and love the memories the song and Bobbie Brooks brought back. (telling our age aren’t we??) Such a fun post Frances.
Never seen one of these before! It looks like confetti. I used to slur the “debutante” part of the song into something unintelligible, since I couldn’t understand what he was saying. No idea about the Bobbie Brooks (I originally typed “Bobbie Brown”) pants!
If ever there was a compelling argument to grow witchhazel, photographically this is it.
That Mellancamp tune was on the radio recently over here. In fact a lot of stuff like that keeps getting played at the moment. Steely Dan, Steve Miller and so on.
Not convinced about after the ‘livin is gone’ at that age though. Bit sad really.
I’ve bookmarked this wonderful post. I usually go for the cheap ordinary paphs that Trader Joe’s practically gives away. I’ve arrived at a point where I can actually get these guys to rebloom. But I’ve learned so much you’ve tempted me to be bolder. Your final picture was indeed the best. I love both orchids.
Was it maybe “Gloria Vanderbilt”? I so had to save for months for that one pair of jeans….