Rememberance Sunday
(Via Snappy's Gardens Blog)
A field of poppies..
Time for reflections on Comrades fallen, poppy petals in Trafalgar square fountain floating...
A red Field Poppy that was growing wild on the edge of Harlow Carr, just like the ones that grow in Northern France. After the battles in the Northern region of Flanders and Picardy the only thing that grew in the decimated landscapes were fields of Red Poppies.
A field of poppies..
Time for reflections on Comrades fallen, poppy petals in Trafalgar square fountain floating...
A red Field Poppy that was growing wild on the edge of Harlow Carr, just like the ones that grow in Northern France. After the battles in the Northern region of Flanders and Picardy the only thing that grew in the decimated landscapes were fields of Red Poppies.It has used by the British Legion here every year since 1921, in the poppy appeal. I have had the poppy in the right hand side bar this week. Red for blood, and Black for remembrance. The Guns stopped on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the Eleventh month, November 1918. Thus was remembrance day started 3 years later. It is now a key date in the nations calender.
It now encompasses all soldiers fallen in all wars, and sadly in 2007 they are still falling. The only year that British servicemen have not been killed on active duty was 1968! Its a day of reflections, respect, and memories. This poem inspired the poppy appeal:
IN FLANDERS FIELDS
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses , row on row
That marks our space; and in the sky
The Larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt Dawn, Saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up the quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The Torch, be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields
( John McCrae, A Canadian Surgeon in the Army wrote that in 1915.)
The Top two photos are from the Royal British Legion website. Their link is here:
Long may they continue to run the Poppy appeal every year. They really do keep the torch burning through the years. Its a great charity that continues to assist people and their families in the British armed forces, for soldiers past, presnt, and future.
Sango kaku (Coral Tower) Japanese Maple fall colors
(Via )
via Garden Voices
The Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’, Syn. ‘Senkaki’ (Coral Bark maple, Cinnabar Wood maple [Vertrees]) is the second Japanese maple to turn this fall. This is the oldest Japanese maple in the yard except for the ‘Bloodgood’ we inherited when we moved into the home. . . .
reBlogged
to
Sleuth
(Via Idaho Gardener)
I believe the actual title of the song is “We Shall Gather at the River.” See, my mama’s family is devout Catholic; but my daddy, rest his wicked soul, sent me to Methodist Sundy school. Yup, Sundy. He called the preacher: the Squeakin Deacon. How’s THAT for irreverent? I recall the two old coots having a little sip of whiskey just to “take the edge off”. Indeed. Edge of what? I used to love Methodist Sundy’s. As opposed to the Episcopalians (my current albeit lapsed denomination), we sang good songs, like, Onward Christian Soldiers, This Little Light o’ Mine, etc. You get my drift. I am not sure we ever sang “We Shall Gather at the River,” but like I said, it popped into my head.
So, while you are PRETENDIN to walk through the neighborhood, you really are WALKING, but sleuthing at the same time. Look for some Lavelle’s hawthorne branches. I actually had to get in the car, drive about a mile, and under cover of darkness, stand on the bumper of the truck in order to liberate some of the Lavelle’s branches. It was a guitar and percussion store parking lot. I asked permission later, just to see what they would say. They said……………….yes. Of course, the booty had already been taken home and arranged but I made a big show of cutting just a couple (more) berry laden branches. You know, in good faith.
Did I mention I have an evil twin?
Industrial Ghosts and Flowering Plants
(Via Snappy's Gardens Blog)
Two stories in the news here that are both related to past Industrys. The Coal industry in Scotland, and a former Clay Quarry in Cornwall.
The first was a new finding of a rare Orchid on a disused coal mining site in Scotland. the funky named Epipactis Youngiana (I prefer Youngs Helleborine which is easier to say).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7081306.stm
The top photo is taken from google images, the Orchids yellow bell shaped flowers found in Scotland... I love the fact we have wild orchids growing here in Britain.
This particular Orchid has only been found to grow on land formally used in heavy Industry. The Scottish land it was discovered on was a coal mine untill 1980.
The problem is these land polluting industrys where this orchid has been found growing, are no longer in existence. If this is this orchids preferred environment how do you maintain it?
By keeping the land polluted with heavy metals in the soil?
Most of these former industrial sites are not protected, and several have been developed, eliminating the Orchids that grew there. The botanists took seeds from this flowering one, so hopefully somebody from the Hardy Orchid society will be able to grow this plant so it does not dissapear from Britain. http://www.hardyorchidsociety.org.uk/
If the orchid did not adapt to the changing conditions it would die out though, by selection pressure (Darwin again).
The second story is a corpse flower is almost flowering at the Eden Project in Cornwall. I remember when one flowered at the New York botanical gardens.
http://www.edenproject.com/3199.html
For a malodorous flower it makes headlines wherever it flowers!
I still want to go to the Eden project to see the Huge Biomes (Round domes) built on a former clay quarry, with seperate plant environments in each one. It says they have 1000,000 plants representing 5000 species from the worlds climatic zones.
http://www.edenproject.com/
How cool that somebody thought why dont we build a garden on a flooded scooped out clay pit? The project was a successful millenium project, and is in the top 10 of British attractions for visitor numbers. The glass domes and twist on the garden of Eden captivated the visitors.
Two storys linked by industrial ghosts that are no longer there, the flowers are in their place.
Two stories in the news here that are both related to past Industrys. The Coal industry in Scotland, and a former Clay Quarry in Cornwall.The first was a new finding of a rare Orchid on a disused coal mining site in Scotland. the funky named Epipactis Youngiana (I prefer Youngs Helleborine which is easier to say).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7081306.stm
The top photo is taken from google images, the Orchids yellow bell shaped flowers found in Scotland... I love the fact we have wild orchids growing here in Britain.
This particular Orchid has only been found to grow on land formally used in heavy Industry. The Scottish land it was discovered on was a coal mine untill 1980.
The problem is these land polluting industrys where this orchid has been found growing, are no longer in existence. If this is this orchids preferred environment how do you maintain it?
By keeping the land polluted with heavy metals in the soil?
Most of these former industrial sites are not protected, and several have been developed, eliminating the Orchids that grew there. The botanists took seeds from this flowering one, so hopefully somebody from the Hardy Orchid society will be able to grow this plant so it does not dissapear from Britain. http://www.hardyorchidsociety.org.uk/
If the orchid did not adapt to the changing conditions it would die out though, by selection pressure (Darwin again).
The second story is a corpse flower is almost flowering at the Eden Project in Cornwall. I remember when one flowered at the New York botanical gardens.
http://www.edenproject.com/3199.html
For a malodorous flower it makes headlines wherever it flowers!
I still want to go to the Eden project to see the Huge Biomes (Round domes) built on a former clay quarry, with seperate plant environments in each one. It says they have 1000,000 plants representing 5000 species from the worlds climatic zones.
http://www.edenproject.com/
How cool that somebody thought why dont we build a garden on a flooded scooped out clay pit? The project was a successful millenium project, and is in the top 10 of British attractions for visitor numbers. The glass domes and twist on the garden of Eden captivated the visitors.
Two storys linked by industrial ghosts that are no longer there, the flowers are in their place.
