Lichenwood Rambles

By the Sea

Many folks aren't even aware that New Hampshire has a seacoast.  Those in the know may think of the carnival atmosphere of Hampton Beach, its shore crowded with tourists, fast food, and souvenir stands.  Hampton Beach is nothing like the rocky coastline of Rye, New Hampshire, where I stopped for a brief reverie before my massage at Midheaven Rye.  Along the top edge of the Atlantic Ocean in the photo above, the Isles of Shoals are visible on the horizon.

The exposed shoreline is an important resource for the birds gathered here as the tide recedes.  Here they feed on exposed shellfish, dropping them on the rocks to crack them open.

And all along Route 1A, the glorious Rosa rugosas are still in bloom while their juicy hips hang heavy from thorny stems.  Unfortunately their close proximity to the road and auto exhaust make the flowers and hips unsuitable candidates for herbal harvest or flower essence co-creation.  They are incredibly beautiful which is gift enough.

The Rugosas are not alone at the roadside.  Other spectacular plants thrive in the salty sandy buffer between asphalt and ocean.  Asters are in bloom everywhere now in New Hampshire.  So many different varieties exist; so many subtle shadings from white, to pale lavender, to deep purple.  Along the seaside, under the protection of rugged Roses, these subtle toned Aster colonies are particularly pleasing.

Intense sun splendored goldenrods provide a bright accent to the magenta Rugosas and the violet hue of Autumn Asters, and protected by jagged rocks, the sea green pods of Milkweed are releasing fairy dancing seeds into the salt air.

Salt is a well known spiritual cleansing agent.  Sitting by the Atlantic on the boulders lining the roadside turn-in, I felt renewed.  The few troubling worries that may have clung to my thoughts were scrubbed clean by the salty wind off the water.  It was a fitting preparation for a therapeutic massage; a pleasing precursor to the Full Harvest Moon.

Uranian Weekend

This is not the usual attractive flower face that greets visitors to this blog.  This is a sinkhole that is/was about 7 feet deep.  This entrance to the Underworld appeared unexpectedly and suddenly (are you seeing the Uranian nature of this?) when Daryl was draining a significant amount of water (Pisces) from the Koi Pond.  We had decided to do a 25% exchange of water in efforts to help heal one of the large black Koi.  She had been slow, listless, and not eating, although she looked perfectly fine.  As Daryl released the pond water into the garden area, as he has done many times before, the ground around the wellhead suddenly caved in taking a fair amount of phlox plants into the cavernous earth.  Quite an impressive hole was left behind which took four or more garden carts worth of dirt to fill.

I am thinking of placing my Aztec Dream Vine there.  It somehow seems fitting.

Yes, Uranus stationed retrograde yesterday in the sign of Pisces, highlighting a square with Jupiter in Sagittarius (also retrograde).  You can read more about this astrological event on Jessica Murray's Skywatch website.  Mercury is also retrograde.

Yesterday we did some pond touring through the annual Rowley Country Gardens sponsored event.  We look forward to this every year and consider it to be a kick off event for Daryl's birthday celebration on the 27th of this month.  We saw two stunning, and quite different, water gardens yesterday.  The pond above, in Gloucester, is topped by a Bayberry with a very pleasing form and had four waterfalls of various sizes.  It was built around a huge granite outcropping.  Many native plants were highlighted in this pond, including a gigantic Burdock.  You don't find many folks who consider Burdock to be a welcome addition to their landscaping.  The fact that the owners were pleased with their Burdock volunteer made me like them all the more.

In Hamilton, Massachusetts, we visited with the delightful Mr. Dale.  His garden was a series of rectangular retention ponds interspersed with weathered decking.  It looked very Asian inspired.  One rectangle was completely planted with Lotus!  He shared some great ideas with us that we are definitely going to follow up on.  The most interesting thing we learned was that his plants are growing directly in fine sand at the bottom of his ponds that are created with liners, just like ours.  He is able to successfully overwinter most of his plants this way.  We are going to put sand in our "bog" areas and try to achieve this more natural effect.

I absolutely loved Mr. Dale.  You will feel the same way when you view the following pictures.  Mr. Dale and his wife love turtles.  They have turtle visitors and they also rescue Eastern Painted Turtles that they find injured in or near the road.  They bring them home to their pond to recover and then release them to the wild.  Their turtles are so happy that they often lay eggs in a special sandy area that the Dales have created.  These babies are placed in natural ponds nearby the Dale home before the time of winter hibernation.  Mr. Dale has a special fondness for one particular turtle named "Tipper".  He can call Tipper by name and the turtle will swim over to Mr. Dale and jump right into his hand.  What a wonderful sight!

You might need to click on the image to glimpse Tipper swimming over as Mr. Dale calls to him.

Mr. Dale and his wife also have a home in Florida.  While they were there they adopted a Red Eared Turtle.  They brought her back to Massachusetts and built her a lovely aquarium with a side view window so that they could observe her.  This turtle was so happy that she laid four clutches of eggs that first year.  All the little Red Eared Turtles grew quite happily in the Dale's waterscape that summer, but because they are Florida natives Mr. Dale was worried about what would happen to them in a New England winter.  Now, here is the reason that  you are going to love Mr. Dale as much as I do: Mr. Dale very carefully drove more than one hundred little Red Eared Turtles to Florida that year to release them into a pond on his land there.  What a man!

I'll close with a series of Rose pictures that will give you a glimpse of what's going on in the gardens here at Lichenwood.

Apothecary's Rose

Blaze Improved Rambler

Bow Bells

Fair Bianca

Graham Thomas

A David Austin Rose, exact name lost in the shuffle, but isn't she gorgeous?  This may be Pat Austin.

Co-creation on the Solstice

Buffy felt the need to participate in flower essence co-creation this morning.  Summer Solstice has been a quintessential New England Summer day with temperatures in the high seventies, bright skies and soft breezes.  Walking through the garden this morning it seemed that every plant spirit was calling out to me.  It was a very high energy morning.

This is the Apothecary's Rose, one of the oldest Roses, and the standard medicinal rose.  Click on the link to read all about the history of this wonderful flower.  This was one of the flower essences that was co-created today.  The plant spirit has already told me to use the essence to awaken the healer within.  What was expressed was that it would function in a similar way to Prunella vulgaris, or Self Heal, but with a more heart centered focus.  Apothecary's Rose will help with bringing courage to heal our own issues and also with bringing the confidence to practitioners to use their knowledge and skills when working with clients. 

As I walked the land during ritual, I asperged the entire garden area with the flower essence of Oriental Poppy that I had made specifically for this purpose.  I was instructed to do this weeks ago by the plant spirit of Oriental Poppy.  I was told that performing this action would facilitate interaction between humans and the nature spirits here.  As I was walking, blessing the land with Oriental Poppy shaken from branches of Holly and Oak, I saw more Prunella vulgaris (Self Heal) than I have ever seen in the "lawn".  Evidentally the Apothecary's Rose spirit has been in deep discussion with the Self Heal deva.  A combination essence may happen at some future time.

Roses are traditional parts of the Summer Solstice ritual, so it is no surprise that the second bowl set out for co-creative purposes was dedicated to the Royal Amber Rose.  I would love to be able to capture the delicious scent of this Rose.  It is extremely sensuous and its form, when at the peak of bloom, so beautifully ruffled.  I will need to spend time meditating with this essence before I can share any of its attributes.

The final essence that came into being on this Solstice day is Sundrop or Missouri Primrose.  There is a large colony of these bright yellow beauties in the garden at the front of the house.

This essence will help people to develop a sense of worthiness and self-esteem. 

Blessings to all on this longest day of the year!

Finding Blaze Improved

It was way back in Wintertime when I dreamed of this rose, the Blaze improved climber.  My plans to easily locate one of these roses at a local greenhouse seemed a lost cause.  For weeks I've been searching local nurseries without luck.  Yesterday, after a trip to a very large garden center, I finally gave up the quest.  I actually went on-line and ordered a Blaze improved from Hortico Nurseries in Ontario.  I've never ordered from them before, but I couldn't find this rose at my usual favorite Heirloom Roses.  Of course, I couldn't order just one rose.  I gave into temptation and ordered "Lady of the Dawn" and "Scottish Tartans".

Monday is my usual errand day.  So, after taking packages to the post office, doing my banking, and getting my weekly chiropractic adjustment, I found myself with some extra time.  My usual Monday grocery run wasn't needed this week.  I decided to finally stop in at Garden of Eve's on Breakfast Hill Road in Greenland.  For years I have driven by this garden center on my busy Mondays, always telling myself that I would stop in "soon".  Soon came around today.

Garden of Eve's is certainly charming and eclectic.  It has rambling greenhouses and outdoor sales areas.  There is also a very funky cottage type building which opens up to more greenhouses.  There are some unusual planters (like an old rusty bike with plantings spilling from a decaying seat and handlebar basket) and whimsical painted cupboards and chairs.  The plants were all very happy and healthy.  There was a small collection of roses outside the shop and I automatically began searching for my holy grail, the Blaze improved.  Alas, many lovely roses, but not the one I've been searching for.  I crossed it off my mental list and decided to just enjoy browsing.  Then, tucked away in one of the furthest corners of the back display area I spotted Blaze improved!!!  I swept her up, bought her, and brought her home!  She rode in the front seat on the way home and I played classical music for her and told her how much she would love living at Lichenwood.  Daryl and I will dig a hole and plant her tonight.  She'll have company when her little sibling arrives in a week or two.  I am thrilled to have a healthy rambler already producing flowers.  I hope a flower essence will come into being this summer.