Lily: the most beautiful thing in our garden

The lilies in our front yard have been blooming for a while, but I never got the time to show them off.  We have a ‘rose garden’ inside the garden, so lilies have been kept in the front yard, lest no peace in the garden can be maintained.  Rose and lily have been fighting for the title of the “queen of flowers” for ages; William Cowper wrote,

Within the garden’s peaceful scene

Appeared two lovely foes,

Aspiring to the rank of Queen,

The lily and the rose.

As we spent all our time in the backyard garden (顧後不顧前), the front yard lilies felt neglected and began to protest, so we created a ‘lily garden’, side by side with the ‘rose garden’, separated by a path and a water tank.  They just began to bloom.  Quoting the Bard’s poetic play will match the noble and dignified beauty of the lily.

I am of the opinion of Shakespeare, who said lily is the mistress of the field (hearing I said this, the rose reminds me that Shakespeare mentioned roses in his plays at least 70 times).  In Act III Scene 1 of Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey tried to persuade Queen Catherine to accept the divorce from the king.  We read Queen Catherine said,

Almost no grave allowed me; like the lily,

That once was mistress of the field and flourished,

I’ll hang my head and perish.

Cardinal Woolsey failed his mission miserably; what Shakespeare wrote is no different from the history I read, including Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization.  She chastised the holy man having the pleasure in making her life wretched and that nothing but death can take the title of queen from her.

Queen Catherine

You tell me what ye wish for both, — my ruin:

Is this your Christian counsel? out upon ye!

Heaven is above all yet, there sits a judge

That no king can corrupt.

Queen Catherine

My lord, I dare not make myself so guilty,

To give up willingly that noble title

Your master wed me to: nothing but death

Shall ever divorce my dignities.

Queen Catherine

Would I had never trod the English earth,

Or felt the flatteries that grow upon it!

Ye have angels’ faces, but heaven knows your hearts,

What will become of me now, wretched lady!

I am the most unhappy woman living.

Alas, poor wenches, where are now your fortunes!

Shipwrecked upon a kingdom, where no pity,

No friend, no hope; no kindred weep for me;

Almost no grave allowed me; like the lily,

That once was mistress of the field and flourished,

I’ll hang my head and perish.  

                              

What a difference a month made

These two photos were taken from the same section of the garden; the above photo was taken yesterday (June 26) and the one below May 26.  What a difference a day shy of one month made!  Of course, the two “Little League” baseball players made the above photo much more lovable.  Looking at our garden photos before coming for a visit, Ben said the garden really grows.  Yes, if I can use only one word to describe the essence of the garden, it is “grow”.

The more efficient way of watering the garden

Janice suggested us to have an automatic way of watering the garden with the timer control.  While studying the feasibility of the system, we temporarily use two Y-extensions to turn the two water faucets into 4 hoses that can easily cover the entire garden inside and out.

Light up along Shangri La Boulevard

We do have two lights in the back porch, but the light cannot reach the far end 90 feet away.  With the installation of the solar lights along Shangri La Boulevard, we now can walk along THE Boulevard after dark without using the headlight.  Shangri La Blvd now comes alive after dark.

Visitors and helpers in the garden

These photos were taken early in the evening when Jo, Sean, Ben and Gabby arrived; they quickly became the helpers in the garden.  Ben and Gabby helped harvesting three zucchinis, Gabby helped watering and Jo helped planting Merry Go Around (Marigolds à Merry golds à Merry-Go-Round.

As a true devotee of Emily Dickinson when it comes to gardening, I also call Marigolds Merry Golds and I extend it into Merry-Go-Round.

The ornamental peppers: The hot zone

Last year I used “Some Like it Hot” (Marilyn Monroe’s movie) to introduce our hot peppers; this year I got an idea from Richard Preston’s bio-thriller (based on the true story), “The Hot Zone”—so far we have only four ornamental peppers: 2 tall black pearls (which may turn scarlet-red when ripen), one medusa and one colorful sangria.  Some say ornamental peppers are not edible; this is a misconception.  Ornamental peppers are developed for its exotic beauty of the fruits at the expense of the flavor; they are not as tasty as those grown for the table.

挑燈夜戰: working in the garden late into the night

My daughter sent me this led headlight so I can work in the garden late into the night.  挑燈夜戰 can be loosely translated as “burning the midnight oil”, but in my case it is just working hard late into the night using headlight.  Many of my Father’s Day gifts are something to do with the garden.

My Indian rain dance (祈雨舞)

This is the aerial view of our garden today; it continues to evolve almost everyday; the “highway” construction is not done yet.  It still looks pretty empty and yet there are lots of things growing.  Zinnia came out within one week of sowing the seeds, as did the corns, which grow, seems like “an inch a night”.  The snow peas have been taller than the 6-foot chain links.  And everything large or small in the garden needs water twice a day.  There has been hardly a day or two raining the past one month.

I visited the Field Museum when I first went to Chicago in 1971 and saw the display of the rain dance by the Indians; I still vividly remember how they danced and have been so dancing mentally of late.  And it works; it rained tonight.