Farewell September

Yesterday, right after a heavy rain, I took a quick look at my garden. The Wedding Garden is still abundant with zinnias reaching for the sky. Some are over five feet tall! The planters for the wedding are still beautiful and we have been enjoying them all these months. The happy spirit of our daughter's wedding keeps on giving! I am going to hang on to these plantings until the frost has its way.

The Wedding Garden

Wedding Planter

Two other wedding planters

 Speaking of giving, Stacy at MagicLoveCrow blog had another giveaway last week. That girl just keeps on giving. I won her so-called "Booby Prize" (as did my friend Linda of Old Bagge and Stuft Shirt Blog...we are now officially Booby Buddies, lol). Anyway, a lovely packet arrived and I am thrilled to have more of Stacy's art. A gorgeous card, and a small painting (ACEO) depicting "Mother Earth, The Sacred Circle". Beautiful. Thanks so much, Stacy. Your are a gifted artist and a sweet spirit!

Gifts from Magic Love Crow

 

Remember last week I talked about the news story of the NASA satellite that was expected to fall to Earth, no one knew when or where?  WELL!!!! Through sources that I can not reveal (wimp.com) I have uncovered a secret video that will show the world exactly what happened and that the Government does know. Shhhhhhh! You cannot tell a soul! Seriously! Click on the link below. You will be as shocked as I was. Seriously.
 
NASA satellite crash revealed click here...shhhh!!!

So another September is finishing up. Time to move on, the Wheel is turning. Everyone is looking forward to a fantastic October. Not only because of Autumn foliage, festivals and fun; also the Countdown to Halloween, hosted by Danni at Whimsical Cottage. Click on the button at the top of my sidebar for info. I think I may be feeling a Giveaway coming on. Hang on.....yep, there is definitely a tingling that indicates a Giveaway here at Wiccan Writes.  Stay tuned.   Enjoy the last day of September, my friends!!

Wedding Garden--Nine Days Until The Day

These are the stones we are using to fill the ivy bowls for the centerpieces. A lavender mix of colors, bright, shiny, glowing. Raethan put sage green ribbon and cream-colored lace around the rims. Filling the bowls today with stones and silk hydrangeas in shades of blues and lavenders.

The planters are brimming with colors. Silver dusty miller is trying to outdo the purple petunias, and the variegated green and white ivy is trailing perfectly. The angelonia wants to be the main character. In the wedding garden, the hummingbirds and butterflies are visiting regularly throughout the day, humming and fluttering around the pinks, reds, purples of the zinnias. The bachelor buttons are profusely blue, pink, white, dark red. Everything is holding its breath as the day approaches. We had a glorious rain yesterday, steady, not tumultous. You could almost hear the flowers sipping and lapping up the raindrops.
(as always, clicking on photos will give a larger view)

close up of angelonia

proliferation of zinnias, with tomatoes in background

Bachelor buttons were pushed down by the rain--they will pop back up today

The lone survivor of the squirrel raid, elephant ear is doing okay

I think we are okay for the next couple of days--kind of like being in the eye of the hurricane where all is calm. By Monday or Tuesday, well, that will be a different story!! Excited, happy, jittery, last-minute panic, of course. But on the day....oh what a day that will be!

The Wedding Garden--Update

The bride has chosen three beautiful colors for her wedding: sage green, dark lilac and silver. The ceremony will take place under tall trees in front of a 150 year old Irish castle in the Mohawk Valley countryside. The first phase of the wedding garden is complete. Flower seeds of larkspur, bachelor buttons and zinnias were planted over three weeks ago, and are growing well, despite weather "oddments".....extreme heat, turning to cool, rainy days.

(please ignore weeds!)

For the ceremony, two large planters have been planted with angelonia, dusty miller, lobelia, ageratum and petunias. The planters are sage green resin that convey the feeling of stone. To make these planters easier to transport to the wedding, I filled about two-thirds of the planters with styrofoam, then covered that with landscape fabric. The potting soil placed on top of that.

These plantings should fill in very nicely. I love how the dusty miller's silvery foliage looks with the greens and purples of the flowers.

Also, I have planted up two silver tubs to use as "aisle markers". I will talk with Raethan about adding something to them for height.

 These very nice conical wrought-iron hanging planters will be hung from shepherd hooks around the area where the ceremony will take place. Not the greatest photo here, but I will post better photos when I get them completed and on their shepherd hooks in the backyard. There are four of these planters.

 Another wrought-iron planter, this basket was a gift from my brother a couple of years ago, and really fits the wedding theme. We will find a nice spot for it at the wedding. Behind the basket planter are three pots of asparagus sperenghi (spelling?), an airy, frothy plant that will be tucked in here and there.

Farmer Bunny MacGregor oversees the plantings

When I am planting, I am saying little spells to bless the growing, and for the wedding and bride and groom. Actually, I tend to hum and sing these spells, which make for a pleasant Working.

Soon, I will be posting the centerpieces I am making for the reception. Two words: Silk Hydrangeas.
The clock is ticking, two months from today!!!

Nuts, bulbs and My Special Project

Today is National Pecan Day!! My favorite nut! I found this very delicious web site that offers many pecan recipes. Why don't you try it out?  http://www.ilovepecans.org/recipes.html 
 

raw pecans

Beautiful morning sunshine is coming through the windows. Milder temperatures, creeping up the thermometer are making me happy! Lots of spring bulbs are popping up around the yard. Is it really Spring?  It must be, I just received a beautiful catalog in the mail for spring bulbs. The bulb people know how to do it...because if I had the funds, I would order just about everything in the book!! Order now, plant in the fall. My husband always grimaces when these catalogs arrive. Or when I say: "I'm off to the plant nursery". 

I am beginning a Special Project this spring. Besides my regular garden plantings which include veggies, herbs, perennials and annuals, I am planting flowers for use in my daughter's wedding. The wedding will be taking place outdoors, at the old Irish castle, Beardslee. To pretty up the event, my daughter asked if I could make planters of flowers to place around the area where the ceremony will occur. Naturally, I am happy to comply. It will be a pleasure to grow flowers for her wedding and I will track the progress of the Growing on the blog.

Bunny MacGregor

Introducing Bunny MacGregor who will be supervising my gardens. I have a basket full of seed packets, and  will be referring to Ellen Dugan's book Garden Witch's Herbal for my magickal planting needs. I will be making the bridal bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres as well. Most of the flowers for that will be purchased, though I am hoping to have some of my garden flowers to add to the array.  So, expect to see a report at least once a week about the Wedding Garden.

Blessed Be!