San Salvatore - Monday, September 28, 2020

 Seasons in the country are measured by planting time and harvesting times. The corn is starting to be harvested and so are the sugar beets. I think the soy beans must be pretty soon. This recent harvest of sugar beets was in a field near my home. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

Seasons are also measured, by me at least, by what plants go into the ground, which ones can be transplanted and when, and which ones are starting to flower. The Colchicums have started and will stretch out for several weeks now. Their leaves often start to grow in late fall, stay green all winter and then really grow in the spring. By mid-June the leaves are starting to die back. While they are green they build up energy which is stored in their fat bulbs all summer. They estivate, summer hibernation. Then in early fall the flowers start to appear Amaryllis-like sans leaves. 

This white variety above is one of the earliest to flower and produces many small flowers from each single bulb. The bulbs of all varieties are very close to the soil surface often protruding just a bit. 

This very showy double pink one starts to flower a week or so after the white one starts. All the varieties spread easily; this one however, is the slowest to spread.

This pink variety below multiplies quickly and becomes a carpet of pink in places. It's growing in really hard packed poor soil and does just fine. I have a lot of clayey soil which makes gardening problematic.

This large champagne-flute shaped Colchicum below has to be a favorite. It produces several flowers over a long flowering period and multiples freely. It also does very well in my hard, dry, clay soil. I do periodically have to divide them and even slightly re-bury a few that have pushed up above the ground however.

 

The hummingbirds have been coming through in large flocks bickering over the feeders. Now there are only a few very rare stragglers. The advantage? They have the feeders to themselves. I wonder if these are lately fledged babies from this summer. I keep the feeders filled up especially now. I had two frosts here last week already. Traveling this time of the year could be a problem for flower and nectar loving hummers. Cold can kill flowers reducing nectar supplies and, perhaps, even kill late arriving hummers too. The straggler spend a lot of time at the feeders filling up. They also tend to hang around a reliable source of food a while .

One of the problems with moving away from everything I was familiar with is the lack of easily accessible business and stores and health care providers. I miss that until I travel back south and experience the noise, smells, and congestion. I've only be "gone" a short time; things have changed a lot. I think that people who live there full time means the changes seem slow and gradual.

I also miss family. Recently though I ran into Daniel and Lorenzo. It was wonderful to see them and to re-connect. I hope one day they might be able to come and visit here. Lorenzo was very resourceful and offered me some positive help with a problem I had. I discovered that Daniel also has a place on Lake Huron but on the Canadian side. He said exactly what I have always wondered; who is on the other side of the lake (for him the US and for me Canada) looking out across the water. He sees sunsets, I see sunrises. I think he said that he travels across the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron to get to his place. There are times recently that I wish I lived in Canada - know what I mean. I hope I can explore that option one day.