Some New Blooms and Other Garden News

 First a complaint: 25 photos to share and of course Blogger loaded them in reverse order. I'm not going to move them around!  

View of the Maple Garden called that because it's between to two maple trees. My three hydrangeas reside here.  Many of the plants are original to the property.

Can you see the Civil War soldier in the background across the street?

The Sculpture Garden with a mix of hosta and other green plants. On the right of the photos are the greens of the weeds.  I'm not winning that battle.

I think I need to make some taller rock sculptures.

Also the Sculpture Garden with the Black Cohosh in view.

It's getting ready to bloom.

This is the newest garden: the Library Garden.  You can see the netting fence that separates us from the construction going on for our new library (a renovation of an old store).

Here's another view of that garden looking the other direction.  I've worked hard to clear the weeds but it's the burdock with long tap roots that are the worst.

I am encouraging the myrtle to grow as a ground cover there. Whenever I take out a burdock I put in a vine or two of myrtle. 

To the left is the spot where the box elder tree was removed. The property line between us and the library is halfway up the hill.

You can see that the new roof is on and siding almost completed. The interior walls will be installed beginning in August.  Studs are already in place but dry wall work had to wait for the new roof to go on.

There is a patio on this side of the library and we will wait and see how much plant screening we will need.

The Hosta Garden is at peak.

A close up of one section.  Can you pick out the weeds for me?

As I mow I am letting the field behind us return to its proper boundary.  When we had someone doing the mowing they kept going farther and farther into the field. 

Here I'm standing on the property line.  See that stone next to the barn on the left side? That's where our property ends.

This shows how much the lawn had been expanding. I've planted lupine in there and will sprinkle other seeds to encourage flowering.  This section is never mown.

New blooms:

Astillbe

Strawberry pot is covered in blooms.

Double day lily

Hosta (with weeds that are taking over back there under the hemlocks)

Not blooming now but thanks to Tom for these three plants.

One of the hydrangea is farther along in bloom cycle with pink tinge showning.

Same variety but gets less sun so not to pink stage.

Not sure I like this day lily but it is striking.

This is one of my favorites.

Liatris in bloom.

The bumble bees love it.

One last addition.  This photo taken this morning while others taken yesterday. This day lily dates back to our house in Columbia, MD.  When we moved from there in 2003 I took many plants to plant at The Lodge, the house we built in Baltimore County, MD.  Before we moved from there, daughter Sarah had taken several plants to her residences in DC then MD then Buffalo.  I got this one back from her when we moved here.  It was a favorite of mine and my dad's - I had shared it with him too!

Wise Words from The Contrarian

Words & Phrases

‘Disarray’ is another word for healthy politics

JENNIFER RUBIN JUL 21

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On Sunday, Troy Jackson, former president of the Maine state senate, effectively wrapped up the nomination for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, filling the slot left by Graham Platner’s departure from the race after news of his sexual assault scandal broke. So ends the uncertainty over Platner’s replacement — and brings to an abrupt end the overwrought media coverage and angst-ridden punditry over Democrats’ travails in fielding a viable opponent to run against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), whose vulnerabilities should actually panic Republicans.

When conflicts, surprises, or unforeseen events occur in Democratic ranks, as it did in Maine, you can invariably count on the billionaire-owned legacy media to paint events in the most extreme terms, often suggesting that missteps or uncertainty are evidence of the party’s impending doom. Such coverage often exceeds even the dictionary’s definition of disarray: “the state of being confused and having no organization or of being messy.” Instead, it veers closer to portraying outright chaos: “a state of utter confusion, disorder, or the complete absence of structure and predictability.”

Hackneyed clickbait that treats party politics as something that should be placid and conflict-free — as if Trump’s model of authoritarian control offers no hint of dissent and is the norm — is a bizarre way of covering politics in a democracy. Politics, like any human endeavor, is the product of sometimes irrational decision-making and forces that defy prediction. Moreover, in a democracy, it should be a messy affair, a venue for robust debate, diverse viewpoints, and contentious conflict resolution. What is abnormal and dangerous is politics that operates as a cult of personality, in which fear, self-abasement, and groupthink create a rigid uniformity that forecloses the push-and-shove of healthy debate.

As we saw in Maine, the conventional wisdom about Democrats’ periodic stumbles grossly exaggerated the party’s temporary woes. In fact, as soon as Platner’s sexual assault allegation burst into view, Democrats moved with remarkable speed and unity. National Democrats ranging from Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) uniformly agreed to pipe down regarding his replacement. Meanwhile, the energetic state party quickly devised a nominating process. Lo and behold, the party seems to have come together behind a unifying, electable figure this past weekend.

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Huge credit goes to Maine Attorney General Shenna Bellows, who on Sunday announced that since “Trump’s attacks on our democracy are only accelerating, and the best way that I can serve our state and country at this moment is by focusing exclusively on my role as Secretary of State.” She explained, “This has been an unprecedented nominating process, compressed into days instead of months.” Expressing appreciation for all the volunteers who energetically swung into action, she emphasized “Democrats don’t have a day to waste in unifying around that shared goal.” Nirav Shahquickly followed suit, helping to clear the field and consolidate support around Troy Jackson. Numerous politicians, pundits, and advocates, e.g., pro- or anti-Zohran Mamdani, pro- or anti-Abdul El-Sayed, could learn something from this grown-up conduct, which prioritizes beating fascist enemies of democracy over scoring points against other Democratic factions.

The Maine episode reminds us that national media coverage and out-of-state political operators need to remain grounded in the day-to-day operation of state and local politics, where volunteers and staff keep the political trains running and activate when things don’t go as planned. Legacy and new media coverage might have avoided unwarranted hysterics (unless the goal was not accuracy but generating attention and coverage) had they better grasped the state of Maine’s grassroots politics.

Maine Democratic chair Charles F. Dingman, a thoughtful progressive with an intellectual bent, did a masterful job first helping to push Platner up and then quickly devising a credible nominating process for filling his slot. The weekend nominating convention, involving thousands of Mainers, can legitimately claim to be “representative, transparent, and accessible.”

The New York Times reported:

As Mr. Dingman rose to party chair last year, he told The Maine Morning Star that he wanted the state party to “be understood to be the party of Maine’s working people.”…

BJ McCollister, a Democratic National Committee representative, said few Mainers had “done as much as Charlie has done to make sure that there is some sort of social safety net protection — and the type of protections that progressives are often fighting for.”

Still, Mr. McCollister said Mr. Dingman had worked hard to be a “big-tent party” chair over the last year.

So maybe Democrats after all are not in such disarray, and not remotely chaotic?

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Conflict and debate do not equate to “disarray” or chaos; they represent the healthy functioning of a political party that rejects a cult of personality. Democrats who care about forming a big tent and stressing the value of testing ideas and vetting candidates should reject the temptation to silence one side or the other, and ignore unfounded speculation that internal opponents’ victories will ensure doom in the general election and the party’s national fortunes.

Maine Democrats remind us that the most critical aspect of defeating authoritarianism is robust, committed citizen participation. 

When voters take their democracy seriously, interact with neighbors directly, engage in local conventions/nominating processes, and use their own networks to bat down conspiracies and hysteria, democracy thrives. Less doomscrolling and punditry, more citizen activism and engagement with fellow voters, inure us to the benefit of our democratic revival.

In short, let’s dump the “disarray” and “chaos” lingo to describe the hurly-burly, healthy operation of politics. Not every Democratic blip equates to disaster. In fact, Platner’s exit may well prove to be a godsend to the party in November. If Maine is any example, more attention to and confidence in local political leaders and grassroots volunteers (aided by selfless public servants such as Bellows) will be a boon to our mental well-being and defense of our messy democratic political system.

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Loved Reading This One

 I've been a fan of Pete's for a long time.  Jennifer Rubin says it best why Pete's someone to take seriously.

Don’t forget about Buttigieg

Democratic fresh faces such as Texas Senate nominee James Talarico, thirty-seven, and midterm standout campaigner Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), thirty-nine, have earned praise for their media savviness and ease in connecting with voters. However, Democrats should not ignore the continued maturation of former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg as a first-rate political leader and communicator.

Of the current batch of lithe, highly articulate, Obama-level-cool political stars, Buttigieg, forty-four, is literally and figuratively the veteran — given his military service, tenure in the Biden administration, and extended national media presence. Thanks in part to his greying beard, he no longer comes across as a precocious college kid. Instead, he brings a unique degree of gravitas and refreshing distance from the internecine squabbles between factions of the party.

As the 2020 Iowa caucus winner, he snagged the plum spot of headlining last Sunday at Iowa Democrats’ “Liberty and Justice Celebration” fundraising dinner, a high-energy affair that benefited from Democratic enthusiasm over its strong contenders for governor, Senate, and the 1^st and 3^rd House congressional districts.

Buttigieg argued persuasively that the elite corruption endemic in our politics is why “we cannot have nice things.” Reminding the crowd that “[o]ur political and economic and social systems have been letting us down for a long time,” he explained that “our economy is unfair because our politics is unfair.”

Our democracy has been hijacked by the current “carnival of corruption,” Buttigieg observed, pointing to Trump’s defective jet gifted by the Qataris and his grotesque self-enrichment, including crypto graft; the Supreme Court’s indulgence of Trump’s tyrannical whims with a grant of absolute criminal immunity; and congressmen’s participation in ethically galling insider trades and utter lack of interest in checking executive overreach. “This hurts us. This is why things aren’t working properly,” he explained. “This is why they can make you pay more at the pump for a war you never asked for; how they burned down the Department of Education while we are worried about kids who cannot do math or read like they are supposed to.”

Buttigieg conceded Democrats have too often gotten “boxed in” as defenders of the status quo. “But the answer cannot be to put everything back the way it used to be. We are not going to all this trouble to find the shards of everything they smashed up and try to tape it back together to look just like it used to,” he implored the crowd.

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Eschewing buzzy descriptors (“socialist” or “center left”), Buttigieg demonstrates that the real imperative for Democrats is boldness, the determination to offer concrete, dramatic solutions to bolster our democracy and ensure widespread prosperity for ordinary Americans.

“Don’t tell me we cannot take big swings, take real risks, do big work,” he proclaimed to rising applause, “Don’t tell me it’s bad politics to talk about diesel prices and democracy in the same breadth because they are all part of the same picture.” Buttigieg says that it is not too much to demand a political system in which everyone’s vote counts the same and the top vote getter is the winner (i.e., dump the Electoral College), or in which we redesign the Supreme Court’s size and jurisdiction to re-establish its legitimacy, or in which we end — by constitutional amendment if needed — dark money’s iron grip on our politics.

Rather than hector one part of the party, Buttigieg leans into his Midwestern values and speaks to unifying sentiments. He insists that “the American flag does not belong to one political side in this country, just as surely as we know that God does not belong to a political party in the United States of America.” And he argues that genuine aspirations for security and stability do not require we bathe in reactionary nostalgia. “We know it means to know your past without going back to it.”

Buttigieg offers a formula for unifying Democrats and forging a broad pro-democracy coalition: dramatic political reform; wages sufficient for an ordinary worker to live on one job; access to affordable childcare, worldclass healthcare, and public schools; and taxing corporations and the richest people at least as much as working people.

Whether he runs for president in 2028 (why wouldn’t he?), Buttigieg deserves kudos for his undaunted, unabashed, and unequivocal defense of America’s foundational values and commitment to pursuing our “more perfect union.” Democrats are fortunate to have him as a model for progressive, dynamic, optimistic political leadership.

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Meet Milli

Milli is the newest member of our household.  She joined us at the beginning of May, has fit right in, and is well loved by all.

Now you may be thinking we got a pet, well she's got the name a pet may have but ...

here's her photo.

Not a pet!

She's a Mill.  She grinds up and cooks our table and cooking scraps that we used to put directly into the compost bin in the yard.  She begins the composting for us and I don't have to take daily trips to that compost bin outside.  Now I take her bucket seen below when it reaches the full level.  For the two of us it takes about 4 weeks.  When we have company like we did for two weeks it filled faster.

Below is a guide to what can and cannot go in.

I have an app with a library to look up items.  For example she can take corn cobs but not the corn husking.  I put in the avocado and peach pits but decided against the mango pit.

Instead of a compost bin on the counter, I keep a bowl that I fill as I cook and do the dishes for the scraps to feed Milli.

The banana peel goes in.  Oops I should take off the sticker.  Milli doesn't want paper.  She does take meat scraps which I didn't compost before.  Because she cooks everything there's no fear of critters getting into the meat scraps.

She has a timer and is set to come on and do her grinding and cooking at 11 pm every night.  Most mornings she's all done by the time I'm down in the kitchen. If she had a lot put in the day before she is sometimes still going or on her cool down cycle later into the morning.

Lastly the grounds have no odors! My compost pail on the counter would become quite smelly as the day progressed even with a lid. 

Love you Milli!