Wednesday, June 16, 2010

With Sunshine Came Success

Although it is now raining again we had a nice respite of three days with sun and warmth that made the body feel good. With all that I decided to move the "Yuma Garden" out of the Greenhouse and onto its summer digs. The South side of the Manor is mostly concrete so is the ideal home for my collection Cacti and other sun worshipping plants that I have collected over the years. The burgundy plant in the pot on the left is "Eucomis comosa"and in the lower photo one can just see the flower it put forth this year. In the other pots are "Aeonium", "Echeveria"  and a Kumquat tree I rescued out of a dumpster in the nursery behind the Manor. My favorite is the large Golden Barrel Cacti which I purchased while visiting my parents in Yuma Arizona.


Success came at the Annual Rose Festival Spring Rose Show. I was quite sure with all the rain and cold weather that I would have no entry's this year, but my neighbor and Rose Mentor convinced me that we should enter anything that had petals on it just to help fill the large arena with color. So I dutifully covered any hopefuls with my ragtag collection of brollies. To my great surprise I ribboned on two roses and for the third year in a row I won another major trophy for a wee little entry that held up like a soldier in battle. The rose was a miniature called "Mother's Love" and the trophy was for Best Fully Open Miniature. The perfect petal count and the brightest yellow stamens.
Loyd Corporation generously gives over a whole wing of their Mall to the entry's as their work station so we can groom our entry's before handing them over to the show clerks for placement in categories. Here are a few shots of our work station, that is myself and my 95 year old neighbor Margarete MacKenzie. This will be her last year as she has decided to move into an retirement center. She will have a lovely balcony that faces the morning sun light which I am trying to convince her it would be a fantastic place to grow miniature potted roses?







After the show Mema and the "Little Terrorists" met Margarete and I for lunch. Can you say "CHEESE"


Then it was off to our eldest son and daughter-in-laws home for little Brooklyn's second birthday celebration, and what is guaranteed a fun but exhausting party as it is the Cuban side of the family and who really know how to party.


After the little Terrorists filled up on sweets Mema and Poppi took Brooklyn home to Menagerie Manor for a quiet night as "The Cubans" celebrated mama Graces graduation from a local University.


Bright and early the next morning the three of us boarded the train for a trip to the Zoo. Brooklyn loved the baby elephants


And the drums in the "Africa Exhibit"



And an exciting finish to the day was a surprise visit with a little native owl that I had rescued after it was hit and permanently disabled in an accident with a commuter train. It is now a permanent resident at the Zoo.

 




3 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great time. Congrats on the ribbons. The rose was very pretty. Grandchildren are so much fun. I know, I am enjoying a visit from mine right now.
    Enjoyed this post.

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  2. Kat....
    Thanks for the visit, yes it was so much fun. I don't know who was more tired when it was over, the grandparents or the grandson.
    Doc

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  3. Congrats on the roses, Doc! And, good luck in the drawing. :-)-- Randy

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