Bumblebee Blog

Bzzzz June 19th, 2008

I was so amused at the comments about big 1980s big hair on my story about the abundant flower border…

that I thought I would treat you to a laugh in lieu of flower photos today.

In 1983, I somehow got the notion that a big mop of curly hair would be attractive on me. It took a vast quantity of chemicals to make my fine, straight hair do this:

I look like my hair is on fire. As I recall, it took me nearly an hour to get ready in the morning, what with all the products and blow drying and all. And my biggest fear was wind. My afro did not do well in wind.

Still, I suppose it is better than when I was 11 years old:

This may come as a surprise to you, but I was not the most popular girl in my class.

That’s my baby brother Dale on the left. He’s a big boy now. My mom had her own fashion issues, what with the fake hair and polyester dress. My dad looked fetching in his shiny double breasted suit, pink shirt and yellow tie though, don’t you think? That’s my brother Chris in the back on the right. He’s a nice guy, but has fashion issues of his own. And we all have that crazy-eyed stare. What was that about?

So what about you? I have bared all. Where are your ’80s big hair photos? Let me know if you post so I can share them with the world. I give you until July 15–if you dare.

Posted In: Humor

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Bzzzz June 13th, 2008

I was never able to measure up in the ’80s when big hair was in.

I have baby fine, straight hair. All my exertions with perms, hot hair dryers, roller brushes and sprays only emphasized my genetic shortcomings when it came to creating big hair.

Fortunately, I don’t have to rely on my shallow gene pool to create an abundant look in the garden. All I need is a good deal of compost, flowers and patience.

Sometimes though, my garden seems to be a black hole. I can’t tell you how many truckloads of compost I had added to this hardpan Maryland clay soil. As for the flowers, I keep planting and planting to achieve the riotous abundant look I adore in the cottage garden magazines and books.

Don’t get me wrong. The plants grow just fine, but there seems to be an endless amount of room for more shoving in of more plants.

The problem is that it’s expensive to buy perennials in huge quantities, so I also try to start from seed, sometimes indoors and sometimes just direct seeding. And I don’t know what will bloom when around here until I live with it for a while. That means that I have to live with a flower for at least a year, maybe two, until I really get a sense of its habits and behaviors. The I have to engage in quite a lot of moving things about.

Still…I think it’s worth it.

Lavender, lamb’s ear and astilbe border

See here. I didn’t mind weeding around the lavender in the cool hours this morning. The scent is glorious. And I rather think it looks as if I had a plan when I put the lavender, astilbe and lamb’s ear together. In truth, I had no idea they would bloom at the same time. It was just serendipity.

You would never know that this very bed used to be a swampy low spot in the yard that collected water after rains. Copious amounts of compost and deep digging solved that problem.

Thyme, pink vinca, rose campion and ice plant

And here. Although I complain about the rose campion, I do think it looks rather at home with the other pink flowers in this border. Serendipity again.

Orange coneflower, red hot poker and ?? (Sheesh, help me with this purple flower someone )

How about the orange cone flower and red hot poker? When I dragged the cone flower home from my local garden center I had no idea where I planned to put it. But the bald spot behind this red hot poker was just crying for a plant. I had no idea they would bloom together.

(By the way, I started these little purple jobs from seed last year. I have purple and white flowers like this EVERYWHERE. I cannot find the seed package. Please, someone enlighten me. I’m quite sure it’s a hideously common flower, so just stop laughing and kindly post me a comment or send me an email with the name.)

So tomorrow I head out to the garden center once again in my quest for the abundant look. Frankly, it’s much more satisfying that all that time dinking around with my hair “back in the day.”

Posted In: Flowers, Gardening