Sunday, June 26, 2016

Where the Wildflowers Grow

Drifts of beautiful, blue Flax [Linum] greeted us along our pathway.

Have trailer, will travel! It's my mantra for this summer. Horse trailer, that is.

Wild Geraniums dot the meadow. The majority are white and pale pink. But, 
I love the sassy fuchsia ones best of all.

Sonny, Sable, Jack & Katie  ~ those are horses ~ have been taking Janet, Beth, Bob & I ~ we're the humans ~ on some spectacular wildflower rides.


It's called 'bushwacking' ~ when we ride beyond the hiking trails, meandering through the wilderness in search of rare flowers and picnic spots.

How are you with your pets?

Are you strict, firm? Lenient, caring?

I suppose there is no right answer to that question.

Sometimes it depends on the animal. For instance, my 9 month old puppy is huge, now, (50 pounds!) and hell on wheels.

I'm tough on him because I'm mortified when he jumps on someone and knocks them down.

My other pet, horse Sable, is 1000+ pounds. But, I'm a whole lot nicer to her. Because she's well-behaved.

Here's me being all tough and stuff with my horse, Sable. 

I can't stand people who are cruel to animals.  And, I meet a lot of 'horse people' who behave that way.

They feel they need to be harsh with their horses in order "to show them who's boss." I have a hard time dealing with that sort of stuff.

Discovered a field of Splitleaf Paintbrush along the trail. And, no! 
I'm not gonna tell you where it is. :) That's our little secret...

So, anyhoo... I made the foolish mistake of joining Backcountry Horsemen.

That's why my head is filled with horses and wildflowers instead of pesky weeds and not so neatly tended gardens.

Up close and personal ~ with a Penstemon.

Our first group ride was long and steep, horribly rocky and pretty much a misery all day long.

Behold! A Shooting Star! First time I've ever seen one in the wild...

Me, being the loudmouth of the group, I kept harping on our 'leaders' to stop and allow the horses to take a rest.

They were exhausted and who could blame them? It was a relentless uphill climb that went on for hours.

These last few Wildflowers are called: I don't know.

It's different up here, in the mountains.

We don't have gently rolling hills. You're climbing or descending, all day long. If you love your horse, you give them a break.

Why wouldn't you want to linger? When you're surrounded by such beauty...


Finally! Our fearless leader listened and gave us a brief rest.

"Let's get a move on," barks the Jackass, 5 minutes later. To be clear, there were no donkeys on this ride. That's my new pet name for the jerk of a horseman leading our group.


A short time later, his horse collapsed. The Jackass was injured. Nicer riders than me hopped off their horses to help him. Worried about the man while I was worrying about the horse.

Oh, my gosh!!! I didn't want to help him. I wanted to rescue his unhappy horse and leave him in the wilderness to fend for himself. Serves him right! I was so furious!

Fortunately, for me, I have friends who are the voice of reason. Handling things ever so politely.

Standing between me and the Jackass and telling me to shut up.

And, I did! Or, at least I quieted down to a whisper. One only the Jackass could hear.

"I hope that arm of yours is broken," I whispered to him as we trotted on by.

May the bridges I burn light the way... 

- Kate


* A Jackass is a male donkey. Males are Jacks and females are Jennys. But, of course, Jackass is used to describe a few other types of males, as well.




Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Blazing Glory

GLOBE MALLOW
I suppose it is a bit too late to be yapping about Memorial Weekend...

MORE GLOBE MALLOW

Seeing as how it's mid-June :)

ARE YOU SPOTTING A TREND, HERE? :)

Such is the life of a bizzy gardening gal.


A bizzy, out of shape, gardening gal... who limps into the house at the end of a long day. Far more interested in a well-deserved glass of Pinot Noir than a blogging session.


Waging war on weeds is hard work!

Waging war on ants is painful work.


First up-turned rock in the garden and a swarm of ants came racing up my arms. (Biters.)

I was soooo disappointed with that. I thought I had successfully bumped off the queen. By watering their holes incessantly. Dousing them with baking soda and vinegar. Which created a mini-volcano and nobody warned me about one.. Cayenne pepper. You name it; I've tried it... And, failed.

But, they're back. A gigantic colony, as annoying as ever. Now, I'm resorting to dish soap. (Fingers crossed this works.)


Back to Memorial Day.

Which is still worth yapping about.


Our vintage camper.
Our plentiful rains have created an astonishing show in Utah's West Desert. We took the Wee House (aka vintage camper) out there for the weekend.

While driving to our camping spot, I saw a gigantic field of brilliant orange, slowed down...

Exclaiming... what in the world?? Turns out it is Globe Mallow. More plentiful than I have ever seen.


Outrageously Orange:
Are you in love? Me, too!

* Globe Mallow is a very well-behaved wildflower / perennial that grows nicely in your garden. Munro's Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea) is super waterwise, and stunningly beautiful.






Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Seven Fab Reasons To Love Bearded Iris


 1) Those fabulous, fabulous ruffles.


 2) The crazy-ass colors!


 3) They're as close to an outdoor Orchid as this mountain gardener has ever found.


 4) They are unbelievably waterwise.


 5) They divide, and produce more Bearded Iris every year. {Gotta love that!}


 6) They come in every color of the rainbow.


 7) They bloom earlier than most of my mountain perennials.

Did I say seven? Actually, it's eight. I forgot to mention how gorgeous they are!