Fisch and I went outside today to say good bye to a group of garden club women. From my tractor, I told him to sit until after they had driven off. He listened and then we headed off to the front field to pick up some pallets. Fisch ran ahead. As I turned the corner, I noticed him jumping along the bar ditch on the other side of the fence, the highway side…it was odd because he doesn’t go on to the highway when he’s with me. It was an odd jump too, and I thought “Oh no!” but assured myself it was the tall grass he was jumping through. It wasn’t the tall grass; he was trying to get back to me.

He saw me as he rounded the corner to our entrance, and he jumped his odd jump all the harder. I watched him from the tractor and he watched me as he took one more courageous jump but couldn’t make it and flailed in the air as if he had been shot. He landed in the puddle at the entrance, not moving. I jumped off the tractor and ran to him, saying “no, no, no” all the way. I don’t know why we always try to refuse to believe that some things can actually happen.

I lifted him out of the water and laid him next to me on our dirt road. He looked scared as he looked at me, and I called his name all the louder. Then I knew, with his breathing and eyes that it was almost over. I just told him he was a good boy, over and over, and called his name. He tried so much harder to breath. The final moment I yelled for him, and sobbed. Muddy tears hit his face. The eyes dilated, the breathing slowed then stopped.

I might not have ever moved. I heard footsteps and saw shoes down next to me. I thought they were Brad’s, but they were the neighbors. The kids across the way were looking at me…I had to stop. We loaded him up and took him to the office. I brought him to show Brad and tell him the news. We buried him in the woods, close to where we buried Red Dog two Christmas’ ago.

Why do I share this with the world? How can I share all of the good memories and not the final one that happened today?

To my friends who bought him for me, thank you. He meant so much, and I realize that all too deeply now. I miss him, and can’t shake the memory of his first day in the office, his scared face at the Christmas party when you gave him to me, the walks through the woods, the swimming out to the fishing boat so not to be left on shore, the night he was bit by a copperhead and he slept next to me on the floor, or every night that he barked at the coyotes, the way his whole body shook like a big grey worm whenever anybody showed up, or the wake up nose when I slept too long, which included this morning.

That’s life.

Tiger lilies are something that we can grow all over the state of Texas. People in Missouri always talk about them growing in the ditches, and here they are blooming in Rhode Island! It’s like seeing a friend that makes you feel at home. Mr. Brown Thumb recently wrote about them and I think you all might enjoy his posting.

Thank you to John and Brad who are managing to harvest the bulbs from the field.

I am in Rhode Island for filming of a PBS segment called Cultivating Life. Waiting for the food people to be done, and then I'm on. Saw some tiger lilies blooming (Lilium lancifolium) and am amazed at their adaptability from here to Texas.

The rain has let up on the farm for quite awhile and Brad and I are furiously trying to do what needs to be done, as the fall is almost upon us! That means less time inside and more outside, and that equates to shorter blog posts.

A quick tidbit on what is blooming. Our Philippine lilies have all begun to open up. They are also referred to as Formosa lilies and their scientific name is Lilium formosanum. They are a wonderful white lily on tall scapes and grow from full sun to half shady areas. If grown in the shade, they can stretch to be almost 8 feet tall. In the sun, they generally stay around 4-5 feet tall. There is a "dwarf" form that consistently stays around four feet. Shown here is a picture of the dwarf form at the MD Anderson Hospital in Houston. They produce a lot of seed that is readily germinated, and once planted it can grow into a flowering sized bulb in two years. We don't have enough to offer for sale right now, but be on the look out for it in the future!

But instead of concluding with that, I wanted to show another picture of our friend the praying mantis on a parrot glad, which is now Gladiolius dalenii.

Many times in passing I have mentioned the Isle of Jersey, but here I hope to do it full justice. My shortcomings on the subject, and more especially on the gardens, are made evident by the wonderful work Dr. Welch composed to capture the beauty of the homes we visited.

It is amazing how similar many of our plant materials are found in the gardens. Also evident is the world influence we have in our gardens, from Spain, to France, to England. One of the highlights in the gardens was Mrs. Lea’s Trompe-l'œil (pronounced “Trump-l-o-eye”). It is French for “trick the eye” and when pronounced almost sounds like Trump-lie, except with a little “o” sound to beginning. I was curious about the o and the being combined and asked a friend of mine and found the contraction quite normal, “merely a pair of ‘lettres combines,’ and in French, the ‘a and e’ combination or the ‘o and e’ combination -- is called a ligature.” Just some information to help you next time you’re in a garden with one. Thank you Katie for all of your help on that one! As you can see, this is just a mirror, and not really an entrance into another garden.Dr. Welch spends a nice amount of time on this feature in his presentations. But lest the reader think that a Trompe-l’œil is the only reason to value Mrs. Lea’s Garden, one should view the presentation and some of the following photos. Thank you Mrs. Lea. Just beyond this border is the English Channel.

And Lady Guthrie, your home was spectacular. We do hope the bee hives made it from Fortnum and Mason as they were a delightful addition to their display at the Chelsea Flower Show. I’m sure they will be delightful addition to your garden as well, though any addition would be hard pressed to improve upon what is already there. The slope of Azaleas grown in the crags of the uncovered rock brought a dazzling splash of color and is a reminder to me and all gardeners to carefully observe your environment before moving ahead with projects.

There were flowers everywhere in Jersey, and they are easily seen on an island were cars rarely go above 30 miles per hour. In fact, down some roads we passed more people on horses than in cars. When we did happen upon another car, it is quite common for one to back up to the next wider area, pull to the side, and for both cars to then pull in their mirrors as they squeeze by each other. At traffic intersections in town, they have a “filter in turn” method, where everybody abides by common courtesy of letting each driver have their time at making their turns. The method was explained to us by the cab driver, who also returned Dr. Welch’s camera to the hotel after he left it in the cab. I think the camera was left sometime around the orchid house visit.

The Eric Young Orchid Foundation is apparently world famous. It was easy to see how from the large collections in the greenhouses to the near perfection display. A friend of mine in charge of the epiphyte house at the Shangri La Botantical Gardens in Orange, Texas, mentioned some of their nice orchids after I briefly mentioned it an earlier post. By the way, Shangri La is scheduled for a grand opening this October, and all are encouraged to attend! More information is available about the Eric Young Orchid Foundation on their website.

Jersey is an island that still holds on to its independent roots, and one from Texas could not help but notice the similarities between the two areas. For one, though a British Crown dependency, all sorts of different flags are flown, whether it’s the Union Jack, the French flag, or their own (their flag and the Alabama flag are extremely similar). Both Texas and Jersey are famous for cows. They have the Jersey Cow and we have the Longhorn, or more appropriately we have the Santa Gertrudis cattle, which was the first beef bred ever developed in the United States. Both areas grow potatoes. Potatoes have a little more significance to us with the sweet potato production here in Golden, Texas and the fact that I very often borrow farm equipment from a sweet potato farmer—thanks Kelly. There they grow the Jersey Royals. And the last similar characteristic is the friendliness evident between visitors, residents, and businesses.

One other spot we hit was Gorey Castle. The real name is Mont Orgueil Castle, one of the best preserved castles in all of Britain. It was first used as a line of defense against French invasions after the fall of Rouen in 1204. We particularly enjoyed the falconiere, partier garden, and views from the magnificent structure.

Now, all I will do is tell this tale the way it happened and no more. My dog, a Weimaraner, is sometimes known as the "grey ghost", but what passed in front of us tonight was most certainly black and more agile than the ghost that I am used to. It was so silent and so shadowy, that even though it was only 3o feet away, I did not see it at first. It wasn't until it moved, that Fischer and I both saw it. Fischer began to bark. It took a few more steps and stared at us. Fischer began his fierce barking, repeatedly jumping three steps forward then two steps back. I yelled for him to "come here!" at which point the dark figure darted to the corner of the field with Fischer in hot pursuit. Alas! I was in my flip flops, ready to call it a night and could not follow. I ran inside for my flashlight and went back out. Fischer had returned, and my curiosity took hold.

For the past few weeks, people have been talking about a large black cat roaming across the road at the river bottom just past the south piece of the farm. Black panthers are not unheard of in this area, albeit extremely rare, but old 1800 accounts are more common than one who roams in the forest with his dog would like to admit. I will not write beyond my knowledge, and stop there. But I personally had to find out about this visitor.

I dressed in jeans and a long shirt for brush, and Fischer and I began the chase, his nose leading the way. We came to the first thicket which had a canopy of trees and weeds that grew taller than my head. It was in the middle of these weeds that I first thought to my self, "what happens if I find my big black cat?" It caused a moments hesitation, then I went around the thicket to the field that lay on the east side of the farm. Once there I shined the light across, looking for signs of life. Finally I spotted eyes, and I began to walk towards them, my light with it beam spotlighting the two twinkling dots. They were only horses! But now I was in grass up to my knees, and another thought came to mind. If I could not hear him and hardly see him while I was looking directly at him in the field I mowed 5 hours earlier, how would I hear him if he was laying down in the grass. I started doing circles with my flash light illuminating as much as possible until I spotted another pair of eyes.

This time I had to walk under an oak tree, dodging the Indiana Jones sized spider webs that had already entangled me moments before. The eyes were nothing but dew playing tricks. Fischer then ran into the brush. I was sure he had seen something. He came out with a 1 liter trash coke bottle in his mouth. My guard dog was just having fun now, and maybe I was too. If it even was a cat, it was long gone. I hardly even needed the flashlight, but for the few thin clouds that occasionally covered the full moon of the evening. No panther, no cat...probably just a coyote that I couldn't see well with my unadjusted eyes.

On a more horticultural note, Dr. Welch and I made the Jersey Evening Post, the Island of Jersey that is. It is one of the Channel Islands between France and England. On a clear day you can actually see the coast line of France. As I have said before, there is more to come from me and our travels to this wonderful island. I look forward to mentioning Longueville Manor Hotel, all the wonderful gardens our host made us privy to, and the exciting venture that Southern Bulb will be introducing shortly.