Persimmon Seed Predictions for Winter

Persimmon Seeds from Soules Garden

Much has happened since I discovered earlier this week that people use persimmon seeds to predict the type of winter they will be having.

First, I figured out, through some kind comments and by looking at other pictures on the web, that we had not actually found the true cutlery in Robin's persimmons.  It turns out that you have to actually cut the seeds

Persimmon Prognostications

Until today, I had no idea that the inside of a persimmon seed could tell us what kind of winter we are going to have.

Knowing it now, I am on a quest to find some locally grown persimmons so I can see inside and provide my own prognostication about the winter.

How does the persimmon predict the winter?

It all has to do with spoons, forks and knives.  If you see a spoon shape inside the

Silence! Don't disturb the gardener...

Silence.  Do not disturb the gardener.

She's disturbed enough.

Kidding.

She's actually quite happy. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the dew is heavy and all about the garden flowers are starting to bloom again, now that rain has returned.

Nearly five inches of rain returned Friday night.

Oh, rain. How we missed you. We never knew how much we loved you, needed you, depended on

In this mess...

Raphanus sativus

Did you know that the flowers of Raphanus sativus come in several colors, including in my garden, purple, white, and pink? I did not know that until I went out to the vegetable garden yesterday to pick whatever was ready to pick before the big rains came.

Oh, the big rains? There really hasn't been a big rain so far this weekend. There were a few scattered showers here and

Guest post: Garden fairies celebrate

Garden fairies here.

We are garden fairies and we assume that everyone knows that whenever a mushroom pops up in the garden, it is a sure sign that the garden fairies will soon be gathering for a big party.

Did you get your invitation to the party?  You surely did if you are celebrating the rain like we garden fairies are.  In fact, even if you didn't get an invitation, you are invited anyway

2000th Post

Plopper's Field before the Drought of  '12

The garden fairies have been waiting and watching all weekend to see what I was going to write for the 2000th post on my blog.  They are not very patient, as a rule, and can take over my laptop as quick as a hornworm can devour a tomato vine, if I let them.  

Though it is tempting to find out what the garden fairies would have written for the 200th

Time to celebrate

Dendranthema 'Cool Igloo'

We have agreement from everyone here at May Dreams Gardens that rain is a real difference maker in the garden. 

This agreement amongst everyone is a bit surprising because not everyone agrees on everything around here.  We sometimes have quite the discussions, but that's a story for another day.

Rain is especially a real difference maker when it has been absent from

Notice of Eviction for Drought of 2012

Exhibit A

From the Law Offices of F. Lee Hortley and Fairy Hortson

To:  Drought of 2012
        May Dreams Gardens
        Indianapolis, IN

Dear Drought of 2012,

Please consider this letter your notice of eviction from May Dreams Gardens.  You are hereby and forthwith ordered to vacate the premises immediately upon receipt of this letter and leave behind any substance that is made up of two

Guest Post: Garden Fairies Declare Christmas in August

Garden fairies here.

We are garden fairies and we are celebrating Christmas in August on account of over two inches of rain fell on the garden early this morning.  

We are not sure of the accuracy of our rain gauge, so we are hesitant to exclaim that there was actually a full two and a half inches of rain  because that might not be right and we garden fairies pride ourselves on being right

Predicting the Weather

What gardener wouldn't want to get a more accurate forecast of the weather, to be able to predict well in advance if they were going to get rain or should plan on watering?

After all, no gardener wants to pay for water to thoroughly soak the garden one day and then wake up the next morning to a steady downpour of free rain.

In our quest to accurately determine what the weather will be like as

Behold, The Coneflower

Behold, the coneflower.

Echinacea purpurea.

Is there any better flower for a hot summer day?  And by hot, we mean temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit day after day with nary a drop of rain.

The weather forecasters call it "extreme heat".  It's miserable for everyone and I refuse to give in to it, though I have renamed summer "simmer" because you can almost keep a pot of boiling water

Decisions for a Drought

My garden and I made it through the hottest day ever recorded in June in Indianapolis. Toward the end of the day, the garden fairies and I, in consultation with the Board of Directors decided to move into Drought Survival Mode.This means, We water for survival, and not for flourish and lush.We won't be buying more plants until fall, and then we will probably buy many new plants.We'll tell

Witnesseth

From the Law Firm of

Hortley and Hortson


WITNESSETH

WHEREAS, it is likely that a record will be set in Indianapolis this year for the driest June in recorded history with just .05 inches of rain, breaking the record of .36 inches of rain set in 1988;

WHEREAS, the extended weather forecast calls for excessive high heat with temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday and Friday;

You Might Be A Gardening Geek: Rainy Day Edition

You might be a gardening geek on a rainy day if…

You contemplate buying one of those temporary shelters, the kind with the tent roof but no sides, to set up in strategic locations in the garden so you can continue weeding and planting, section by section, in the rain, in the garden.

You go ahead and go to the garden center while it is raining because you figure there will be fewer people there

Choosing the right music for my grape vine

Some people might look at this grapevine with frost damaged leaves and decide it is time to go get a shovel and queue up Chopin's Piano Sonata No.2 in B Flat Minor, Op.35, CT.202: III. Marche Funebre  to play on their iPod while they commence digging out the vines.

Everyone knows Chopin's Piano Sonata No.2 in B Flat Minor, Op.35, CT.202: III. Marche Funebre. Hum along... dum dum de dum dum de

I learned something new about the month of May

I checked the rain gauge when I got home from work yesterday, May 1st, and it appears that we got 4.5 inches of rain between Monday, April 30th,  and yesterday at 5:30 pm.

At 9 pm, I checked the rain gauge again and it had another inch of rain in it.

I don't know if this rain gauge is right so I might set up a second rain gauge to compare it to. I actually have the other gauge, but it doesn't

Garden Party Crashers

 Snow-in-Summer, Cerastium tomentosum

My April garden party has been crashed by May blooms.

They have rudely shown up early, like guests invited for supper who show up for lunch.

They demand my attention now.

Unfortunately, I'm not ready for them now, mentally or physically.

So I've left April in charge of them.  And April is treating them to some occasional frosts, which some of them

Act your month!

Grape leaves after two nights of frost.

When March didn't act like March and instead put on a darn good impersonation of May, we were all giddy and happy and clapped our hands together to show our approval.

But in the back of our minds we knew.  We knew we should not have approved of March's May. We should have told March to act its month.  We knew it wouldn't last.

We knew that April wasn't

Garden fairies discuss the recent weather

Garden fairies here.

We are garden fairies and we have taken over this blog once again to report recent weather related events here in May Dreams Gardens.

The other morning, we were all getting ready to help the pillywiggins open the crocuses. The pillywiggins are garden fairies who especially like the early spring flowers, truth be told and we always tell the truth. They are quite diligent

Hunker Down and Wait for Frost

Shhh... whisper, please. We don't want to be discovered.

We are hunkered down here at May Dreams Gardens on an afternoon with clear blue skies and temperatures in the upper 50's waiting for the arrival of frost. We do not know when the frost will arrive or if it will arrive at all.

We just know we are under a frost advisory so probably early in the morning when all the radiant heat has