*picking dirt out from underneath my fingernails*

[elionwyr]

Let me tell ya what makes my job kinda cool.

The stargazer lilies are in bloom right now. Their scent is heady, and my nose is probably still covered in pollen from sniffing them so much today.

Hummingbird sightings are a daily occurrence, as are hummingbird moths.

I took a few breaks from work to go rescue yellow swallowtail butterflies that were getting caught in a partially-enclosed greenhouse.

The air around me changed from the scent of stargazer to the addictive smell of varied mints, as my last job of the day was to repot a bunch of mint plants - chocolate, apple, and orange mints as well as spearmint and peppermint.

And there is something very gratifying in snipping away dead matter from plants, in moving them from a pot where their roots are struggling for space into something that allows them room to stretch out a little.

While it's true that most of the time I am alone at work - much as I am, well, much of the time - and I am making very little money, there are days - like today - when it's just me, the plants, the insects, and the sun, when I am very happy indeed to have this job.

Comments

[ysobelle.livejournal.com]

I love stargazers SO much. Ahhhh....

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

Seriously?? Yay! They're one of my all time fav flowers. And we have them in white, which I've never seen before!

[freyas-fire.livejournal.com]

I have stargazers blooming in my front yard right now, too, and the darn things are taller than I am. ;)

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

This makes me want to say something eloquent, but my writing mind doesn't want to work. So instead: this is a lovely entry.

[freyas-fire.livejournal.com]

The "White Profusion" butterfly bushes have finally bloomed at my work, and smell surprisingly good. Spend a good amount of time rescuing stranded frogs and taking them out to the pond. :)

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Butterfly bushes? Say it ain't so!

(There are hundreds of thousands to yank out of the side of the mountain... we'll be getting some of them after the monarchs come through, maybe get some little benefit out of them, and then catch at least some of them before they go to seed...)

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

I LOVE butterfly bushes - if I were closer to you, I'd be loading up my hearse!

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

There are so many better plants, though!

(And, in scientific studies*, 9 out of 10 monarch butterflies preferred native shrubs over exotic invasive weeds like the butterfly bush! =)

They're on the DCNR's watch list, and they recommend clipping the flowers before they seed and using herbicide on the young plants (see complete PA list here).


* Dan, at the LGNC, counted the numbers of butterflies on a native shrub (9) and on the butterfly bush (1) nearby.

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

Oh, really? I didn't know that. I knew to push for native, but I honestly didn't realize the butterfly bush wasn't in that category. *d'oh*

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

When I first learned of it, I had one that I had just planted in my front yard. Beautiful dark purple variety, "Black Knight", or something.

Then, the very day after it went in the ground, aequitaslevitas and I volunteered at the LGNC the first time.

We ripped one Japanese barberry out of the ground and maybe one or two hundred butterfly bushes...

Boy, did I feel guilty when I got home and looked at that one I had just planted.

When we had a cookout a few years after that, it got trampled during a football or baseball toss, and that was that...

I feel much less guilty now. =)

mmm

[varakesh516.livejournal.com]

i have *one* lone stargazer blooming and i adore her... i can just imagine tons of them. i want to buy them in bulk this year... mmmm.

Re: mmm

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

Hey - do you have suggestions on how to transplant datura plants? I want to try to get some from Nancy's neighbor, but when I tried last year every dang one of them died. I'm not sure if it was shock or what...

[bluedressdevil.livejournal.com]

I love stargazer lilies so much. It amuses me also that my husband also loves the smell and he will nudge me when he sees them in the flower section of the store. "Oh stargazers! Oh they smell soooo nice." Hmmmm maybe I should pop out and get some to surprise him this week. :)


I find manual labor in general has a great satisfaction level because there is a beginning and end and usually at the end you can see a dramatic difference. I think this is why why I find cleaning my place a great stress relief.

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

I think it's also that tired-from-physical-labour is a good kind of tired, if you know what I mean.

And yes, you should indulge that impulse! I heartily approve. :)

[cissa.livejournal.com]

I LOVE the hummingbird moths! They look like hummingbirds that have decided to wear deely-bobbers. :D

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

I've never even heard of them before! They're amazing.