she who keeps this diary


2003-07-11 - 8:58 a.m.

Daylilies

Errands. Errands, errands, errands. Nothing like taking the truck for an oil change and a radiator flush to make one feel interesting and attractive.

Scooting around doing the auto maintenance and other exciting activities, I had a chance to look at a lot of roadside landscaping, and I found myself getting annoyed with the number of plantings of 'Goldsturm' rudbeckias with those orange daylilies that grow wild around here. OK, yes, these are practically bulletproof plants, and they are available everywhere. You don't want anything too rare or dainty along the edge of the street. But there's a laziness and lack of creativity that just galls me. The people who plant that combination aren't even trying. It looks like a patch of roadside weeds, no more. If you're going to plant roadside weeds, try Queen Anne's Lace and blue chickory, which at least have a certain elegance about them.

For contrast, the Annapolis city police have a rather nice display outside their station, which shows that a little discretion and taste can work marvels, even with ordinary plants. They have daylilies, yes, but daylilies in nice soft pastel melon shades, interplanted with purple coneflowers. Really, not so much different from the patches of 'Goldsturm' and wild orange daylilies, except that care and thought went into choosing the colours.

I could relate to what Her Excellency, the Angel of Death had to say about Pre-Raphaelite princesses. I had a "princess" wedding, quite unconsciously. It wasn't until the dress came together with the sparkly tiara and carefully curled Pre-Raphaelite hair that I realised what I had been doing. Of course, my hair was the result of several hours in a hairdresser's chair, and while the hairdresser was superb, even she couldn't make me tall, slim and graceful. In retrospect, I probably looked more like a hobbit having a princess fantasy than a princess (I could do a whole entry on that -- "Reasons Why Nora Is Really a Hobbit") but people were too polite to say so. But I like the Belle Dame Sans Merci idea.

verso - recto

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