Photography – Page 13 – Gardens For Goldens

Sunshine, Freedom, and a Little Flower

A perfect long weekend starts early with the afternoon off and a sneak trip to the garden.

The Hummingbird Garden with Veronica, Coreopsis and Asiatic Lily in bloom….

The Cottage Garden, freshly tamed. Ina has been here!

The Butterfly Garden, filling in at a rapid rate. I saw a Monarch today, but it got away!

The Dahlias, making their way skyward…

Maria’s Garden, a jumble of color awaiting the Sunflowers arrival…

Darn bunnies burrowing beneath the blueberries…

And visitors. A lizard with a keen sense of irony…

And Pelican Bay. Taking up residence in the flooded rice fields.

“Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”
~ Hans Christian Anderson

(I’ll be back tomorrow.) 🙂

Guests of the garden

We have a lake view! The rice fields that surround Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue have been flooded with water surrounding our eight acres of rescue paradise.

With the arrival of the water we have new visitors to the garden – most welcome. The birds were everywhere this weekend,

squabbling over territory and even feeding on our bees.

This particular creature is less welcome.

I’m pretty sure he is a water snake. I’m very sure he needs to return there post-haste!

With our heavy clay soil, I suspect the flooded fields around us help the plants by keeping the roots moist and cool. What a display!

This time last year, we were still planting. Sometimes I look in astonishment at what we have created.

Of course, we had our four-legged visitors as well. Tyson is a bounce-back; returned because his family’s circumstances changed and he was unhappily spending too much time alone. We need to find him a family that can give him the time and attention he needs.

Janie is recovering from cancer treatment. She’s doing great now, and while Judy enjoys having her as her “office dog”, it is time for her to find a family of her own as well.

These adorable pups returned for their vet check and last round of shots. They are from the litter we showed up in March – one of our First Signs of Spring. They are growing up so fast!

Our dog walkers and other volunteers pitched in to continue the foxtail eradication project. As if their other contributions are not enough, they have arrived early and stayed late the past few weekends working double time to get the weeding done. The yards and trails have never looked better – and ensure that the pups have a safe place to play and train.

But my crowning weekend achievement is this:

A spotless garden shed. And a word of warning to my fellow gardeners…it had better stay that way!!
Happy week, all! See you in the garden.

When less is more

You can do more damage to a plant by overfeeding than underfeeding. Like kids with candy, plants will scarf up all the food they can find – especially nitrogen and phosphorus. Over-application of plant foods – organic or not – can be deadly.

Leaves turn a very dark green at first, then light green fading to yellow. The leaves struggle to keep their shape, and the stems lose their ability to bend and bounce back. Over production of flowers is followed by low or no production.

As it is for plants, so it is for dogs (and people by the way). Too much weight puts stress on virtually all of a dog’s organs, joints, bones and ligaments. Overweight dogs are at risk of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and respiratory distress. People confuse treats with love and can quite literally “love” their dogs to death.

Duke just arrived at a whopping 150 lbs; way too much weight for his frame to support. He has to be moved on a stretcher to reduce stress on his joints.

Samson and McKinley are in a little better shape, but both have a lot of work ahead. Reducing food intake is an obvious first step. Pumpkin, which is loaded with fiber, can be added to meals. Calories are burned through walks and play, ensuring our pups do not overdo. It is very important to start slowly and gradually increase time and distance to avoid over-exertion or injury.

One of the most beneficial exercises is swimming as buoyancy takes pressure off the joints. Thankfully, a generous supporter gifted Homeward Bound with a pool specially designed for the dogs and their volunteer people. Swimming helps burn calories and strengthens joints and muscles.

And, of course, there is nothing better than a nice cool splash on a hot summer day – even for reluctant first timers! Click here for a short video of McKinley being introduced to the water for the first time.

As we all know, it is a lot harder to undo excess than to maintain a healthy balance in the first place. So do your dog and yourself a favor – show your affection with play and exercise instead of excess treats. You’ll love each other a lot longer that way!

Wordless Wednesday: Dodger

Vignettes from the Garden: May 2013

“Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” ~ Anatole France

Of thorns

“Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy that to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.” ~ Voltaire

We passed through more than a few thorns this weekend – literally and figuratively – beginning with the dreaded foxtails!

Foxtails are nasty pointed grass clusters that lodge themselves into pets’ eyes, ears, noses, toes and fur, among other places. In long-haired dogs (we have more than a few of these!) foxtails can be hidden by fur between the toes or on the body and, if left unattended, can poke the dog’s skin and eventually cause a large abscess requiring surgical removal.

Foxtails are barbed in such a way that they can only move in a “forward” direction. Since a dog’s body is incapable of degrading or decomposing them, they can wreck havoc. They grow in abundance in California – and on an eight acre dog sanctuary located in the country, you can imagine the threat. So this weekend we called on our dog walkers and gardeners for a “weed-a-thon” rising early to tackle the trails, benches, and other areas well traveled by the dogs. It’s not exactly my favorite kind of gardening…but it must be done.

Candy was kept company by her beautiful Shane;

and if the company of dogs is not incentive enough, donuts always do the trick!

Sundays, Kathryn holds Reactive Dog Training Class. This class is for dogs that don’t play nicely with others; some of them are our rescues, others are from community members seeking help.

A dog can’t be forced to like other dogs. But you can help them cope with their fears or anxiety by teaching them alternate behaviors. Our trainers have had amazing success with turning these thorny issues into good canine behaviors. I’ll share more on an upcoming post.

This poor pup was literally covered in thorns.

We are just beginning to write his story of true rescue; it deserves a post all its own. I will bring it to you soon. In between all, we managed to get a little gardening in!

After a week of unseasonably hot temperatures, the weather has cooled, and the garden is breathing a sigh of relief.

It weathered the heat well, and brings forth new treasures each week like this Jerusalem Sage…

Clematis…

Maria’s first sunflowers…

and of course, Roses – thorns and all.

With the promise of two stories to come, have a great week and I’ll hope to see you back here soon!

Dahlias returned

Before I began this journey to rebuild the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden, I had no experience at all with Dahlias. They were the gift of a volunteer gardener and fell into my charge. I watched them blossom through the summer into magnificent plates of color and fell in love.

I dutifully dug them up in the fall; placed them in a box of vermiculite following instructions I had read, sprinkled lightly with water and a little prayer, and then left them covered in the dark, cold garage. Every six weeks or so I would open the box and add a few more sprinkles to ensure they didn’t dry out until this weekend, when I pulled them out of darkness. To my delight and amazement, each “eye” had a tiny shoot springing forth. Today, they were returned to their spot in the garden. With any luck, the Dahlias will spring forth within a couple of weeks.

“Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower.” ~ Shigenori Kameoka

All sorts of little joys were sprouting forth in the garden this weekend; the arrival of blueberries where thorny blackberries once ruled,

Blooming Honeysuckle and Clematis

Jerusalem Artichoke and Rose Campion…

and multiplying gardeners! Randy and Vonnie were back to check in on their recently planted Butterfly Garden, to continue the attack on the driveway brush, and to take their latest adopted pup, Chelsea to training class.

One of our dog walkers recruited her mother, a seasoned gardener to join our effort. It is a great way for them to have some time together around shared passions, and we could not be more delighted. Welcome Diane!

And our newest recruit, is but a sprout herself. This is Alexandria.

Her dog goes to class on Saturdays, and while she waits, she loves to wander the garden. This week she helped me with weeding and watering while she explained photosynthesis to me at a million words a minute. A gardener is born.

“The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.” ~ Gertrude Jekyll

Finally, this sweet girl, Roxy, and her foster mom, Michele, were a surprise find and a story all their own. More on them to come soon!

Until then…happy week…from the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden!

The Meadow

“How does the Meadow flower its bloom unfold?

Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root,

and in that freedom bold.”

~William Wordsworth

The Divine Miss Bea

When Beatrix needed a few days of fostering before her new family could take her, it was easy duty to sign up for. Who could resist this face?

It was really less fostering than babysitting. This little one-kidney girl needed a watchful eye as she healed from her spay surgery, and a little big-dog socialization wouldn’t hurt considering she would be sharing her new home with an adult Homeward Bound alum.

Jackson is our mellow boy; he has never met a dog he doesn’t like so I had no worries at all about him. Despite his serious face, he is a lover, and took to her immediately, acting as her protector –

an ever-present, watchful knight.

Bella is our princess girl. And while she loves and shares with her brother freely, she was unimpressed with this cute little bundle of joy,

and not exactly overjoyed about sharing her house,

her Daddy,

and definitely not her toys with little the brave little Miss Bea.

While Bella generally behaved herself, she was clear that there is room for only one princess in this house!

All of this was good preparation for her introduction to her new big brother, Charlie. Apparently he is as tolerant as Jackson. A good thing for this rascally girl! Puppy got your tail?

It was a gift to have her for a few days. She left behind a mountain of laundry, two exhausted doggies, and took with her a tiny piece of my heart.

Wonderful life, little Beatrix girl.

The language of flowers: Iris

The story of the Iris flower dates back to Ancient Greece, when Iris, the Goddess of the rainbow, acted as the messenger between heaven and earth. She traveled from one world to another, carrying messages across the arc of the rainbow. Purple irises were planted over the graves of women to summon the Goddess to guide the dead in their journey. Today, the flower named for her is considered a symbol of communication and messages.

In the language of flowers, the Iris means faith, hope, and wisdom. The purple iris is symbolic of wisdom and compliments;

blue symbolizes faith and hope;

yellow symbolizes passion;

and white iris symbolizes purity. It’s fitting that they are found in abundance in the Memorial Garden, where our passionate angel volunteers travel the state to rescue and return lost, displaced and broken dogs to a place of faith and hope.

A perfect statement for our mission – standing tall and beautiful this spring in the garden.

“Where flowers bloom so does hope.”
-Lady Bird Johnson

Wordless Wednesday: Sugar Face

Down the rabbit hole

If you think plant names are challenging – try coming up with unique and memorable names for thousands of rescued dogs. Lately, we have resorted to “months” – artist month, musician month, etc. This is writer month. Which is how this sweet little girl acquired the name Beatrix Potter.

She is a breeder surrender with only one functioning kidney. That makes her imperfect in a breeder’s eyes – but certainly not in ours, or in the adoring eyes of the family that adopted her today.

It is fitting that Beatrix Potter’s namesake should be represented in the garden today. The author of the Tale of Peter Rabbit must have inspired the return of our bunnies who have tunneled two burrows under our prized blueberry bushes. You might remember that this was the former site of the dreaded blackberry bramble. As fate would have it – the bramble served as the bunnies’ previous home. They have apparently returned to take their revenge!

Beatrix Potter wrote, “There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.”

The Memorial Garden is like that. Begun with a desire to contribute to the rescue’s mission, it has taken us down the most wonderful rabbit hole of friendship and extended Homeward Bound family.

Today we met to re-work Randy and Vonnie’s butterfly bed. All but the roses were lost in last December’s deluge.

So we regrouped; raised the bed; and planted a host of perennials for attracting butterflies: Bee Balm, Milkweed, Sage, Yarrow, Coreopsis, Penstemon, Lantana, and more. The bed will be quite a showpiece in a month or so – befitting its position in the center of the garden.