For the first time ever, I am growing garlic. Today, I harvested the scapes or flowers (though they don’t actually bloom). I’m going to saute them in butter for tonight’s supper!

These are reminding me of our visit last fall to Sointula. It was there that I bought several huge organic garlic bulbs at a little untended roadside stand, with a little box for coin payments. Some time later at home I took one of those bulbs, separated the cloves, planted them and crossed my fingers. Now I am patiently waiting for the new bulbs to mature!

In the meantime, I’ve taken pleasure in scanning these lovely shapes of scapes and adding them to a series of kitchen art, such as stinking rose and more purple.

This phalaenopsis was a birthday gift from my husband (about four months ago) and is just now dropping a couple of its blossoms. I love how long-lived the blooms are which is why he enjoys giving them to me instead of cut flowers.

It’s become a habit for me to scan the fallen yet still beautiful blooms for posterity. Some scanned phals from the archives: translucent, fallen phal, papery, freshly fallen

fondly remembering a day last week
a heartwarming visit from a dear friend
with a potted white lily in her arms
first scattered blooms captured as keepsake

on Hornby Island

(compare to the first “sea life”, on the westcoast of Vancouver Island)

picked an Easter bouquet of tulips from the garden
later, falling petals, almost as beautiful

remembering past withered petals, last tulips, and my most favourite tulipa, withering