Oklahombres

et’s take a break this week from lilies.  I still have a few to show you, but a pattern break is in order. I’ve put this blossom off a couple of weeks, and one more week will be too late.

The only thing better than blossoms in the landscape is blossoms connected to something edible, even if you don’t eat it. This week’s pics are just that. A solid clump of garlic chives anchor one corner of our little kitchen garden. This eighteen-inch high herb has resided there for over a dozen years, undisturbed, growing slowly. It does tend to scatter seeds around, attempting to start colonies outside its original sphere, but the missus and I won’t allow it.

Garlic chives are the corresponding bookend to regular chives. Your common garden chive—the kind you chop fine and sprinkle over a lavishly-buttered baked potato—is a spring beauty, and the blossoms are even edible. The purple pom-poms can be broken up and sprinkled over a tossed salad to add color while lending a hint of, well, chives. The foliage is tubular, and the clump multiplies by bulb offsets. Even if you only have room for a couple of tomato plants, you need to squeeze in a clump of chives somewhere. I think we posted a shot of chives earlier this year. Check the gallery out and see for yourselves.

Garlic chives are just like the regular chives, but different. They bloom in late summer, not spring. As far as I know, the blossoms are edible, but I don’t know if they are prized as such. The blossoms, though quite beautiful, are too large and open to be considered pom-poms, and the foliage is flat, not tubular. The clumps enlarge by way of bulb offsets, but their main means of escape, as I have already mentioned, is that they readily multiply via seeds randomly scattered in the early fall. You really should make room somewhere for this clump too, but for the life of me we almost never use garlic chives. That is what garlic is for, for heaven’s sake. I guess what I am trying to say is that we grow it because it’s a tidy little garden herb that sports a mass of beautiful white blossoms in late summer when the rest of the vegetable garden is a bit drab. And the bees love them too.

Enjoy God’s beauty outside this weekend. Dig in the dirt, pull a few weeds, and by all means, plant something. See you Sunday.

(Third Part: Of Thankfulness—Questions 86-129)

99. What is required in the third commandment?

• That we must not by cursing, or by false swearing, nor yet by unnecessary oaths, profane or abuse the name of God; nor even by our silence and connivance be partakers of these horrible sins in others; and in sum, that we use the holy name of God no otherwise than with fear and reverence, so that He may be rightly confessed and worshiped by us, and be glorified in all our words and works.

100. Is then the profaning of God’s name by swearing and cursing so grievous a sin that His wrath is kindled against those also who seek not, as much as in them lies, to hinder and forbid the same?

• Yes truly: for no sin is greater, or more provoking to God than the profaning of His name. Wherefore He even commanded it to be punished with death.

es, I know. This is Saturday. Well officially, but I haven’t gone to bed yet so this is your Friday Photo. You figure it out. Maybe I’ll tell you about it at a later date.

(Third Part: Of Thankfulness—Questions 86-129)

101. But may we not swear by the name of God in a religious manner?

• Yes; when the magistrate requires it, or it may be needful otherwise to maintain and promote fidelity and truth, to the glory of God and our neighbor’s good. For such swearing is grounded in God’s Word, and therefore was rightly used by the saints in the Old and New Testaments.

102. May we swear by the saints or any other creature?

• No: for a lawful oath is a calling upon God, as the only searcher of hearts, to bear witness to the truth, and to punish me if I swear falsely; which honor is due no creature.

alvation can have many meanings. One might be saved from embarrassment or saved from starvation. One could be “saved by the bell” or saved by God. To be in good health is to be saved from sickness. Well, I’ll quit beating around the bush. This weeks picks are all of beautiful flowers in the genus Salvia, and salvia in Latin means to be well. Some species in the genus are reputed to have medicinal qualities. Some have culinary qualities. Almost all in the genus have quite a distinct aroma. All in the genus have that snapdragon look. You know, the bottom part of the bloom hangs down, looking like a monster getting ready to take a huge bite out of . . . a leaf or something.

Many plants make up this large genus, including garden sage and the annual red salvia. There are many perennial species too. The specimens in our landscape have been blooming steadily all summer long, and will continue until frost. These are all perfectly hardy here in zone 6b, but the trick to keeping them over winter is to refrain from trimming them back after the foliage dies back. Wait to do your trimming—and they will need it—until the spring.

I promise, next week we will get back to lilies. I have some lined out that you will think are plastic, but believe me, they are real. If all goes well, there will be some wildlife in the scenery as well. Stay tuned. Don’t forget that you can click on each individual photo to get a much larger image. Enjoy, and see you Sunday.

(Third Part: Of Thankfulness—Questions 86-129)

103. What does God require in the fourth commandment?

• In the first place, that the ministry of the Gospel and schools be maintained; and that I, especially on the day of rest, diligently attend church to learn the Word of God, to use the Holy Sacraments, to call publicly upon the Lord, and to give Christian alms. In the second place, that all the days of my life I rest from my evil works, allow the Lord to work in me by His Spirit, and thus begin in this life the everlasting Sabbath.

ell, you may remember that I promised “wildlife” with this week’s Friday Floral. I wasn’t able to pull it off, as my intended subjects were occupied elsewhere. I’m not referring to spiders—as the title above might lead you to wrongly guess—but to the bright yellow butterflies that work over every red blossom in sight around this time of year. They appear to be enamored currently with the cardinal vine climbing the fence by the garage. How about a dead leaf?

The spider lily, like the surprise lily featured back in August, is in the genus Lycoris, and emerges seemingly out of nowhere. Unlike the surprise lily, however, the spider lily produces foliage shortly after the blooms fade and die.

I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but the surprise lily produces its broad amaryllis-like foliage in the spring, which dies away by mid summer. The foliage of the spider lily is darker green, and much more narrow, resembling the foliage of liriope. You can see last year’s foliage in some of the pictures making a nice mulch at the base of the flower stalks.

The spider lily, Lycoris radiata is also known by the common name “hurricane lily,” as it arises out of nowhere just as hurricane season begins in earnest. Most of these photos were taken by my wife on Tuesday. She’s not keen on all the settings, but if you leave the camera on auto, she has a keen eye for composition and consistently captures more interesting shots than I. Enjoy, and don’t forget to click on the images to get a larger picture.

Have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you in church Sunday.

(Third Part: Of Thankfulness—Questions 86-129)

104. What does God require in the fifth commandment?

• That I show all honor, love and faithfulness to my father and mother, and to all in authority over me; submit myself with due obedience to all their good instruction and correction; and also bear patiently with their infirmities: since it is God’s will to govern us by their hand.