There has been so much to talk about, this week, that I’ve been itching to post… but first, I had to dig around in the garden. I live in a townhome, so my garden consists of a few potted plants, some gravel, and a patch of dirt about two feet wide. It is just large enough to satisfy my green thumb, without occupying too much time. Since I spent most of the past few days rearranging stones and planting flowers, I thought I’d at least share a picture, here:

This is a Rocky Mountain Columbine, (Aquilegia saximontana) Colorado’s state flower. I love going up into the mountains and finding columbines. You can usually find the clumps of the flowers growing among the scree (chunks of rock) above timberline (in the middle of summer, at least.) The best moments, however, are found while walking through a thick forest of aspen. There is nothing like coming across a small clearing, where the sun manages to shine through, and finding a lone columbine in bloom.

I’ve tried to reproduce that same feeling in my garden, by planting a columbine, but it tends to be a struggle. Since it is a native plant, there are a number of native insects who find the leaves a tasty treat. They’ll ignore other flowers, and go for the columbine–presumably since it looks familiar. Maybe it just tastes good. Despite whatever it is that draws the bugs, I keep trying.

Don’t worry… when I’m done admiring the flowers, I’ll return to blog about the world outside of my patio.