Creepy Coleus and Caladium

 Plantings by house, backyard.

Are there things you have encountered that both attract you and repulse you at the same time?  There is no explanation for such phenomena, so one is not forthcoming.  Horror movies and Stephen King novels come to mind.  Suffice it to say that in my case, plant lover that I am, there are certain plants that affect me in just that way, and coleus is one of them.  I pretty much have the same reaction to caladium.

These, caladium and coleus, are strikingly gaudy plants, for the most part, beautiful, most people would say.  And the colors are fabulous.  But the plant expends its efforts in painting its leaves and when the flowers  finally appear, pffft they are nothing to look at, in the case of the coleus, at any rate. I find this disturbing; and yes, that is just me.

Oddly enough, I like the colors of the leaves on the trees in the fall, often go on excursions for the sole purpose of viewing the autumnal foliage.  But I cannot shake the feeling of unease, of something-is-just-not-quite-right, when I look at the coleus.  Perhaps to keep me off-balance, a bit unsettled, so to speak, the planners of downtown gorgeousness here in Perfect decided this year to install huge planters on the sidewalks throughout the city.  They are stunning, and many people have complimented the city on this effort.  Seventy-six pots in total, and well-tended.

One of the principal contents of the planters is coleus.

A few years ago, we spent a couple of months in Lake Placid, Florida which touts itself as The Caladium Capital.  Imagine my enjoyment.

The last of the Uncle Jeptha Tales

appeared here on September 25.    

Should you wish to read or reread 

any of them, They can be accessed 

via the “Short Stories” and “More 

Stories” tabs at the top of the   

page.                              

Tamias

I was walking across the yard toward the barn when this little creature and I spotted each other.  He stopped just short of the downspout and posed for me.  It was as though he was saying, "Take a good look; you were wrong."  So I was, for I saw the animal zip into the downspout a few days ago and I thought it was a thirteen lined ground squirrel, for we have had them in the yard for some time.  Though sometimes referred to as a "ground squirrel," this one is an eastern chipmunk.

I snapped the picture, took one more step toward the barn door, and like a flash he was gone  up the drain.

Consider the lilies of the field...

  ...how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. --Jesus of Nazareth

God has assured us that our every need will be supplied, food, raiment, and whatsoever we need.  God never promised us that every desire would be satisfied.  He said our need would be supplied.

This week I heard a televangelist say we are to tell God exactly what we want.  When we receive it we have no doubt that it was a provision from God.  This is the sort of testing which is both self-serving and God-limiting.  He knows our every need.   It is my belief that when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he gave them a model of a sincere prayer which we should emulate.

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name.  Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us .  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever."

Thus to approach God in prayer, we recognize and honor His place and His holiness.  We plead for the coming of His kingdom; we submit our will to His will.  We ask only for provision for the day.  We ask for forgiveness of our sin against our fellow-man; and we commit to forgive those who have wronged us.  We ask for shielding from temptation and deliverance from evil; then we reiterate our recognition of God for who He is, the Supreme Being, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and worthy of all honor and glory.

I have lived in Indiana more than a half-century.  I am not totally unobservant.  Thus it is that I developed an algorithm for predicting the emergence of the "resurrection lilies," or "naked ladies."  These plants, about which I have written earlier, sprout long, lush, green leaves in the spring.  These leaves mature quickly and soon die down, leaving virtually no evidence of  their existence.  The bulb then lies dormant for many weeks until *ta da* overnight the naked flower stem erupts from the earth and in another day or so the bloom begins.

I predicted bloom by July 27 this year.  I missed by three days.  The picture was taken on the twenty-sixth.  Do you suppose the excessive heat of this summer had anything to do with my "miss"?

The colors are quite faithful to the reality, but the picture itself has been digitally warped to make the border for this post. Unaltered pictures may be viewed by following the link above.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Lawn

Land

Flowers

Thermometer

Day 42