Month: February 2011

+JUST WORKING, NOT THINKING…..

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Days are flying by!  After our area suffered a record-breaking freeze two weeks ago my house was without water for ten days until the broken pipes were fixed.  A big frozen mess in town and around here occupied everyone’s attention — and my plants didn’t all survive, either.

Meanwhile, I am outside now that it’s warm again working hard in preparation for a huge native plant order (I posted about recently) to arrive.  I am enjoying the break from thinking!

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+UNITED NATIONS: 2011 MEETING ON RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

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The Human Rights Council

ANNUAL FULL-DAY MEETING ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Rights of the child: Holistic approach for the protection and promotion of the rights of children working and/or living on the street

Read more HERE – http://www.crin.org/docs/conceptnote-annual full day children.doc

The theme for the United Nations’ Day on the Rights of the Child, which takes place on Wednesday March 9th, 2011 will be “Children working and/or living on the streets”.

The Annual Day on the Rights of the Child, taking place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on the 9th of March, 2011 will include two panels:

Panel One

– The root causes and factors leading children to live and/or work on the street. This morning session will take place from 10:00am to 1pm.

Panelists include:

  • Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
  • Father Patrick Shanahan, President and Founding Member, Street Invest
  • Youth representatives:-Sévérine Tangni and Wilfried Essomba from the African Movement of Working Children and Youth (Benin and Cameroun)
    Mohammad Riaz and Tania Akther, youth representatives from Plan supported Programmes (Bangladesh) –
  • Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Commissioner and Rapporteur on Children, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.


Panel Two

– The conditions of children living and/or working on the street: prevention strategies and responses. This afternoon session will take place from 3pm to 6pm.

Panelists include:

  • Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children.
  • Abdul Khalique Shaikh, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Sindh, Pakistan
  • Marco Antonio Da Silva Souza, Director, Proyecto Meninos e meninas da rua Brazil
  • Susan Bissell, Chief, Child Protection Unit, UNICEF
  • International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), International Labour Organization (TBC)

For full details of the Day, read the concept note attached.
Further information

Organisation Contact Details:

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Civil Society Section
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais Wilson, Office 2-031
Geneva, Switzerland

Tel: Tel. +41-(0)22-917-9230
Email: Email: civilsociety@ohchr.org
Website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/Pages/CivilSociety.aspx

Last updated 14/02/2011 04:08:43

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+LEARNING HOW TO CHANGE PEACEFULLY (leaving the trauma-drama OUT!)

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Those of us who are committed to our own lifelong growth and development no doubt will experience periods of rest followed by periods of angst followed by periods of searching followed by periods of learning and then by periods of trying to find ways to expand our life to include changes that happen to us as a consequence of this entire process.

Sometimes the changes we see in our self and in our life are very DRAMATIC.  Many severe infant-child abuse survivors know DRAMA best because the entire universe that formed us was without healthy patterns of movement in any direction other than the directions fostered by despair and accomplished by violence (of all possible kinds).  Thus, for we survivors, learning to find a healthy, balanced pace for ourselves as we go through our life changes often doesn’t feel ‘normal’ to us.  We are used to the kinds of dramatic-traumatic UPHEAVALS our body-brain was formed by.

THOSE changes are to me kind of like PRIMORDIAL ones, and I think about volcanoes and earthquakes, tidal waves and forceful winds.  Nope!  I don’t want my own changes to follow THOSE kinds of courses anymore.  I want gentle change, change that I would recommend to happen as if they were happening in the presence of a little tiny infant.

Can there be such a thing as ‘peaceful change’?  Isn’t that an oxymoron-contradiction in words?  Is ‘peaceful’ something that happens when everything is staying EXACTLY the same (status quo), while ‘change’ is something that must ALWAYS mean trauma lurks somewhere?

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Being alive is always about change – or so I have heard.  I have also read over and over again in the writings of neuroscientific developmental experts that the best possible safe and secure infant-mother (caregiver) attachment relationships build a little one’s body-brain to be MOST flexible and LEAST rigid in its abilities to adapt to an ever-changing world over the course of a lifetime.

Severe abuse survivors adapted a body-brain in their earliest developmental growth periods in the midst of trauma that most usually remains most centrally in a ‘stress response-anxiety state’ nearly all of the time.  That kind of a body (and I sure have one) must learn over a long, long haul what the feeling of being peaceful even is.  At the same time, what we really ONLY know is continual change.

Infant-child abuse (to me) means that something bad and harmful is ALWAYS coming at the little one’s developing body, and this ‘always coming at’ creates continual threat to continued life and to continued survival.  All these ‘coming ats’ happen to the little one when it is most defenseless to prevent, predict, fight back or escape the really awful things that happens to it.  In other words, the ‘center of control’ is NOT within the power of the infant except as it can possibly find ways to adapt within its growing physiology.

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Finding ways to move past THIS kind of change reaction is probably actually what all survivor healing is truly about.  Our empowerment comes as we learn to recognize both internal needs for change and external demands for change while we remain at as close to a ‘peaceful-center’ as we can find within our self.  Not an easy task for survivors, but POSSIBLE as we make progress in our healing and growth.

This process for me seems to be like widening and improving the roadway I move down in my life.  My pathway in life began (and stayed for my first 18 years) nearly impassably treacherous.  I want to widen it now, level it, smooth it, make it so I can see behind me and in front of me so I can anticipate where I am going as I view where I have been more clearly.

Maybe my own ‘artistic and creative’ way of working on all of this is part of the motivation for all the adobe pathway-walkway work I do in my ever expanding own yard!  Who knows?

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+MOTHERING: THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB ON EARTH

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Mothers Rock the Cradle of Civilization.  I now know this is the title of the presentation about mothering and attachment that I am finally ready to give.  To whom, where, when has yet to be revealed to me, but I am finally ready.  It has taken me these 59 years of my lifetime to gain the information, knowledge and I believe wisdom that means I can put this story together at last.

I learned from my starting point of having really what amounted to the ‘antichrist of mothering’ for a mother.  As I have studied I have learned from a starting point of what I DID NOT receive all the way around full circle to what an infant MOST needs to live their best life possible.

In the end, in some divine way I can thank my anti-mother for giving to me all that I needed to take my own inner desire, dedication to the truth and to healing, my own determination to make something beautiful out of what was once so ugly, my hope to assist others in some way — and learn something I now feel is central to the well-being of the human race:  There is no more important job on earth than being a mother!

There are factors that must go right for this job to be done right — lots of them, and a mother cannot mother optimally alone.  (More later….)

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+INFANT-CHILD ABUSE SURVIVORSHIP: GETTING ENOUGH TO ‘GO WITH’

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Well, time to see if I can write anything like a coherent post out of some of the thousands of thoughts that have been flying through my mind in the past week.  Most certainly this post is again about the visual contained in this link  (Sorry – WordPress is eliminating spacing between paragraphs today!):


The baby in this video returns, as I mentioned before, to its mother during a point in its exploration of its own self in the mirror when a sense of LACK of safety and security overwhelms it.  It returns to her for PROTECTION.  It returns to her because the baby is FEELING a sense of RUPTURE within itself that requires REPAIR.  Appropriately, its repair is tied to its reliance upon its mother.  If the baby DID NOT have — already PRIOR to this experience — a safe and secure attachment experience-relationship with its mother, where could it have possibly have turned for the REPAIR (protection, safety, security) that it so fundamentally needed at that moment?
Then I think about my own self as an infant-child.  I had NOBODY to turn to, and I never did from the moment I was born.  Then I think again about the furry baby in the video (above).  I think again about all I have learned about how the LACK of safe and secure attachment (protection) changes an infant’s total physiological development — so that the ‘stress response’ end of the continuum that is supposed to be counter-weighted and counteracted by the ‘calm connection’ end of the response system is never activated.
So development is guided by the stress hormone cortisol rather than by the optimal physiological ‘guidance system’ of safe and secure attachment.  Where do we find our CALM?  Where would the furry baby have been able to find its calm at the point it needed to down-regulate its anxiety-stress-not-feeling-safe-in-the-world response?
Being able to yet AGAIN turn its its external source of regulation for repair means that yet AGAIN those patterns of rupture WITH the experience of repair were building themselves into the little ones growing body-brain.
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The baby’s growing and developing body-brain was malleable.  It was going to adapt one way or the other to either NO REPAIR (no safety, security, protection, attachment) or to the opposite.  The resiliency factor was its MOTHER and HER ability to form and foster that attachment relationship.
This all led me to realize that just as I have said before that my mother’s orchestrated CONSTANT moving around was GOOD FOR ME.  The moving meant we went to different schools, often changing schools in the middle of the year after we had started the school year late.  I HAD to build ACTIVE COPING skills into my own self in response to those challenges.  I had NO way, on the other hand, to use active coping skills at home in response to my mother’s constant abuse of me.
My body-brain grew and developed, however, with active coping skill abilities built into it to a large extent because of the continual moving.
I also realized today that this moving, as it included moving on and off of our mountain homestead was good for me, also.  My ONLY safe and secure attachment was to the glorious wilderness that mountain provided me.  When we left it — as in the book Heidi by Johanna Spyri which was my absolute favorite story when I was growing up — I experience terrible grief when we left the mountain (RUPTURE) as I also experienced calm-connection-joy (REPAIR) when we returned to it.
Instead of having any human being (including a mother) to experience the patterns of rupture and repair with, I had the Alaskan wilderness mountain homestead.  Well, that was evidently GOOD ENOUGH!  As a result I do have rupture-repair patterns built into me.  They happened beginning when I was 7 (when we found the mountain), not before that except with my 14-month-older brother.  But evidently that was ENOUGH to get me by.
It wasn’t enough to let my body-brain avoid growing itself with a massive ‘stress-anxiety’ ON GO system being overdeveloped within me — along with the host of problems this reality creates for me.  But at least I have enough to WORK WITH as I use what I do have to learn, grow, heal and change NOW in spite of the terrible difficulties I suffered during those first 18 years of my critical growth and development.

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+PRIMARY CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION – NEW YORK CUTS

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Cuts to Healthy Families New York Will Cost Us Dearly

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 12:36 PM PST on Prevent Child Abuse New York Blog

While I was happy to recently read about the successes Mt. Hope Family Center’s Building Healthy Children, a few days later the Governor’s budget proposal was revealed, and with it the complete elimination of funding for New York’s largest program that uses similar means to achieve similar outcomes.

The science of preventing negative childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect and pre-term birth, before they happen is called primary prevention. Healthy Families New York has been a leading primary prevention program in New York state for sixteen years, and has fantastic data proving that mothers who enroll in it experience fewer low birth weight deliveries, lower rates of substance abuse and depression, and are less likely to abuse or neglect a child, even if they have abused or neglected a child in the past. After seven years, mothers who enroll in the program are less likely to have their child repeat a grade or receive special-education services, and they are more likely to have a child in a gifted program.

It is wonderful to give lip service to things like child abuse prevention and school readiness, but by eliminating funding to primary prevention programs, the governor’s budget actually costs us money in the short and long term. Healthy Families NY has been proven to save $50 in taxpayer money per family enrolled the year the family enrolls, and those savings increase as time goes by. The program has served between 4000-5000 families throughout the state in the last few years, so the savings are considerable. Leading economists have agreed that the best way to stimulate long-term economic growth is to invest in evidence-based early childhood programs such as Healthy Families NY.

In his race to close this year’s budget gap, the governor has managed to cut so deep as to lacerate a system that already saves us money. And he is doing it by dooming thousands of children to suffering needlessly throughout their lives.

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www.ted.comTED Talks Brene Brown studies human connection — our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk at TEDxHouston, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity

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+MY LIFE PALES WITHOUT IMPORTANCE – PRAYERS FOR EGYPT

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I just want to stop in and say “Hello.”  In light of the suffering of the people of Egypt there doesn’t seem to be anything in my life worthy of mention.  Prayer, that’s all I can do — and care.

Strikes in Egypt add to pressure from protests

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+ADOBE MOMMA NEWS: ANYONE ELSE LOVE FLOWERS? TODAY’S NATIVE PLANT ORDER….

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February 5, 2011 – High Country Garden Order 1-800-925-9387

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/product/75797/#facts

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Item # 58690 – Heuchera sanguinea ‘Firefly’ Coral Bells – page 63

TOLERATES SOME SHADE

Description:  18” x 15” wide, (seed propagated). Heuchera is a western wildflower that has been bred and improved …. The bright red flowers are held high on long thin wands over the tidy mounds of scalloped foliage. Heavy blooming in well-drained, compost enriched soil, flowering is prolonged by deadheading of faded flowering spikes. Best in part sun and shade in hot climates, but will do well in full sun at higher altitudes with cooler summer weather. Water regularly for the best show of flowers.

Bloom Time Late Spring, Summer, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil Moisture Regular Water Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Attracts Attract Hummingbirds — Water regularly for the best show of flowers.

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Item # 42410 – Diascia integerrima ‘Coral Canyon’® Coral Canyon® Twinspur – page 63

TOLERATES SOME SHADE

Description:  15” x 18” wide, (cutting propagated). 2000 Plant Select Winner. A cold hardy Twinspur, Coral Canyon® Twinspur is a vigorous perennial that blooms throughout the summer months. The salmon-pink flowers are held above the foliage on wiry stems. Originally from the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa, this superb plant has proven itself to be a stand-out in our western landscapes! Coral Canyon® Twinspur thrives in enriched garden soils and appreciates regular watering.

Special Notes: Compact, longblooming summer performer.

PINK – Bloom Time Late Spring, Summer, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Regular Water Height Medium – 12in. to 36in.

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Item # 70992 – Monarda ‘Violet Queen’ Violet Queen Bee Balm – page 66

CENTERPIECE PLANT – tolerates some shade

Description: 42” x 18” wide, (cutting propagated). Stunning! A large clump of “Violet Queen” in full flower will be the highlight of your summer garden. The deep lavender-pink flowers are highly attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. The fuzzy green foliage has excellent mildew resistance. “Violet Queen” like other Monarda varieties enjoys fertile garden soils. Mulch well and water regularly to keep the soil moist. Plant with Silene ‘Prairie Fire’ for a dazzling combination.

Bloom Time Summer Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil Moisture Regular Water Height Large – 36in. to 5ft. Attracts Attract Bees, Attract Butterflies, Attract Hummingbirds

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Item # 82930 – Rudbeckia ‘Henry Eilers’ – Henry Eilers Quilled Brown Eye Susan – page 36 – YELLOW – tolerates some shade

Description: 4-5’ x 18-24” wide A remarkable late 20th century discovery made by Henry Eilers, this unusual native plant was found growing in an Illinois prairie remnant along an abandoned rail road track. A towering perennial once mature, the plant blooms in late summer with numerous clusters of distinctly quilled, light-yellow petaled flowers. The foliage releases a mild anise fragrance when brushed. Great cut flower too! Catalog/Website only. Compost Enriched Garden Loam

Bloom Time Summer, Early Fall Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Large – 36in. to 5ft. Attracts Attract Butterflies Resists Resists Deer Fragrant Fragrant Flowers

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Item # 10090 – Achillea ‘Paprika’ Paprika Yarrow – page 47 – coral/peach – tolerates some shade

Description:  24” x 30” wide, (cutting propagated). This Galaxy hybrid selection is renowned for its large clusters of bright red flowers. Each individual flower in the cluster also has a distinctive yellow eye. As is the case with all Yarrows, the flowers fade as they age; “Paprika” fades from red to pink. Planting in afternoon shade will slow the fading a bit. Adding to its good looks is the fern-like deep green foliage. “Paprika” is everblooming with regular deadheading and is best used in the perennial border where it enjoys enriched soil and regular watering.

Bloom Time Summer, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil Moisture Regular Water Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits

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Item # 23530 – Aster oblongifolius ‘Dream of Beauty’ Fragrant Aster – NOT IN BOOK – CARPET LOW SPREADER  – full and afternoon sun – lavender and white

Description:  12” x 24”+ wide, (cutting propagated). Aster ‘Dream of Beauty’ is a superb high plains native. Introduced in 1960 by the visionary Great Plains plantsman Claude Barr for its vigorous, low-spreading habit and amazing fall display of sugar-pink flowers with burnt orange centers. Growing in a wide range of soil types, including clay, ‘Dream of Beauty’ spreads to form a dense carpet of flowers and foliage; so give it room!

Bloom Time Early Fall Sun Full and Afternoon Sun Soil Average Garden Soil, Clay Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Small – up to 12in.

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Item # 20811 – Aquilegia caerulea Rocky Mountain Columbine – page 64

WILL TAKE FULL SHADE

Description:  18” x 15” wide, (seed propagated). Rocky Mountain Columbine is the state flower of Colorado, and is treasured for its big blue and white flowers. A must for mountain gardeners, this plant is at its best in cool, higher altitude areas of the West. At lower elevations, place in cool shady beds that receive regular watering. Not recommended for hot , humid climates

Bloom Time Late Spring Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade, All Day Shade Soil Average Garden Soil Moisture Regular Water Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Attracts Attract Hummingbirds Resists Resists Rabbits

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Item # 76613 – Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Blue Spires‘ – Blue Spires Russian Sage – PAGE 46

Description:  4’ x 4’ wide, (cutting propagated). Russian sage has taken the gardening world by storm, rising from obscurity to enormous popularity in the past decade. Along the way, however, a number of different forms of the plant were introduced, resulting in a variety of good and not-so-good Russian Sage plants. Be assured that ‘Blue Spires’, a European cultivar, is a vigorous, well-shaped grower with attractive dark-blue flower spikes.

Bloom Time Summer, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun Soil Average Garden Soil, Clay Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Large – 36in. to 5ft. Attracts Attract Bees Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits

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Item # 10045 – Achillea ‘Moonshine’ – Moonshine Yarrow – PAGE 33

Description:  18” x 24” wide, (cutting propagated). We recommend ‘Moonshine’ as one of the best garden perennials currently available. It can be used in both xeric and non-xeric perennial borders, as it is highly adaptable in its soil and water needs. The distinctive silver-gray foliage is a fine backdrop for the lemon-yellow flower clusters that keep coming all summer.

Bloom Time Summer, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun Soil Average Garden Soil, Clay Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits

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Item # 84780 – Salvia nemorosa ‘May Night’ – May Night Meadow Sage – purple – PAGE 33

Description:  18” x 18” wide, (cutting propagated). Selected as the 1997 Perennial Plant of the Year. Outstanding for its compact growth habit, profuse deep purple flower spikes and vigorous re-blooming nature. “May Night” thrives in hot, sunny planting sites. The first flush of flowers comes in late spring. Deadheading and a little extra watering assures heavy re-blooming.

Bloom Time Late Spring, Summer, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun Soil Average Garden Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Attracts Attract Bees Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits

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Item # 59001 – Hymenoxys acaulis – Sundancer Daisy (yellow) – page 15

Description:  15” x 15” wide (seed propagated). This fantastic, ever-blooming western wildflower is a must for any xeriscape. The plant has attractive thread-leaf foliage, which is covered by large, bright yellow, long-stemmed daisies from late spring through fall. Remarkably adapted to arid regions, Sundancer Daisy grows well from the low desert to the mountains above. Plant in any lean, well-drained non-clay soil.

Bloom Time Late Spring, Summer, Early Fall, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun Soil Average Garden Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Attracts Attract Butterflies Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits

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Item # 59005 – Hymenoxys scaposa – Thrift-leaf Perky Sue (yellow – SHORT) – page 22

Description:  5” x 8” wide, (seed propagated). A wonderful everblooming yellow daisy that is both heat loving and drought tolerant. The foliage is evergreen and looks just like Armeria. A vigorous reseeder, it quickly colonizes harsh areas of the garden. Perky Sue loves gravel mulch. We use it to interplant with cold hardy cacti. Provide lean, well-drained soil. Once established Hymenoxys scaposa is very xeric, needing little extra water. A Choice Plant!

Plant with Ruschia and cold hardy cacti! Provide lean, well-drained soil. Once established Hymenoxis scaposa is very xeric, needing little extra water.  Bloom Time Late Spring, Summer Sun Full and Afternoon Sun Soil Average Garden Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Very Xeric Height Small – up to 12in. Attracts Attract Butterflies Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits

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Item # 77103 – Phlomis cashmeriana – Kashmir Sage – page 16

TOLEARATES FULL SHADE

Description:  36-48” x 18-24” wide, (seed propagated). Native to the drier areas of the western Himalayas and Kashmir, this outstanding performer is right at home in western gardens where its stately architecture, large, handsome gray-green foliage and showy spikes of lavender-pink verticillasters (whorled flower clusters) make Kashmir Sage a highlight of the summer garden.

This plant is invaluable for use in both sun and shade. Easily grown in most any well-drained soil. You can thank Panayoti Kelaidis of Denver Botanic Garden for his long time advocacy of this undeservedly obscure plant.

Bloom Time Late Spring Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade, All Day Shade Soil Average Garden Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Large – 36in. to 5ft. Resists Resists Deer

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Item # 20812 – Aquilegia caerulea ‘Red Hobbit’ – Red Hobbit Columbine – page 64

SEMI SHADE BORDER or ALL SHADE– PROTECT FROM AFTERNOON SUN

Description:  12-14” x 12” wide, (seed propagated).  A delightful addition to the semi-shade border, Red Hobbit is a dwarf Danish selection with eye-catching red and white flowers. Hybridized from our native Rocky Mt. Columbine, it likes compost-enriched soil with regular irrigation and protection from the afternoon sun. This stable hybrid comes true to color when reseeding in the garden, unlike many other hybrid varieties.

Bloom Time Late Spring Sun Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade, All Day Shade Soil Average Garden Soil Moisture Regular Water Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Attracts Attract Hummingbirds Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits

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Item # 84782 – Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ – Caradonna Blue Sage – page 21

Description:  24” x 18” wide, (cutting propagated). ‘Caradonna’ is a distinctive, award winning cultivar developed at Zillmer Nursery in Germany. Unique with its tall, very dark purple flower stems and stunning blue-violet flowers, ‘Caradonna’ blooms for many weeks beginning in late spring. The nemorosa type sages thrive in a wide range of soils (including clay), and provide a strong vertical element with their uniformly upright flower spikes. They thrive with minimal care

Bloom Time Late Spring Sun Full and Afternoon Sun Soil Average Garden Soil, Clay Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Attracts Attract Bees Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits

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Item # 11821 – Agastache ‘Ava’ – Ava’s Hummingbird Mint – page 7

CENTERPIECE PLANT – PINK/RED

Description: 4-5’ x 24” wide, (cutting propagated). Of all the hummingbird mints varieties High Country Gardens has released (and they are our specialty), this is our finest introduction. This stately hybrid between Agastache cana and Agastache barberi will be the centerpiece of any planting with its huge spikes of deep rose-pink flowers, raspberry-red calyxes and sweetly scented foliage.

Flowering begins in mid-summer and continues for months, the spikes elongate up to a foot or more in length and intensifying in color with each passing week. Unlike any other Agastache I’ve grown, Ava’s calyxes retain their intense coloration keeping the plant beautiful until hard frost. Or like fine dark-flowered Lavender, it can be picked and dried to make a fragrant everlasting flower.

This plant takes two to three growing seasons to reach mature size and will live for many years when happy. Plant in enriched, well-drained garden soil. Fertilize annually in mid-fall with Yum Yum Mix and leave the stems standing through winter. Cut it back in mid-spring.

Bloom Time Summer, Early Fall, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Large – 36in. to 5ft. Attracts Attract Hummingbirds Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits Fragrant Fragrant Flowers, Fragrant Foliage

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Item # 30715 – Caryopteris clandonensis ‘Dark Knight’ – Blue Mist Spirea – page 78

SMALLER SHRUB – can tolerate afternoon shade

Description:  3-4’ x 4’ wide, (cutting propagated). One of the best Blue Mist Spirea varieties, “Dark Knight” has the deepest blue color of them all. Its tidy, upright growth habit and profusion of flowering spikes make it an essential part of the summer landscape. A reliable performer, “Dark Knight” flowers heavily every year. Of modest size, it can be used in front of low walls, as a hedge or in groups around the base of larger shrubs, small trees and upright evergreens. Avoid heavy wet clay soils.

Bloom Time Summer, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Large – 36in. to 5ft. Attracts Attract Bees, Attract Butterflies Resists Resists Deer, Resists Rabbits

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Item # 82702 – Rosa ‘Darlow’s Enigma’ – SHADE TOLEARANT (needs morning sun) WHITE CLIMBING ROSE – page 84

Description: 6-8’x 4’ wide. A fabulous rose of mysterious origins, ‘Darlow’s Enigma’ is an outstanding climbing rose that is both shade tolerant (an unusual trait in roses) and long blooming. This beauty comes into flower in early summer with floribunda-like clusters of single white flowers that bring fragrance to the garden with its light but lingering perfume. Flowering continues into fall!

‘Darlow’s Enigma’ also has a nice display of small red hips to give the plant fall and winter interest.

Special Notes: A climbing rose. Shade tolerant (unusual trait for a rose).

Bloom Time Summer, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil Moisture Regular Water Height Extra Large – over 5ft. Fragrant Fragrant Flowers

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Item # 82721 – Rosa ‘John Cabot’ – Canadian Explorer Series Hybrid Climber – page 84

Description: 8-10’ x 3-4’ wide (cutting propagated) Climbing growth habit. Medium-sized double-deep fuchsia-pink flowers highlight this big climber. Blooming all summer with heaviest blooming in late spring, “John Cabot” should be used where it can grow to its full size. Cover big fences and tall empty walls with this vigorous variety. Super cold-hardy canes.

Special Notes: Plant with ‘Dark Knight’ Blue Mist Spirea or ‘Black Knight’ Butterfly Bush for a dramatic combination! Super cold-hardy canes.

Bloom Time Late Spring, Summer, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun Soil Average Garden Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Regular Water Height Extra Large – over 5ft. Fragrant Fragrant Flowers

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Item # 75764 – Penstemon pinifolius ‘Mersea Yellow’ – Yellow Pineleaf Penstemon – page 25

Description:  12” x 15” wide (cutting propagated). This unusual color variant (or “sport”) was discovered in an English garden in 1980. Hundreds of soft yellow tubular flowers cover the plant for many weeks in midsummer. Originally, we expected ‘Mersea Yellow’ to not be as vigorous and heat tolerant as orange-flowered Penstemon pinifolius, but its performance in our gardens has proved otherwise. This plant does appreciate a little extra water, and can be grown in both lean and enriched garden soils as long as the drainage is good. Needs afternoon shade in hot desert climates. Yellow Penstemons are a great rarity in this huge genus.

This plant does appreciate a little extra water, and can be grown in both lean and enriched garden soils as long as the drainage is good. Needs afternoon shade in hot desert climates.

Hot desert — Bloom Time Late Spring, Summer Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Attracts Attract Hummingbirds Resists Resists Rabbits

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Item # 75797 – Penstemon mexicali ‘Pikes Peak Purple’ – Pikes Peak Purple™ Beardtongue – NOT IN CATALOG

Description:  18” x 15” wide (cutting propagated) 1999 Plant Select® winner. This, the companion to Penstemon Red Rocks™ with concord grape-colored flowers, Pikes Peak Purple™ is long blooming and easy to grow. I like to plant it with yellow-flowered perennials like Coreopsis ‘Sunray’ and Sundrops (Calylophus). This is a vigorous grower that performs best in moderately fertile, but well-drained soils. Will flower most vigorously with regular watering.

HOT DESERT – Bloom Time Late Spring, Longblooming Sun Full and Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade Soil Average Garden Soil, Sandy Garden Soil Moisture Xeric Height Medium – 12in. to 36in. Attracts Attract Bees, Attract Hummingbirds Resists Resists Rabbits

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+ADOBE MOMMA NEWS: NOTICING THE GIFT

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This week has been fraught with near zero night temperatures – record lows for us, complete with frozen water lines, frozen sewer lines.  All my water pipes are STILL frozen.  But outside in the glorious sunshine this morning I happened to notice THIS:

This is the latest sunken adobe walkway I poured and patted into place a week ago before the COLD hit us.
I just happened to notice this GIFT today - as the mud was both freezing and drying the patterns of ice crystals embedded themselves into the mud
With the first footsteps across this amazing beauty, with the first rain, they will disappear - but not from my memory

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+NO MONEY FOR OUR NATION’S NEEDY KIDS? OUR DEBT DEBT DEBT

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Global debt percentage of GNP/GDP – the Top 20 – By Paul Toscano
Updated 30 Sept 2010, © 2011 CNBC.com — THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DEBTOR NATIONS

(click grey arrow at top of pictures on your screen — and be sure to see the link at bottom of this post to info that explains what all this means)

“Throughout the financial crisis, many national economies have looked to their government and foreign lenders for financial support, which translates to increased spending, borrowing and in most cases, growing national debt.

Deficit spending, government debt and private sector borrowing are the norm in most western countries, but due in part to the financial crisis, some nations and economies are in considerably worse debt positions than others.

External debt is a measure of a nation’s foreign liabilities, capital plus interest that the government and institutions within a nation’s borders must eventually pay. This number not only includes government debt, but also debt owed by corporations and individuals to entities outside their home country.

So, how does the US debt position compare to that of other countries? A useful measure of a country’s debt position is by comparing gross external debt to GDP [GNP]. By comparing a country’s debt to what it produces, this ratio can be used to help determine the likelihood that a country will be able to repay its debt.

This report takes a look at the world’s 75 largest economies to see which ones have the highest external debt to GDP [GNP] ratio, calculated using the most recent numbers from the World Bank. We’ve listed the top twenty here.

Since the first time this report was published in April 2009, the debt situations of many countries have become of increasingly influential in the markets. In many European nations, these debt levels have caused international organizations and bond investors to put pressure on governments to cut public debt through austerity measures and additional reductions in spending.

So, what are the world’s biggest in-debt nations?”

20th – United States – 98.4%

External debt (as % of GDP): 98.4%
Gross external debt: $13.92 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $14.14 trillion
External debt per capita: $45,302

19th – Hungary – 120.6%

External debt (as % of GDP): 120.6%
Gross external debt: $224.36 billion
2009 GDP (est): $186 billion
External debt per capita: $22,650

18th – Australia – 121.9%

External debt (as % of GDP): 121.9%
Gross external debt: $1.037 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $851.1 billion
External debt per capita: $48,787

17th – Italy – 141.3%

External debt (as % of GDP): 141.3%
Gross external debt: $2.456 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $1.74 trillion
External debt per capita: $42,267

16th – Greece – 167.2%

External debt (as % of GDP): 167.2%
Gross external debt: $557.4 billion
2009 GDP (est): $333.4 billion
External debt per capita: $51,916

15th – Germany – 176.8%

External debt (as % of GDP): 167.2%
Gross external debt: $557.4 billion
2009 GDP (est): $333.4 billion
External debt per capita: $51,916

14th – Spain – 176.9%

External debt (as % of GDP): 176.9%
Gross external debt: $2.40 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $1.36 trillion
External debt per capita: $59,459

13th – Norway – 208.8%

External debt (as % of GDP): 176.9%
Gross external debt: $2.40 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $1.36 trillion
External debt per capita: $59,459

12th – Finland – 215%

External debt (as % of GDP): 215%
Gross external debt: $383.7 billion
2009 GDP (est): $178.8 billion
External debt per capita: $73,082

11th – Hong Kong – 224.7%

External debt (as % of GDP): 224.7%
Gross external debt: $678.29 billion
2009 GDP (est): $301.8 billion
External debt per capita: $96,142

10th – Portugal – 231.2%

External debt (as % of GDP): 231.2%
Gross external debt: $537.85 billion
2009 GDP (est): $232.6 billion
External debt per capita: $50,230

9th – France – 244.3%

External debt (as % of GDP): 244.3%
Gross external debt: $5.23 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $2.09 trillion
External debt per capita: $79,982

8th – Austria – 251.4%

External debt (as % of GDP): 251.4%
Gross external debt: $809.2 billion
2009 GDP (est): $321.8 billion
External debt per capita: $98,554

7th – Sweden – 269.7%

External debt (as % of GDP): 269.7%
Gross external debt: $893.86 billion
2009 GDP (est): $331.4 billion
External debt per capita: $98,664

6th – Denmark – 307.3%

External debt (as % of GDP): 307.3%
Gross external debt: $607.818 billion
2009 GDP (est): $197.8 billion
External debt per capita: $110,502

5th – Belgium – 326.7%

External debt (as % of GDP): 326.7%
Gross external debt: $1.253 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $383.4 billion
External debt per capita: $120,267

4th – Netherlands – 369.6%

External debt (as % of GDP): 369.6%
Gross external debt: $2.44 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $660 billion
External debt per capita: $145,928

3rd – Switzerland – 378.6%

External debt (as % of GDP): 378.6%
Gross external debt: $1.191 trillion (2009 Q3)
2009 GDP (est): $314.7 billion
External debt per capita: $156,694

2nd – United Kingdom – 428.8%

External debt (as % of GDP): 428.8%
Gross external debt: $9.12 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $2.128 trillion
External debt per capita: $149,281

1st – Ireland – 1,305%

External debt (as % of GDP): 1,305%
Gross external debt: $2.25 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $172.5 billion
External debt per capita: $535,529

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SEE ALSO:  Countries Overloaded With Debt — By: Paul Toscano — © 2011 CNBC.com

And — Slideshow: Biggest Holders of US Gov’t Debt — By Paul Toscano
Updated 18 Jan 2011

Detailed information about the following can be found by clicking on the above title link:

1st Federal Reserve and Intragovernmental Holdings — That’s right, the biggest holder of US government debt is actually within the United States. The Federal Reserve system of banks and other US intragovernmental holdings account for a stunning $5.351 trillion in US Treasury debt. This is the most recent number available (Sept 2010), and marks an all-time high.

2nd Other Investors/Savings Bonds — With the most recent numbers from Sept 2010, this extremely diverse group includes individuals, government-sponsored enterprises, brokers and dealers, bank personal trusts, estates, savings bonds, corporate and non-corporate businesses for a total of $1.458 trillion;

3rd China — The largest foreign holder of US Treasury securities, China currently holds $895.6 billion in American debt, although it is down from all time highs of $929 billion one year earlier in November 2009;

4th Japan; 5th Pension Funds; 6th Mutual Funds; 7th (Tied) United Kingdom and (Tied) State and Local Governments; 9th Depository Institutions; 10th Insurance Companies; 11th Oil Exporters; 12th Brazil; 13th Caribbean Banking Centers; 14th Hong Kong; 15th Canada;

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