Easter

"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow ... And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said." (Mt 28:1-6)

Fruit-Grafting Lady Day

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:10-14)

Iris reticulata

Basket

Brumi was born five years ago in January, the first of eleven puppies. For her mother Vidra this was the first – and as we had to admit, the last – litter, so she almost had no milk, and I had to feed the puppies five times a day as I had done to Muska.


The kids were intended for our friends, but Brumi was born with such a severe dysplasia that we decided to keep her for ourselves. Our veterinarian told us that from the age of three she would gradually deteriorate and would finally die in great pain.


Brumi slept away yesterday morning, when the computer stopped short. At the age of five, without pain, after having apparently prepared for it for weeks and having taken leave of the other dogs, with that peaceful final breathing out as newfoundlanders used to put down their head like “well, now everything is all right”.

We take leave of her and say thanks for her with the poem sent by Wang Wei at their birth.

PRIMERO se toma una mimbre, y se la pone en agua, para que pierda altanería, se haga dulce, mandible, y tenga amor; luego se la trenza como un sueño, y, cuando ya está hecho el cesto, puede ponerse en él la ropa blanca, unas frutas rojas, doradas, o un gatito. A veces crujirá en la noche; pero así se hizo el mundo, y así, a veces, se lamenta.

FIRST take a wicker and put it in water so that it gets rid of its arrogance, it becomes soft and pliable, it fills up with love; then braid it like a dream, and when the basket is ready, you can put in it the clean clothes, some red and golden fruits, or the kitten. Sometimes it will creak in the night but this is how the world was made up and this is how, sometimes, it complains.

Those wonderful barberries! 3. Berberis x mentorensis

Love at first sight, again. I bought it in the New Garden some 5-6 years ago as a thirty centimeters high bush, as I was completely fascinated by its Japanese habit. It soon became clear that it also develops well on the heavy soil of our cold, half-shady garden.

The barberry to the left on the picture is an already more or less grown-up bush, but still maintains its beautiful Oriental forms. This feature alone would be enough to make it a first-class bush, but there are two extras as well…

…that is, its autumn colors and its berries that remain on the bush all winter long.

It grows its berries by early autumn. In the beginning they are white, but by late autumn they gradually become red and decorate the bush until early spring. Our bush produces an abundant crop in every year.

height: 150 cm
width: 150-200 cm
lighting: sunny-part shade (At us it is on a rather shadowy spot.)
water demand: At us it grows on a well-irrigated land, but it is said to be drought tolerant. True, the same sources write that it does not regularly produce berries. Perhaps for a good crop it needs good irrigation.
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