Garden Tripod 33 by Garden Tripod

GTARDEN RIPOD ART Issue 33 July 2015

www.gardentripod.com Horticultural Science Technology & Art contact .. info@gardentripod.com

All The Materials Contained May Not Be Reproduced, Copied, Edited, Published, Transmitted Or Uploaded In Any Way Without the artist/photographers Permission. These Images/writings Do Not Belong To The Public Domain. All images and information within the Garden Tripod magazine are the responsibility of the owner/artist/ writer/photographer & not the Garden Tripod magazine 2012-2015â&#x20AC;¨

GTARDEN RIPOD ART Issue 33 July 2015

Cover Image My Gate of Grass by Chris Armytage™

5 6 8

Rabiah Seminole

Grasses

Editor’s Review Oﬃce News Hound Blue Horse Mukwa Equine Retirement and Rescue Center

16 See Me by Chris Armytage™ 28 Into the Garden 38 Lawns and Grasses challenge 64 78

catalogue Writings CGCGWU features catalogue

GTARDEN RIPOD ART Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Review

Hi Folks, First I must congratulate the Lawns and Grasses challenge winners .. Three winners in this very popular topic. I would also like to thank all who voted in this challenge, with over 80 votes the top places were a very close run thing., with only three votes separating first place to fourth place. RedBubble supply the voting results for the challenges, but only the top ten .. I expect that more of you will be in the fourth place .. but sadly we have no way of knowing the individual results for everyone. Also a big thank you to our cover image artist .. Chris Armytageâ&#x201E;˘, Chris has had one of her images chosen to appear as part of a digital display to be held in The Louvre Museum, Paris, to celebrate the 2015 Exposure Awards.. Once again we are looking for new advertisers to join the Garden Tripod. So if you know of any garden and/or art related businesses that would like to join the Garden Tripod do please let us know. This is a free to view and free to produce worldwide e-publication, so there is no charge made to any of our advertisers for inclusion in the Garden Tripod.

As always .. we are keeping the text real, so spelling mistakes and grammatical errors are all here for free. Ed

GTARDEN RIPOD ART Oﬃce News Hound

Grass and Lawns this time … well I love and hate Grass and Lawns. The things I love about lawns is they feel super under my feet and yes I like to help them grow by watering and doing other things on the lovely soft green grass. Funny but my folk don't seem to understand this and keep picking up deposits and pouring water over the area I only just watered !!!! … I know ..its madness to go over my good deeds ..but they seem happy ..and if their happy ..so am I. The things I hate about grass is the grass seeds .. if they get in my feet,ears or nose they are designed to travel forward .. having tiny little spines all stopping the seed from being pulled backward .. so the vet has to remove any that work their way in to very small insatiable places. Also ticks … I don't like these little critters..the climb up the stems of long grass and as I wander passed they brush onto me … then start to suck my blood !!!! whats that all about ..since when was I dinner for this little critter, but as I am a super sensitive Saluki I scream the house down until my folks find and remove the offending critter. Just remember dogs can get Lyme disease from ticks. Stay Safe Princess Summer

Copy's available via the Garden Tripod web page at www.gardentripod.com All profits go to the Blue Horse Mukwa Equine Retirement and Rescue Center

Blue Horse Mukwa Equine Retirement and Rescue Center The Blue Horse Mukwa Equine Retirement and Rescue Centre is starting a new t shirt campaign These were designed by Katrina Burch ~~~~~ There is no minimum order & the shirts are white with blue ink Get yours today and be a fashionista These are unisex You can email the Blue Horse Mukwa Equine Retirement and Rescue Center for more info

T-shirt campaign

Rabiah Seminole My name is Rabiah Seminole. I live in Chase City, Virginia & I am the Founder/Director of Blue Horse Mukwa Equine Retirement and Rescue Center. We are a 501 c 3 non profit organization that has been going strong since 1999. We are the permanent home to 40 horses. We also rescue dogs and rehome them to suitable families. All of the proceeds from my photos will go to the rescue.

Blue Horse Mukwa Equine Retirement and Rescue Center

www.bluehorsemukwa.org

Summers Day Rabiah Seminole

Blue Horse Mukwa EquineÂ Retirement and Rescue Center

Beautiful Niijjii at the Blur Horse Rescue Rabiah Seminole

Blue Horse Mukwa EquineÂ Retirement and Rescue Center

We at the Garden Tripod would like to let you all know that our ‘Pet’ charity for 2015 is the

Blue Horse Mukwa Equine Retirement and Rescue Center so we will be throughout 2015. donate to them ~ raise funds for a project at

promoting them If you wanting to They are trying to fence replacement

gofundme Lets see how fast we can raise the funds for new fencing to keep these horses safe.

These Images are not to scale

Lightening Rabiah Seminole

G ARDEN TRIPOD ART

Blue Horse Mukwa EquineÂ Retirement and Rescue Center My name is Rabiah Seminole. I live in Chase City, Virginia. I am the Founder/Director of Blue Horse Mukwa Equine Retirement and Rescue Center. We are a 501 c 3 non profit organization that has been going strong since 1999. We are the permanent home to 40 horses. We also rescue dogs and rehome them to suitable families. All of the proceeds from my photos will go to the rescue.

Grasses

15 Grass From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the family Poaceae (also called Gramineae), as well as the sedges (Cyperaceae) and the rushes (Juncaceae). The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns (turf) and grassland. Sedges include many wild marsh and grassland plants, and some cultivated ones such as water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) and papyrus sedge (Cyperus papyrus). Uses for graminoids include food (as grain, sprouted grain, shoots or rhizomes), drink (beer, whisky, vodka), pasture for livestock, thatch, paper, fuel, clothing, insulation, construction, sports turf, basket weaving and many

Ecology Graminoids include some of the most versatile plant life-forms. They became widespread toward the end of the Cretaceous period, and fossilized dinosaur dung (coprolites) have been found containing phytoliths of a variety that include grasses that are related to modern rice and bamboo. Grasses have adapted to conditions in lush rain forests, dry deserts, cold mountains and even intertidal habitats, and are now the most widespread plant type; grass is a valuable source of food and energy for all sorts of wildlife and organics. Graminoids are the dominant vegetation in many habitats, including grassland, salt-marsh, reedswamp and steppes. They also occur as a smaller part of the vegetation in almost every other terrestrial habitat. Many types of animals eat grass as their main source of food, and are called graminivores â&#x20AC;&#x201C; these include cattle, sheep, horses, rabbits and many invertebrates, such as grasshoppers and the caterpillars of many brown butterflies. Grasses are also eaten by omnivorous or even occasionally by primarily carnivorous animals. Grasses are unusual in that the meristem is located near the bottom of the plant, hence can quickly recover from cropping at the top. In the study of ecological communities, herbaceous plants are divided into graminoids and forbs, which are herbaceous dicotyledons, mostly with broad leaves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass

Agriculture Plants of this type have always been important to humans. They have been grown as food for domesticated animals for up to 6,000 years. (See grass-fed beef.) They have been used for paper-making since 2400 BC or before. The most important food crops are the grains of grasses such as wheat, rice and barley. They have many other uses, such as feeding animals, and for lawns. There are many minor uses, and grasses are familiar to most human cultures.

continued on page 26

ee Me

Chris Armytage™ Daylesford,, Australia,

Website Displate Gallery Easely Gallery Rent before you buy! My Books on Amazon: My Story Blog Twitter Facebook Please visit and support Chris on See.me

Femme

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

A different road ...

work in the Louvre

Delighted to announce that the work, “A different road …” has been chosen to appear as part of a digital display to be held in The Louvre Museum, Paris, to celebrate the 2015 Exposure Awards.

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

Out West

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

Unheard melodies ...

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

Golden summer

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

Winter Roses

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

Red Hot at The Springs

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

Faded beauty

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

Sonata in Roses

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

Horse sense ...

Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™ Chris Armytage™

Monocotyledon

27 Monocotyledon Monocotyledons (/ˈmɒnɵˈkɒtɪˈliːdən/), also known as monocots, are one of the major groups into which flowering plants (or angiosperms) are divided. Traditionally, the rest of the flowering plants were classed as dicotyledons, or dicots. Monocot seedlings typically have one cotyledon (seed-leaf), in contrast to the two cotyledons typical of dicots. Modern research using molecular phylogenetic methods has shown that the monocots form a monophyletic group – a clade – since they comprise all the descendants of a common ancestor. Dicots, by contrast, do not form a monophyletic group. Monocots have been recognized as a group at various taxonomic ranks, and under various names (see below). The APG III system of 2009 recognises a clade called "monocots" but does not assign it to a taxonomic rank. According to the IUCN there are 59,300 species of monocots. The largest family in this group (and in the flowering plants as a whole) by number of species are the orchids (family Orchidaceae), with more than 20,000 species. In agriculture the majority of the biomass produced comes from monocots. The true grasses, family Poaceae (Gramineae), are the most economically important family in this group. These include all the true grains (rice, wheat, maize, etc.), the pasture grasses, sugar cane, and the bamboos. True grasses have evolved to become highly specialised for wind pollination. Grasses produce much smaller flowers, which are gathered in highly visible plumes (inflorescences). Other economically important monocot families are the palm family (Arecaceae), banana family (Musaceae), ginger family (Zingiberaceae) and the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae), which includes such ubiquitously used vegetables as onions and garlic. Many plants cultivated for their blooms are also from the monocot group, notably lilies, daffodils, irises, amaryllis, orchids, cannas, bluebells and tulips.

Description The monocots are one of the major divisions of the flowering plants or angiosperms. They have been recognized as a natural group since at least the work of the English botanist John Ray in the 17th century. Modern research based on DNA has confirmed the status of the monocots as a monophyletic group or clade, in contrast to the other historical divisions of the flowering plants, which have had to be substantially reorganized. The name monocotyledons is derived from the traditional botanical name "Monocotyledones", which refers to the fact that most members of this group have one cotyledon, or embryonic leaf, in their seeds. Historically, this feature was used to contrast the monocots with the dicotyledons or dicots which typically have two cotyledons; however modern research has shown that the dicots are not a natural group. From a diagnostic point of view the number of cotyledons is neither a particularly useful characteristic (as they are only present for a very short period in a plant's life), nor is it completely reliable. Additionally, one of the most noticeable traits is that a monocot's flower is trimerous, with the flower parts in threes or in multiples of three—having three, six, or nine petals. Many monocots also have leaves with parallel veins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocotyledon

Evolution For a very long time, fossils of palm trees were believed to be the oldest monocots, first appearing 90 million years ago, but this estimate may not be entirely true. At least some putative monocot fossils have been found in strata as old as the eudicots. The oldest fossils that are unequivocally monocots are pollen from the Late Barremian–Aptian – Early Cretaceous period, about 120-110 million years ago, and are assignable to cladePothoideae-Monstereae Araceae; being Araceae, sister to other Alismatales. They have also found flower fossils of Triuridaceae (Pandanales) in Upper Cretaceous rocks in New Jersey, becoming the oldest known sighting of saprophytic/mycotrophic habits in angiosperm plants and among the oldest known fossils of monocotyledons. Topology of the angiosperm phylogenetic tree could infer that the monocots would be among the oldest lineages of angiosperms, which would support the theory that they are just as old as the eudicots. The pollen of the eudicots dates back 125 million years, so the lineage of monocots should be that old too.

continued on page 36

Into The Garden with Georgia Sheron Chris Dale Bruce Pritchett Lois Bryan Priya Ghose & Thomas Woolworth

Well House Georgia Sheron

Wheeelbarrow Chris Dale

A Garden Dream Bruce Pritchett

Secret Garden Lois Bryan

Stairway To The Secret Garden Priya GhoseÂ

Wishing You Were Here Thomas WoolworthÂ

Wall Art

Quotes & Designs

by Gemma Duffy Precision Cut Vinyl Lettering For Walls Ideal for your home or workplace. All my vinyl lettering is precision cut, using only the best quality material. Once you have applied my work to the wall, it looks professionally hand painted. (The wall art stickers do not look like stickers, they are self adhesive and easily fitted) Please Note, my stickers are not the cheap novelty type that you find on the High St. Ideal for the grandest home or workplace. Do not let the name stickers put you oﬀ. The pictures you see are for illustration only and do not show the true beauty. My self adhesive letters can be applied to most surfaces and are suitable for both indoor & outdoors. If you require your own words go to "Personalise Your Own Quote Or Saying" on my web site. 18 beautiful colours / Easy to fit & remove with no mess / 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.

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Grasses Poaceae

37 Poaceae The Poaceae (English pronunciation: /poʊˈeɪ.siˌiː/) (also called Gramineae or true grasses) are a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. With more than 10,000 domesticated and wild species, the Poaceae are the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae, and Rubiaceae. Though commonly called "grasses", seagrasses, rushes, and sedges fall outside this family. The rushes and sedges are related to the Poaceae, being members of the order Poales, but the seagrasses are members of order Alismatales. Grasslands are estimated to constitute 20% of the vegetation cover of the Earth. Poaceae live in many other habitats, including wetlands, forests, and tundra. Domestication of poaceous cereal crops such as maize (corn), wheat, rice, barley, and millet lies at the foundation of sedentary living and civilization around the world, and the Poaceae still constitute the most economically important plant family in modern times, providing forage, building materials (bamboo, thatch) and fuel (ethanol), as well as food.

Description Poaceae have hollow stems called culms plugged at intervals by solid leafbearing nodes. Grass leaves are nearly always alternate and distichous (in one plane), and have parallel veins. Each leaf is differentiated into a lower sheath hugging the stem and a blade with entire (i.e., smooth) margins. The leaf blades of many grasses are hardened with silica phytoliths, which discourage grazing animals; some, such as sword grass, are sharp enough to cut human skin. A membranous appendage or fringe of hairs called the ligule lies at the junction between sheath and blade, preventing water or insects from penetrating into the sheath. Flowers of Poaceae are characteristically arranged in spikelets, each spikelet having one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. A spikelet consists of two (or sometimes fewer) bracts at the base, called glumes, followed by one or more florets. A floret consists of the flower surrounded by two bracts, one external—the lemma—and one internal—the palea. The flowers are usually hermaphroditic—maize being an important exception—and anemophilous or wind-pollinated. The perianth is reduced to two scales, called lodicules, that expand and contract to spread the lemma and palea; these are generally interpreted to be modified sepals. This complex structure can be seen in the image on the right, portraying a wheat (Triticum aestivum) spikelet. The fruit of Poaceae is a caryopsis, in which the seed coat is fused to the fruit wall. A tiller is a leafy shoot other than the first shoot produced from the seed.

Diagram of a typical lawn grass plant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae

continued on page 62

Lawns and Grasses A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

5 1 Nature's Jewels by Vicki Spindler (VHS Photography)

4 Early. by Paul Pasco

2 Amber Waves by TeresaB

5 Wild Grass by Lynn Gedeon

3 Papyrus - Nile Grass - Cyperus papyrus by MotherNature

8 7

6 Green Garden ^ by ctheworld 7 Blue-eyed grass by Celeste Mookherjee 8 Ribbon Grass by Penny Smith 9 In Search of Fairies by Larry Lingard-Davis

13 11

14 12 10 Reflections of a sunny day by Arie Koene 11 Pampas Grass by WildestArt

13 Spring Sun by David Lamb

12 Papyrus In The Fog by Sandra Foster

14 Grasses in sun by hans p olsen

18 15 Tall Grass by Marylou Badeaux 16 Oh, had I a golden threadâ&#x20AC;Ś by Astrid Ewing Photography

17 Regent's Park, London by PhotosByG 18 Winter Wheat by debidabble

22 19 vineyard bars by metriognome

21 Sacre Coeur, Paris 3 by John Velocci

20 Bench in a meadow by kaealia

22 DUNE GRASSES by Margaret Stevens

Lawn

an area of short, regularly mown grass in the garden of a house or park ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: alteration of dialect laund‘glade, pasture’, from Old French launde

‘wooded district, heath’, of Celtic origin. The current sense dates from the mid 18th cent.

27 23 Yin Yang Landform by Mui-Ling Teh 24 Grass by Livvy Young

26 Solar Moss by pyettphoto

25 Arley Hall Gardens by AnnDixon

27 In Need Of Cutting by lezvee

30 28 A summer meadow… by Mortimer123 29 Outside fire place by AuntieBarbie 30 Sleeping On Grass by Cliﬀ Vestergaard 31 Simply Grass ! by Elfriede Fulda 32 Lighting the Way by WhiteDove Studio kj gordon

37 33 Among the daises by GreyFeatherPhot 34 Reflective Globes by Rebecca Bryson 35 meadow background by spetenfia 36 Autumn Grasses by John Thurgood 37 Spikelets of Flowers by Kerryn Madsen-Pietsch

Contact Sheet 1 Nature's Jewels

by Vicki Spindler (VHS Photography)

Hullbridge, Essex

Amber Waves by TeresaB Parker Homestead near Three Forks, Montana USA

Papyrus - Nile Grass - Cyperus papyrus by MotherNature Ott’s in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, USA

Early. by Paul Pasco CAPESTANG, FRANCE

5 Wild Grass by Lynn Gedeon Athens, Ohio, USA.

Green Garden ^ by ctheworld (Albemarle County, VA) – USA

Blue-eyed grass by Celeste Mookherjee Madrona Marsh Preserve in Torrance, California

Ribbon Grass by Penny Smith Sydney, Australia.

In Search of Fairies by Larry Lingard-Davis Leikanger Norway

Reflections of a sunny day by Arie Koene Skjak – Norway

Pampas Grass by WildestArt Arkansas USA

Papyrus In The Fog by Sandra Foster BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

Spring Sun by David Lamb A patch of a bamboo like grass growing in the sun. Shot at Carl Kohler park in Horsham

Grasses in sun by hans p olsen SINNAMON PARK, AUSTRALIA

Tall Grass by Marylou Badeaux A lovely seal pup in the tall grass of Prion Island, South Georgia, Antarctica

Oh, had I a golden thread… by Astrid Ewing Photography Vigeland Park in the rain

Regent's Park, London by PhotosByG Regents Park, London, showing part of the Queen Mary Gardens.

Winter Wheat by debidabble The new growth begins. Oklahoma, USA.

Lawns and Grasses A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Contact Sheet 19

vineyard bars by metriognome Brookland Valley vineyard, Caves, Rd, Wilyabrup, Margaret River area, Western Australia.

Bench in a meadow by kaealia HYÈRES, FRANCE

Sacre Coeur, Paris 3 by John Velocci Sacre Coeur cathedral in Paris, France. built in 1914

DUNE GRASSES by Margaret Stevens Emu Point, Albany, Western Australia.

Yin Yang Landform by Mui-Ling Teh “Landform” by Charles Jencks located just outside the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh,

Grass by Livvy Young This grass grows sideways oﬀ an embankment by the boatyard in Uphill,where Weston sea comes in.

Arley Hall Gardens by AnnDixon Arley Hall Gardens, Nr. Liverpool Cheshire, UK

Solar Moss by pyettphoto South of England

In Need Of Cutting by lezvee Devon, England

A summer meadow… by Mortimer123 Deerton in Kent, UK.

Outside fire place by AuntieBarbie GLADSTONE, UNITED STATES

Sleeping On Grass by Cliﬀ Vestergaard Gold Coast ,Queensland ,Australia

Simply Grass ! by Elfriede Fulda Rawdon, Quebec, Canada

Lighting the Way by WhiteDove Studio kj gordon acrylic on fabric

Among the daises by GreyFeatherPhot ABERYSTWYTH, UNITED KINGDOM

Reflective Globes by Rebecca Bryson GARDNER, UNITED STATES

35 meadow background

by spetenfia

No information

Autumn Grasses by John Thurgood RHS Wisley Gardens, Surrey, UK.

Spikelets of Flowers by Kerryn Madsen-Pietsch near Innisfail, Tropical Far North Queensland, Australia.

Lawns and Grasses A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

51 Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Reflective Globes

Joint 1st Place Rebecca Bryson Reflective Globes

Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Bench in a meadow

Joint1st Place kaealia

Bench in a meadow

53 Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Oh, had I a golden thread…

Joint 1st Place Astrid Ewing Photography Oh, had I a golden thread…

Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Papyrus In The Fog

2nd Place

Sandra Foster

55 Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Lighting the Way

Joint 3rd Place

WhiteDove Studio kj gordon

Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Yin Yang Landform

Joint 3rd Place

Mui-Ling Teh

57 Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Wild Grass

Joint 3rd Place

Lynn Gedeon

Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Amber Wave

Joint 3rd Place

TeresaB

59 Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

A summer meadowâ&#x20AC;Ś

Joint 4th Place

Mortimer123

Lawns and Grasses Top Ten A Country Gardens Come Grow With Us Challenge Catalogue

Winter Wheat

Joint 4th Place

debidabble

Grasses Poaceae

63 Growth and development Grass blades grow at the base of the blade and not from elongated stem tips. This low growth point evolved in response to grazing animals and allows grasses to be grazed or mown regularly without severe damage to the plant. Three general classifications of growth habit present in grasses: bunch-type (also called caespitose), stoloniferous, and rhizomatous. The success of the grasses lies in part in their morphology and growth processes, and in part in their physiological diversity. Most of the grasses divide into two physiological groups, using the C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways for carbon fixation. The C4 grasses have a photosynthetic pathway, linked to specialized Kranz leaf anatomy, which allows for increased water use efficiency, rendering them better adapted to hot, arid environments and those lacking in carbon dioxide. The C3 grasses are referred to as "cool-season" grasses, while the C4 plants are considered "warm-season" grasses; they may be either annual or perennial. •

Annual cool-season - wheat, rye, annual bluegrass (annual meadowgrass, Poa annua), and oat

•

Perennial cool-season - orchardgrass (cocksfoot, Dactylis glomerata), fescue (Festuca spp.), Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)

•

Annual warm-season - maize, sudangrass, and pearl millet

•

Perennial warm-season - big bluestem, Indiangrass, Bermudagrass and switchgrass.

Ecology Grass-dominated biomes are called grasslands. If only large, contiguous areas of grasslands are counted, these biomes cover 31% of the planet's land. Grasslands include pampas, steppes, and prairies. Grasses provide food to many grazing mammals—such as livestock, deer, and elephants—as well as to many species of butterflies and moths. The evolution of large grazing animals in the Cenozoic contributed to the spread of grasses. Without large grazers, fire-cleared areas are quickly colonized by grasses, and with enough rain, tree seedlings. Trees eventually shade out and kill most grasses. Trampling grazers kill seedling trees but not grasses

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae

Etymology The Poaceae name was given by John Hendley Barnhart in 1895, based on the tribe Poeae (described in 1814 by Robert Brown), and the type genus Poa (described in 1753 by Linnaeus). The term is derived from the Ancient Greek term for grass.

continued on page 76

Writings by RC deWinter & Susan Werby

RC deWinter Autumn Night in the Country

Garden Runes RC deWinter

A soft wind blows this October night, ruffling the copper leaves of the maples. They rustle like taffeta, a crisp dryness that does nothing to disguise the burring of the nightjar that haunts the garden, hunting moths and such. I imagine it will be leaving soon for somewhere warmer; with any luck it will be back in spring. Apart from these sounds I hear nothing but the occasional creak of a floorboard as the cat, an ever-vigilant sentry, patrols the house, on the prowl for any small stray creature that may have found its way in. I think back to life in the city; a caul of nostalgia drops lightly onto my shoulders as I remember the electric excitement of those sidewalks crackling with neon, the music washing out of the open doors of the blues bars and jazz clubs, the neverending stream of chatter, a pastiche of languages that, if could be painted, would surely be a wild, vividly-colored abstract swirling with vitality.

67 And the food! A smorgasbord that never closed: breakfast for dinner, pushcart goodies for those on the run, insufferably elegant bistros, Chinese at dawn if you wanted it. And museums and libraries, theaters, street performers, panhandlers, mounted police in the park along with fast talkers hustling knockoffs, all enveloped in a cacophony of horns and whistles and buses belching their way up and down and across the grid of streets and avenues. I’m beginning to feel I’ve made the wrong decision, leaving that array of stimulation, the diversity, the dazzling choices in every arena, for this quiet place where one can go for days without hearing another voice, without seeing another face, unless one makes the effort to go into town. I need to remind myself why I am here, so I step out into the garden, late flowers still blooming, and hear the last of the crickets sawing away, catch the faint tang of saltwater in the breeze, and, looking up into a sky still richly blue, unpolluted by the megawatts of commerce, see the stars, too many to count, holding court around a moon so full and round if it were a melon it would be overripe. And that’s it. I remember why. It’s that midnight blue blanket encrusted with stars. Even with a counting house full of gold, I could never buy that sky in the city.

Sunset Climbers RC deWinter

69 jacob's ladder buried under years of loss surrounded by the insanity of a world in which i am the puzzle piece that does not fit i threw myself on the ground and prayed to be released of course that was futile there is no one listening i heard only the wind sighing in the trees saw nothing but green an explosion of life splashed with the colors of summer green vines climbed toward the setting sun flowering angels on jacobâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ladder twining in natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mindless orgy unaware their time is measured never thinking of the killing frost awaiting just around the corner i think of that frost all the time i know my time is measured i envy those vines the ladder that supports their living for i have nothing to cling to but the hope that the killing will be swift and clean ÂŠ 2015 RC deWinter ~ All Rights Reserved

On a summer’s day in an unfamiliar yard in an unfamiliar town, having been dragged there by well-meaning friends, I sat, a little apart physically but light-years away mentally from the company. There was a dull, decorous picnic in progress; I was bored. There was nothing I could add to any conversation, living, as I do, outside the purview of the well-fed, prosperous world of those burghers in attendance. No one noticed as I slipped away to escape the chatter. There was a garden – rather, there were several gardens of various configurations – surrounding the house; there, at least I could lose myself in the solace of nature, with no background static of meaningless anecdotes, stale jokes and tedious tales of townsfolk unknown to me. I wandered through roses and around a sturdy enclosure planted thick with crucifers and root vegetables. Rounding a corner past the fence, I found myself in a little wood; there were various lanterns of a vaguely Oriental design scattered under the low-hanging branches of small exotic pines and flowering shrubs as well as a slat-backed bench, set there, I suppose, to encourage meditation.

71 I took advantage of the bench and sat, trying to look past the lanterns and the stones arranged around them; they were so patently an artifice interfering with the simplicity of the wood. A catbird flicked in and out of the shrubbery; cabbage butterflies and the occasional dragonfly flitted among the blossomed branches. I could not hear any voices. I was content. A squirrel startled me as it leapt from underneath one of the pines, and as it skittered off I noticed it had been hiding among the remains of a tree no longer in residence; only a small semi-hollow stump remained, surrounded by flashings of bark left behind after its felling. Somehow I felt there might be a message there for me. I knelt in the earth, studying the arrangement of the treeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remains, forcing all thoughts of anything but what I saw before me from my mind. I closed my eyes; the vision of the bark surrounded by starlike flowers imprinted in memory. As if caught in a kaleidoscope the shapes shifted, each turn a new version of what was left after the culling of that tiny corner of the universe. And what I saw was beautiful, and that was the message: what remains after devastation can yet be cherished.

Burgundy Petals. Susan Werby

73 Tea Party A Victorian look to burgundy and offwhite petals immersed in greenery brings to mind a tea party… I envision old crocheted doilies on a polished dark round table that has upon it a pretty floral teapot with tea cups and saucers. The aroma of the loose tea leaves beckons one to pour the hot water. There is a gold embossed little book of poetry upon one corner of the table top. Would it not be appropriate to read some poetry aloud while sipping from a dainty porcelain cup of hot tea? Sharing this moment with a special someone would make it even more memorable. Old is new and new is old…   Oh how I long for the “good old days” with life’s simplicities.

Susan Werby

A Song of Many Colors. Susan Werby

75 The Magic of Music Nature creates fragrances that sing notes In the colors of petals and leaves Ocean waves murmuring low tones of blues and greys Grasses swooshing green in a gold summer haze Stop and listen Some sounds are silent As branches arc and move With the wind sweeping Like a conductorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands Leading the instruments To follow his commands Trees rising high like an opera singer Reaching for the high notes Touching the wings of birds in flight Until stars begin a cacophony Of twinkling silver bells into the night Colors now put to sleep As darkness becomes deep And when a new day shall begin The hues and sounds awaken again

Susan Werby

Lawn

77 Lawns A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses or (rarely) other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. Common characteristics of a lawn are that it is composed only of grass species, it is subject to weed and pest control, it is subject to practices aimed at maintaining its green color (e.g., watering), and it is regularly mowed to ensure an acceptable length, although these characteristics are not binding as a definition. Lawns are used around houses, apartments, commercial buildings and offices. Many city parks also have large lawn areas. In recreational contexts, the specialised names turf, pitch, field or green may be used, depending on the sport and the continent. The term "lawn", referring to a managed grass space, dates to no earlier than the 16th century. Tied to suburban expansion and the creation of the household aesthetic, the lawn is an important aspect of the interaction between the natural environment and the constructed urban and suburban space. In many suburban areas, there are bylaws in place requiring houses to have lawns and requiring the proper maintenance of these lawns. In some jurisdictions where there are water shortages, cities are encouraging alternatives to lawns to reduce water use.

Origins Lawns may have originated as grassed enclosures within early medieval settlements used for communal grazing of livestock, as distinct from fields reserved for agriculture. The word "laune" is first attested in 1540, and is likely related to the Celtic Brythonic word lan/llan/laun, which has the meaning of enclosure, often in relation to a place of worship. Before the invention of mowing machines in 1830, lawns were managed very differently. They were an element of wealthy estates and manor houses, and in some places were maintained by the labor-intensive methods of scything and shearing. In most situations, they were also pasture land maintained through grazing by sheep or other livestock. Areas of grass grazed regularly by rabbits, horses or sheep over a long period often form a very low, tight sward similar to a modern lawn. This was the original meaning of the word "lawn", and the term can still be found in place names. Some forest areas where extensive grazing is practiced still have these seminatural lawns. For example, in the New Forest, England, such grazed areas are common, and are known as lawns, for example Balmer Lawn. Lawns similar to those of today first appeared in France and England in the 1700s when Andr茅 Le N么tre designed the gardens of Versailles that included a small area of grass called the tapis vert, or "green carpet".

Etymology Lawn is a cognate of llan which is derived from the Common Brittonic word landa (Old French: launde) that originally means heath, barren land, or clearing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn

continued on page 93

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