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| Yellow and purple Coneflowers are forming their needle like seeds, which goldfinches and other birds love to eat. |
Birds and squirrels like safe places to rest and eat, so various platforms will attract their attention.
I bought one Coneflower and its cousin, a Brown-Eyed Susan for the garden. They were bargains on the clearance table and seemed to be fading soon after, once planted. They were simply going to seed, and the goldfinches arrrived to feed from them and the sunflowers.
Fall is a good season for fattening up on seeds, since some must winter here and others will migrate. I understand the prevalence of berries changes wasps and hornets so they also make the transition to protect themselves and their future generations.
Everyone agrees this all works together so well - and if so - who did the designing? In publishing, it is entirely acceptable to attribute these intricate dependencies, schedules, and survival techniques to the plants and animals, all of them evolving to make this happen.
I do argue from the Intelligent Design perspective, because that implies enough arguments in favor of a position will persuade the unbelievers. Instead, the evolutionists see that method as crypto-Creationism. Here is the typical response to Intelligent Design.
I read the Intelligent Design material and the books that give their little shout-outs to Evolution. Both contribute to my knowledge of the natural world.
A better method is to join the older scientists and simply attribute all this to God Himself, as revealed in Genesis 1 and John 1. The older scientists like Agassiz believed this and expressed themselves that way. But Christian Faith is erased from our collective history, just as it is removed from liberal denominations, including ELCA, WELS, and the LCMS.
The Word creates faith just as the Word created the universe. A scientist wisely said, "Why would I trust in my weak human reasoning to make a case against evolution when the Word of God is so powerful in establishing God's Creation?"
When faith in Christ is removed from our culture, so are the blessings that flow so generously as fruits of the Spirit. Forgiveness is replaced by revenge, work is replaced by theft, and honesty is replaced by public relations.
"The separation of church and state" is deceitfully cited by atheists as a founding principle of our Republic, but they know it was really Jefferson's promise not to let the federal government dictate to the churches. The Founders did not want a theocracy with the Church ruling, nor did they want Caesareopapism, with the government ruling the Church. They established religious freedom with the assumption that our country would be governed by religious principles. But the courts are forming a Caesaropapism by default with the Church rules by atheists in black robes.
Autumn Is Arriving
Mrs. Ichabod noticed the change in weather, just after a torrid week of extreme heat and humidity. The nights are much cooler.
God's Creation is making plans for winter. A few leaves are falling. Autumn crops are beginning to form - pumpkins, corn, and berries.
We are making plans for next spring by improving the soil all winter.
- Newspapers and cardboard come into our yard rather than leaving the property, both recycled as soil amendments and weed barriers.
- The compost is being distributed and a new heap started.
- The main rose garden is getting a new layer of cyprus mulch and newspapers.
- The sunny garden's straw bales are composting into the soil.
- Various amenities for the birds are being adjusted to improve their mood next year. Just as colleges establish a country club look to keep students, we design luxuries for creatures to expand their families and become hard-working residents of the Jackson Rose Farm.
- Various neighborhood alliances will be strengthened to obtain their newspapers, pine needles, and autumn leaves. If teen labor is needed, money will cross hands.
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| Bride's Dream |
Fortunately I can now respond to any teasing about my quirky gardening methods by saying, "How many roses do you have?" I no longer feel like Noah hammering gopherwood boards onto the Ark.
The main rose garden has six-foot tall KnockOut roses bursting with blooms, 25 or more on each bush. Eight of them make an impressive display of color, even in the oppressive heat. The hybrid tea roses take turns blooming, not so rapidly but more elegantly.
The maple trees is no longer surrounded by weeds, junk, and maple tree suckers, but by ten new roses blooming delicately. Their roots are not entirely established and the maple is greedy for their water and nutrition, but small roses are far more attractive than large, rank weeds.
Rising above the rest of the roses is another triple bloom on one stem - Mr. Lincoln. Not in spite of, but because of all the roses given away last week, we will have roses on the altar this Sunday. A divided joy is a joy made double. Mrs. I thinks our special treatment at the doctor's office stems from the large bouquet of roses left for the doctor and staff.
Mr. Gardener admires our roses across our common fence.
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| A photo cannot capture the beauty of Veteran's Honor, but this is a start. |