IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR

The garden never ceases to provide us with an endless list of jobs to be done. As the cooler temperatures arrive there are plenty of outdoor jobs to be done.  Suddenly I remember those indoor gardening jobs I planned to do when it was 100º Somehow they just never got done.
This week I made a start on some garden ornaments that I needed to protect from the elements before putting them outside. After finally managing to pry the lid off the can of varnish and locating a paintbrush I made a start. By the time I had finished there wasn't a single metal item that hadn't received a coat of protective varnish. I found a shady place to work and made a start.

It was a job worth doing because it gave a new lease on life to all of them. These butterflies and dragonflies I picked up at a garage sale for $1. They looked pretty shabby with flaking areas.

I inherited this piece of decorative wall art from a friend who was leaving town. It spruced up nicely and found a place to hang it. This one I can see from my kitchen window.

These plaques came from a garage sale in Denver when we were traveling in our trailer some years ago. Not sure where they are going to go yet.

Then on to the wooden items. The fish who sits in the side garden pond as well as the wooden plaque above the side entrance.

Then I ventured to the outside to protect several metal wall hangings. It's quite amazing how it changed their appearance.

The bird houses were next. One of the owl houses needed a new floor, which David worked on. After which I shingled the roof.

The tree is turning into a shrine to owls. Surely this year the screech owl will come.

With plenty of bark left over I shingled another bird house. Outdoor things need all the protection they can get.

There! I ticked off quite a few items this week. Now to go and walk around the garden and see what needs doing.

THE GREEN MAN

I have always had a fascination with the Green Man, most often depicted in sculpture as a man's head surrounded by foliage, but occasionally depicted as a whole man.  This name only came into popular use after 1939 when Lady Raglan was researching these characters for an article she was writing, The Green Man in Church Architecture.  Until then he was known as a foliate head.
A new Green Man arrived in my garden this week. A Mother's Day gift which now graces the wall in my English garden and is a more modern depiction of a Green Man  He deserves to have his story told.

Original art by Milo Re

His origins will always remain a mystery although much has been written about the meaning of the faces. One interpretation is that he represents our connection with the earth and therefore the renewal of the plant life every spring. As I now have several presiding over my gardens I think I like that interpretation. Multiple depictions of this character date back to medieval times and before. He is found in too many cultures not to have significance, but is very prevalent in medieval churches and cathedrals of Great Britain and France, carved into the stone work. Also in carvings in India and the Middle East.

Sometimes he has a friendly face like this one on the wall in my Spanish Oak garden.

Foliate head

And less friendly faces of these smaller ones which are attached to the metal supports on an awning over a doorway. Where else would you put fringe magnets? I picked them up in England over 10 years ago and had been waiting for just the perfect place. It came last year.

Disgorging head

Foliate head

Disgorging head

Foliate head

These are all depictions of the Foliate head with leaves surrounding the head, and Disgorging head with leaves coming out of the mouth. A Bloodsucker head has leaves coming from all the orifices and probably represents death and burial.

England abounds in pubs called The Green Man, this one in the village of Grantchester.

The sign here may represent Jack-in-the-Green, a character sometimes linked to the Green Man. He danced through the streets in 16th and 17th C Britain on May Day, covered in leaves and garlands of flowers. The practice eventually met with Victorian disapproval and Jack was replaced with the May Queen. Currently there is a revival of Jack's character in many towns celebrating May Day.

I have Kingsley Amis novel, the Green Man which was also turned into a BBC production. It bears no relationship except for the fact the the pub the character ran was called The Green Man and has some supernatural experiences in which a ghostly apparition conjures up the apparition of a nasty green man. My green men are much more friendly.

HAND-ME-UPS

If you don't know what  hand-me-ups are, just have a guess. Yes! They are items passed up to you by your children. This time I am just thrilled to find a new home for this wonderful female Bacchus. She   has replaced the sun who has been relegated to an outside wall!

This and several other items had been lying on the ground, down the side of my son's house, for more than 5 years. The last time we were there I asked what if anything he was going to do with them. "Take them" he said. They were loaded on our truck in a flash. I knew exactly where this lady was going to go. She would replace the sun, which had replaced the planter with the Huernia schneideriana, which had replaced the original green man. Don't anyone say I am not up for a change.

There were also 4 architectural relics on the ground, and those too have found a home among the Ficus repens ivy which covers this retaining wall.

I may just have to do a little more scouting around next time I visit. I think it is time to rename this garden.