Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to entertain you with all sorts of fascinating things. You may remember me from such posts as “A Trick Of The Light”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose. Pretty similar to the one from my last post, actually.
I wasn’t feeling as serious, though.
The guy I live with said I forgot to show pictures of a couple of grasses that he’s quite taken with; he was at Denver Botanic Gardens with his friend last Saturday and took a couple of pictures.
The first one here, a big grass, is Achnatherum splendens, which now he says he really has to have.
The other one is smaller, about the height of blue grama, which at first he thought it was, but it turned out to be Themeda triandra.
Well, so, anyway, back to today, or really yesterday, first, because I have a picture of a sleeping owl. Lots of crispy, dead silver maples leaves, too.
And a picture of some crocuses, Crocus puringii, which was taken yesterday. With the “big camera”.
Also, this douglas-fir got transplanted, into a pot. It was very unhappy living smack out in the garden, and so now it’s in a pot, and will be shaded in the winter, and hopefully recover. One whole side is brown, and has been for several years. It’s a dwarf douglas-fir that the guy I live with got from Jerry Morris when he visited Jerry’s nursery (gone now). It has a fancy, romantic name: ‘352’.
(That’s another of Jerry’s dwarf conifers, a limber pine, next to it.)
Okay, now, today. Mostly cyclamen. If you didn’t know already, the guy I live with is really into cyclamen.
Some live in the upstairs bedroom. (I call it a bedroom though it’s never been one.)
That reddish flower is Cyclamen hederifolium ‘Corfu Red’. 
There are some cyclamen that flower in the summer, though those don’t do as well here, because summers are so dry. Still, the ones that have been here for years look pretty good now. This is Cyclamen purpurascens ‘Extra Fancy’. It’s true that it’s looked better in past years. 
There are lots of cyclamen flowering out in the garden right now, which might be hard to believe, considering how horribly dry it’s been. But they seem to be happy. These are almost all Cyclamen cilicium, some of which have self sown. 
This is what the leaves look like. Slightly scalloped on the edges. Similar to Cyclamen mirabile, but cilicium has a smooth tuber where mirabile has what they call a “corky” one. 
The leaves of Cyclamen coum are coming up now, too. Smooth on the edges.
Sometimes the leaves get damaged in cold winters, but new leaves grow in spring. The guy I live with gave some Cyclamen coum to his friend, and these were planted in an area that’s sunny in the winter. The cyclamen start to flower in late January there. When that happened the first time, he was super jealous, but he does like his friend a lot, and so it was really okay.
There are some crocuses flowering where the cyclamen are, too. These are Crocus kotschyanus ‘Reliant’, which are now seeding around. 
Um, well, here I am going on about cyclamen, and I’ve almost completely forgotten the reason why my post has this title. It was something that happened today.
The guy I live with suddenly got hungry, in the afternoon, and didn’t feel like cooking anything, so he rummaged around in the pantry, and out came this funny, folded bag, which he put into the microwave.
There were a bunch of sounds I didn’t like at all. I had to go out onto the patio and bark.
A minute or so later, the guy I live with took the bag out of the microwave and opened it. I had to go hide in my kitchen fort.
Then all of a sudden, there were these whitish things right in front of me. The guy I live with said to try them, which I did.
They were really good. Salty.
He said this was called microwave popcorn. Newman’s Own. I’d never had anything like this before. He said that Slipper, a purebred border collie who lived here before me, and his first cousin Chess, both loved popcorn, and they got to have it every so often.
I understand there’s something called white cheddar popcorn, and I’m pretty sure that’s something to look forward to.
Well that definitely is all for today. New grasses, an owl, crocuses, cyclamen, and microwave popcorn. Not bad at all.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
Cyclamen are wonderful aren’t they? I have a purpurascens and I think it was blooming for 6 months this year. I have a lot of grasses in the back and the dog, Rosie, got a teensy little seed with a tail down her ear. Too small to be called an awn. She likes to eat that particular grass. Well, many $$$ to the vet to come out and fish it out. Did that ever happen to you? She didn’t like it at all. We’ve had popcorn for dinner here from time to time. And why not? It’s very nutritious.
The grass thing happened to Flurry, the first purebred border collie who lived here, with a trip to the doctor’s and bandages and stuff, so there’s always been a sort of high alert here. I get brushed when I walk through the foxtail grass. Or just have them grabbed out of my coat.
In fact, you know, the guy I live with made a sort of show-and-tell thing, with dried grass heads taped to a piece of cardboard, that he took to the doctor’s, some years ago. Like which ones to be careful of.
Popcorn is pretty interesting. I didn’t know that the guy I live with and his wife couldn’t say the word. They’d have to spell it. And even then, when someone said “P”, Slipper would get all excited. The air popper was the only appliance he wasn’t afraid of; he would lean his elbows (he was big) on the kitchen counter and watch the kernels get popped.
Sounds like a full and rewarding day all round. Microwave popcorn is like beer, a sign that God loves us. As for cyclamen—what’s not to like?
I’ve never heard of “beer”. The guy I live with said that Slipper, a purebred border collie who lived here before me, sometimes got to lick a little out of a bowl.
Maybe I’ll ask the guy I live with if I can try some. Non-alcoholic, because I guess alcohol isn’t good for dogs, and I’m one of those.
The popcorn was pretty interesting. The guy I live with said it could turn out to be a valuable addition to our modern lifestyle.
Mee-yow wo!! What a adoorabell Owl…..hee sure lookss comfycozy!
***purrsss*** BellaDharma
Yes, but scary, too.
An yore rite ’bout Owlss Mani. Wee like see in photoess butt wee are nervuss ’round them too!
The guy I live with said they scared me when I was really little, with the hooting at night. Now, of course, I am ultra tough and fearless.
Mee-yow wow what a kewl Owl snoozy all comfycozy Mani! Wee have Splendidss Grasses out back of our building. Yore crocuses are speck-taculer! Wee nevurr see ourss till April.
An those dwarfy treess are lovelee….wee miss our treess out front here an wuud love a dwarfie tree fore shade an purrivacy!
All THE Cyclamenss are so lovelee an they are lucky to have their furry own room!
‘Bout white Cheddar poppyconr: It ISS DELISHUSS!!!! Toetallee!
Thanx fore a grate bloggie post.
***purrsss*** BellaDharma
Thanks. I guess I’ll have to ask about white cheddar popcorn.
There are autumn-flowering crocuses, even winter-flowering ones, and then late-winter-flowering ones, or what people sometimes call spring ones.
He also likes big grasses, like miscanthus, but they’re never done well here. Not enough water. He always gets jealous when he sees them at this time of year. Not hugely jealous, because he’s so advanced, of course.
Trust mee Mani THE cheddur poppycorn iss fuabuluss!
LadyMew said THANX fore meowin ’bout Crocusess as shee did not know there were many diffyrent kindss! Big grassess are furry kewl….wee want sum up frontss butt Housin onlee put them out back! *sighsss*
An of coarse yore ‘guy’ iss advanced….just like mee LadyMew 😉
I’ll have to get the guy I live with to get some white cheddar popcorn.
There are lots of species of autumn-flowering crocuses. And cyclamen. And a few snowdrops. And narcissus, too, though those aren’t hardy here.
Mee hopess you will like THE poppycorn Mani…it iss so tastey! An mee iss sorry THE Owlss scared you when you were a kitt….umm wait…a pup! Mee will admit when mee lived on THE meen streetss of Wrieton mee gotted scared bye Owlss too! Thanx fully there are NO Owlss here! 😉
The regular Newman’s Own was good, for sure. The guy I live with keeps saying he’s going to go on a diet and so no white cheddar popcorn, but I see no signs of anything like dieting….
Mew mew mew LadyMew used to eat Newman’ss Own butt wee not abell to get it upss here inn Canada! FISHCAKESS!
Now shee DID bring home a small bag of White Chaeddur SmartyFood poppycorn an it was SO-O guud. mee had a few peecess….
An dye-et iss a dumm werd! LadyMew’ss dye-et went to “Hell-O Kitty” Land last week an shee has bin notty efurr since. THE dye-et fore Livurr Disease an her not gettin along well, mew mew mew….
The guy I live with is supposed to be on a diet (no one told him, but the hormone blocker caused him to gain weight), but instead he’s decided to cook. That’s not necessarily a good thing.
Popcorn is okay, but I don’t feel the way about it that Slipper, a purebred border collie who lived here before me, did.
It is pretty good, though.
Of course, dear Mani, you are not so serious in your characteristic pose; your breath, after all, is free of chewed-a-hole-in-the-Pendleton-blanket fumes. Our (parkway) grasses are showing their best now, so we’re not surprised they’re doing so well in your yard and DBG. What pretties you’ve shown us this time — trees and crocus and cyclamen and their leaves too! Since the faithful microwave popper died, we’ve been trying others which one after the other have proved deficient. Now, I like my Sort with garlic butter and Foxhill sprinkle from Penzy’s and shredded parm, but I think it’s time to move on to Newman’s Sort. Thanks for the advice. I’m excited. Good thing you are so excellently cute, Mani, or the sleeping owl would give you a run.
Thanks; I got some yesterday, too, though I am not as enthusiastic as Slipper, a purebred border collie who lived here before me, was, according to the guy I live with. Slipper would just vacuum up the popcorn.
And no one could say “popcorn” in the house, otherwise there would be an excess of excitement.
There’s about four inches of snow on the ground today.
Popcorn is overrated. Silver maples are not. I know most people think they are junky maples, but is is one of my three favorite maples. The foliage is the prettiest during the summer.
They’ve been banned from being planted near streets, here. Brittle branches crashing down in the snow.
Yes, I know they can be naughty, but so can terriers, . . . and sometimes, on very rare occasion, other breeds.
So I have heard.
Of course, I mean ‘other’ breeds, such as collies, beagles, poodles, pugs and such.
Of course. The other breeds.
Great blog, humour reminds me of Dylan Moran. Been reading your posts from Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island for a year now, I hope you keep writing.
I found your blog doing an Google image search for Pinus monophylla, which i am growing here from seed (after tremendous losses from determined Jays). Interesting to see how things I thought not hardy here zone 8a are surviving at your place.
I have a community radio show so i know what it is like to get little feedback.
Thanks. The guy I live with said that when this was a blog really devoted to gardening, and particular plants, there was very little feedback.
But after he decided to let a purebred border collie be the narrator, there’s always been excellent feedback.