After weeks and weeks of poor fishing, July 4th turned out to be a great time to greet the dawn from our fishing dock. A nice little mess of pan-fish! These are surprisingly scrappy and a lot of fun to catch. Plus, aren't they pretty?
I was feeling pretty smug about pulling in one after another.
Then Hubby Dearest used on of my night-crawlers, and here is what he pulled in:
This is a 15" large-mouth bass. Since we were fishing for bream, we had not carried a net out with us. Fortunately, he didn't break the line or get off the hook.
I will say that I think a blue-gill is prettier. This one is in bright mating colors. The summer heat is hard on gardens. We have bulbs blooming in March, violets and pansies go wild in April, the roses are fabulous in May, and the daisies, hostas and primroses are wonderful in June...and then comes July, with brutal temperatures and wilting humidity. Thank goodness for crepe myrtles!
The blooms are in large clusters; each frilly flower will produce a seed-head that will open and scatter hundreds (trust me) of tiny seeds. One bush produces millions.
The 'shrubs' can grow very tall, and older examples can have very thick trunks, which are smooth and mottled--very handsome. Right now they are blooming all over town in a variety of colors--white, pale rose, bright pink, purple, deep red.
Bright, cheerful, incredibly hardy and versatile. Also, you can't kill one. (Believe me, we've tried.) When they get too tall and begin shading areas where we want sun, we cut them off flush at the ground. (These look awful if merely pruned.) The next year, they're back up, just a more modest size.
Bass for supper! A Glorious Fourth of July to you!
Yum! We just had some NC trout for dinner tonight, but we didn't fish it ourselves. I think it came from the local trout farm. I remember fishing for trout when I lived in Wisconsin. We always used night crawlers for bait. Those trout didn't need any fancy fly fishing.
ReplyDeleteRe crepe myrtle, we have one tree. I've seen other crepe myrtles in full bloom in the city, but ours seems to be a late bloomer. It has some blooms on it now, but it is far from full bloom. Our bee balm is also in full bloom, as are the guara, echinacea, sun flowers, yarrow, etc. Yesterday a cactus opened up four deep yellow blooms. Truly exquisite. Is there a way for commentators to post photos to you?
We have a couple of 'different generations' of crepe myrtle, and they bloom a month or more apart. I guess it's like some of the bulbs--various sorts chime in at different times.
ReplyDeleteMy e-mail would probably be the only way to share photos--elaine.walizer@gmail.com-- but I'd love to see them. I have Shasta daisies, lavender, and echinacea all together in a bed, but the asparagus are hiding them! Forgot to plan for that!
Catching fish for dinner while never going farther than your own dock -- reminds me of summers at the lakes in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteFor the 4th we had chili from Ben's Chili Bowl (famous for fans Bill Cosby & Bill Clinton in DC) at the local ballpark. Potomac Nationals game (our minor league baseball team) lost 13-4 but we saw some good plays and the fireworks were great.
Nothing tastes so good as fresh caught fish...good work Elaine : )
ReplyDeleteLove your gardening notes...my great victory this summer is that I have finally gotten some beautiful sweet-peas (my absolute favorite!) to bloom on my 3rd floor condo deck. Thanks, no doubt, to the cooler summer we are having in the Okanagan. Have a small vase full by my bed - doesn't get any better than that!
cheers, Patricia
I just saw the sign on BEQ's blog. Hilarious!
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