Memorial Day 2013 Dad Remembered

Carmelo Guglielmino, my father, 907th 101st. Air Borne Division.

 My father, Carl left many images of  himself and his company of brothers, from his years in WWII, Europe.  On the back of this picture he wrote," Mourmelon Camp March 15 1945."

In some of the images, one wonders what dangers were in store for all of them.  On the reverse of this photo he wrote, " Alsace Jan 20 1945."

 He wrote "Bastone Nuts Jan.1,1945 on the reverse of this photo.

 He wrote "Holland Oct. 1944

"Austria Liezen June 15 1945

I have his caps

In the day he was a daring paratrooper,

and he rode in the gliders.

From some of his early army photos, one would not imagine that this young fellow from Brooklyn, NY, would face the dangers and come away from all of the horrors of being a foot soldier (and sometimes winding up in a parachute or glider), without a scratch.  He did receive many medals from the U.S. and European countries, including the Bronze Star Award.  As time permits I will scan the many photos he left us and post them for anyone interested in a very personal history of WWII.  What a wonderful legacy he has given us with the notes he wrote on the backs of his photos.Remember the Vets this Memorial Day.

Creating a Container Garden with Mini Plants

 I retrieved a broken cement oval planter from a friend's garden shop.

 Last Fall I used Gorilla Glue to piece the planter together and left it out during the winter months to see if the glue would hold the pot together.

 The glue puffs out a bit when drying, but that was inside the planter pot.

 This month I filled in two missing chunks with Bondo and repainted the outside with white outdoor acrylic house paint.

 When I went to the garden center I looked for miniature plants that were in a gray to white to light green spectrum, to be compatible with the flag stones  on my porch.

I  selected Sedum Makinoi Variegata

,

 Sedum Cauticola,

 and Sempervivum Arachnoideum Hens & Chicks.

 I had an oval plastic pot that just fit inside the concrete planter.

I used potting soil,

 to fill in the spaces after placing the plants in the plastic pot.

 A neighborhood friend gave me some plants that she could not take on her move out of state.  This miniature sedum was adopted, and used with the other three.

 I tucked it into the spaces in the front of the container.

 After sprinkling more potting soil into the gaps, I brushed off extra soil from the Hens & Chicks.

Water was added next, and daily for the next few days.

 The plants responded well on my stone porch which gets afternoon sun.

 This is the planter two weeks later, filing in with new growth.

An inspirational book on container gardens is, For Your Garden, Pots and Containers by Warren Schultz, 1997, Barns &Noble Books, New York.  It has wonderful ideas about combining plants, both flowers and vegetables in an array of planters.