Focus on Flowers

Braided Creek: A Conversation in Poetry by Jim Harrison & Ted Kooser is a unique book composed of unattributed, haiku-like, often hilarious, poems.

English writer John Drinkwater wrote the following poem many years ago.

"It’s one thing to have hit records; it’s another thing to create something that has become completely incorporated into the culture." —Todd Rundgren

This week, more poems from James Tate's book Distance from Loved Ones, including "An Extraterrestrial," "I am a Finn," and "I am Still a Finn."

Late-baroque sonatas (Arsis), 17th-century Spanish song (Anima e Corpo), lute music of Sylvius Leopold Weiss (BGS), and "histories" of Heinrich Schütz (Dacapo).

There is an old saying that the time to prune the roses is when the forsythia blooms. Here in my Midwestern garden our forsythia blooms in March.

One of the 17th Century’s most famous women—her life, arts patronage, and historic accomplishments are explored as well as music associated with her court.

Today, I'm reading poems from Braided Creek: A Conversation in Poetry by Jim Harrison & Ted Kooser, published by Copper Canyon Press in 2003.

We’re all something larger than ourselves. We’re not one voice, we’re many voices. We’re many campuses. We come from any places. And we go all over the world. —JT Forbes

17th-century music with Stephen Stubbs and Maxine Eilander (ATMA), and Rolf Lislevand with Ensemble Kapsberger (Astree).

One of the earliest trees on earth, identified through fossils, was the Ginkgo biloba, which was one of the predominant trees on earth 250 million years ago.

James Tate has become one of the most beloved contemporary American poets.

Since trees are well and truly rooted to their spot, they must rely on other agents to help them cross pollinate, or they must self pollinate.

Stage director Murray McGibbon interviews English actress Sandra Duncan.

Harmonia marks the 25th anniversary of Early Music America with a look at its past competition winners. Part two looks at the accomplishments of the Concord Ensemble, Masques, and Plaine & Easie. Jordi Savall continues his exploration of traditional music from Scotland and Ireland in the featured release Celtic Viol II.

On this podcast I read William Stafford's poems: "With Kit, Age 7, At the Beach," "A Sound From the Earth," and "People of the South Wind."

As well as living longer than any other organism on our planet, trees can grow into the largest organisms.

Spanish consort songs (Passacaille) and Italian dances (Dorian).

On this edition of The Poets Weave, Richard Cecil reads his poems "CNN.com Valentine" and "Pep Talk."

Owen Johnson interviews 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan and plays two of her favorite pieces of music.

Baroque orchestral dance music by J.C.F. Fischer (CPO) and Michel-Richard Delalande (Harmonia Mundi).

It is hard to transplant plants with taproots, so look for small new plants or offsets near an established plant and dig a deep circle around them.

Annie Corrigan interviews author, blogger, and sex advice columnist Dan Savage.

"When he pours his libation of tears to the ghosts in the stream / The ghosts gather, a shimmer on the waves." -- Meng Chiao

Contour planting is also popular along highways, in public parks, and in private gardens as a method of conserving water and avoiding water pollution.