Myths and Legends

This may seem totally irrelevant, but go with me on it...


In Greek mythology, Jason and his Argonauts had a long challenge-filled quest to find the Golden Fleece.  He needed the gilded coat to lay claim to the kingship he rightfully deserved.  After many trials, when Jason at last arrived at Colchis to claim the Fleece from King Aeetes, he faced three daunting final tasks.  First, he had to plow a field with fire breathing oxen, then sow the field with the teeth of a dragon, and finally wrest the Fleece from the living dragon that guarded it.  As a role model for the much later but no less evilly challenged Harry Potter, he dispatched all three.  Then, a little less Harry-like, he fled with both the Fleece and Aeete's daughter Medea, leaving a trail of gore and heroic legend behind.


Now most of Jason's tasks carry pretty obvious dangers -- burning, drowning, being eaten, etc.  However, planting dragon's teeth is clearly a set-up; sounds pretty harmless, but you just know nothing good will come of it.  Sure enough, no sooner had he done his gardening chore than the teeth emerged from the ground as fully armed soldiers -- their helmets leading the charge upward to burst through the ground.


Now, for the connection.


Every year, when the Solomon's Seal sprouts, I am reminded of this particular myth. Their sprouts emerge from the mulch like an army of miniature helmets , infiltrating the alium, tulips, hyacinths and campanula.  They multiply each year, swelling their battalions and increasing the density of their attack.   Here is this year's march.

Just as Jason's sprouts surprised him with their shape-shifting ability, so too, will these. But in a much more benign sense.  As they continue their upward journey , these pink helmets will unfurl into variegated green and white leaves, held like standards on long arching stems. They'll carry their blooms all along the stems, swinging below the leaves like small white bells dangling from a clothesline.


In case you're wondering how Jason outwitted his enemy crop, they apparently had an IQ similar to my Solomon's Seal.  Legend has it that he tossed a stone into their middle, and they, not being able to figure out who was attacking them, fell upon one another and annihilated themselves.  


I wonder if that tactic will work on weeds.


In other, less legendary news, here's what else is happening in the garden:

The lettuce is in.

The radishes are up

We can start harvesting the scallions

So we'll eat these tonight!