Thursday 12 August 2010

Iron Deficiency

WILLOW'S MAGPIE No. 27



Mrs. Babcock’s hydrangeas had all turned pink
In despair and fury she wept;
For several nights she didn’t sleep a wink
No iron her gardener kept.

Her much preferred hue
For hydrangeas was blue,
Whatever was she to do?

And then she saw them, at the back of the shed,
Some rusty pipes, quite flaky and red;
She scraped off the rust,
Collected the dust,
Which round the plants she spread.

Her hydrangeas all flourished,
With iron flakes nourished,
I will not be flouted, she said.







28 comments:

  1. Any port in a storm! I like blue ones best, too...

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  2. Oh. I bet this would work, wouldn't it? Rust from old pipes turning the hydrangeas blue. This just makes me want to go out and get a hydrangea bush; I don't have one. But I bet I could find an old bit of rusty metal lying around here somewhere.

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  3. Fun poem. I take the easy way out and buy "Hydrangea Bluing Powder"

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  4. Friko this is so fun and creative...and a wonderful poem for the prompt...great Magpie! :-)

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  5. Friko, we have green ones here in Georgia. Do you have them too? They are absolutely gorgeous.

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  6. Effective and SAFE ! I've encountered the odd old razor blade under hydrangeas in my time , buried by lovers of blue blooms .

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  7. I like it. There was always a lot of fuss made about the blue hydrangeas we had in garden in Cornwall. Mostly, by visitors who had pink ones back home.

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  8. Is this true? How cool if it is!! And to put it to poetry is most poetic!

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  9. Where there's reason, there's an answer. A delightful piece!

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  10. Love the making do with what is around. That is the way I have done most of my life. Now I use the store stuff for my hydrangea thought. Great job.
    QMM

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  11. Hello to you, Friko. This post has a great, simple and effective way to change the color of hydrangias. I do love those flowers, in whatever color they might bloom in the soil available to them.

    My mind couples this post with the the prior post. May I ask you to pass along to Dee my compliments on her peacemaking skills. I agree with you that her approach showed years of practice. Also agree that her most recent "pupil" probably was just glad to get out of school.

    This is yet another of your posts that tells me that we would have much to discuss ... on that day when we do get to actually meet.

    xo

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  12. This was great! I bet you do a mean limerick too.

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  13. Wonderful words - I enjoyed reading this.

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  14. Very clever! I like pink ones - and white ones. Don't really like blue ones at all.

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  15. How clever and how cute. I love how hydrangeas can be coaxed into wearing different clothes with a little Iron.

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  16. Written from the good gardener's perspective no doubt ..... very nice.

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  17. Great poem and handy advice for the gardener indeed.

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  18. This is a wonderful gardener's tip in a very enjoyable format.

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  19. Love your hard-earned joy, Friko




    Warm Aloha from Waikiki :)

    Comfort Spiral

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  20. Well, now, I have been thinking a lot about hydrangeas these few days, because I am just back from Cornwall and the whole county seems hydrangea mad. They are everywhere! Does anyone know why they would be particularly favoured there? And since there were blue AND pink ones I suspected some soil manipulation of the Friko variety...

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  21. Me, being a city girl..well, it's nice to have this information! Love your Mag!

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  22. ha! great idea--love those blue hydrangeas! c

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  23. Dear Friko: Great poem! The idea of reusing (the three r's) is a great idea. The rust of the iron pipes does add to the soil and would help nourish it. So what is discarded can be viewed with new eyes as a blessing. Wish I had your POV! Loves Hygrangeas!

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  24. This reminds me of a thriller...an Agatha Christie-like murder. But I can't remember the story. The clue was in the hydrangeas changing colour.

    Loved your poem. Unique take on the prompt.

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  25. Nice poem on a beautiful subject. I love hydrangeas, too. Especially blue!

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  26. does this actually work...how ingenious...nice flow as well...i had to smile at the end...nice magpie!

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