Building a Special Space-Themed Garden
We lost Daniel's brother David in January.
He was the youngest of the three brothers, and not really who you'd expect to go first, despite a host of medical issues. It was a very quick and very shocking loss for us.
As I usually do when we lose someone, I start planning a garden in their honor. David had worked for NASA since college, apparently convincing them to give him a work-study scholarship while he was actually still in college, because he had no desire to ever work for anyone else. He worked on ISS systems and he adored his job. Therefore, David's theme will obviously be space, and all the science fiction/fantasy influences he loved.
The building process will take some time, as we plan to cut down an existing, albeit not doing so well tree to use as the centerpiece. A metal rocket will be mounted on a post in the center of the tree stump. The plantings around the tree will start first, and begin as soon as our last frost date passes.
I've done a massive amount of research into appropriately named flowers and plants, and thought it might be nice to share the list here for others who have the same impetus. (Purchase sources are provided where available, but they will be strictly anecdotal as we haven't necessarily purchased from them ourselves.)
Flowers
Daylilies
Mal (I choose to believe this is named for Serenity's captain)
JEDI series (there's honestly so many of these)
Long Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
Other Plants
Please let me know any others you might run across and I'll add them to the list!