The clematis blooms are magnificent this year. The purple flower heads were the largest they've ever been. The fuchsia one on my chimney has never flowered so bountifully with hundreds yet to open.
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Ah gardening. Is there any better past time to connect with mother earth? The work can be backbreaking but the rewards are worth every ache and pain. Sowing a seed or introducing a new plant to the garden is an act of nurturing; raising a one season progeny.
The excitement begins by finding the perfect addition and bringing the little bundle home. Preparing a nursery, that perfect spot in the ground. Watering and weeding, watching over the little darlings with tender loving care and then the bloom. The plant opening its essence. If the conditions are right in this symbiotic relationship, after the nurturing comes the gift of amazing beauty.
But the weather can be a harsh reality. The wind and rain this weekend beat the peonies into the grown, their large flowering heads, soaked and heavy laden, bowed in defeat. The delicate poppy petals were ripped from their glory to wilt and dissolve on the drenched soil. My irises, so large and proud, forced to the ground like a hostages in a heist. I looked around my gardens this morning with a heavy heart. So much beauty senselessly destroyed by the same element that nourishes it.
I’m miffed but I’ll get over it. I’ve been through this before, it doesn’t make me want to stop planting, stop gardening. The loss is tough but like farmers in the province at least my livelihood isn’t over. Extreme weather can be a death to crops. I only have to swallow a bit of disappointment.
I’ve gotten behind in my weeding. There’s been a lot on my plate lately and the rain made all the weeds shoot up with a vengeance. It would be easy to give up for the summer but I won’t. I’ll play the game of one step forward two steps back with mother nature. I’ve invested a lot of sweat equity in my little flower patch so until I hang up my trowel I have to move forward. When the day comes that it’s too much to handle I’ll give my perennials away and either let the grass take over or put in low maintenance shrubs. For now, it's curtains for my lost peonies and poppies, their run was short but sweet. I am waiting for the next act. Enter stage right, the Lily show, their magnificent performance is always worthy of a standing ovation. Although winter was a harsh critique and I lost some of my major players, my incredible Stargazer and a few Asiatics, I have a huge cast of day lilies, several show stopper Stella Dora's that are in rehearsal for the magnificent show about to open on this broad's way.
The excitement begins by finding the perfect addition and bringing the little bundle home. Preparing a nursery, that perfect spot in the ground. Watering and weeding, watching over the little darlings with tender loving care and then the bloom. The plant opening its essence. If the conditions are right in this symbiotic relationship, after the nurturing comes the gift of amazing beauty.
But the weather can be a harsh reality. The wind and rain this weekend beat the peonies into the grown, their large flowering heads, soaked and heavy laden, bowed in defeat. The delicate poppy petals were ripped from their glory to wilt and dissolve on the drenched soil. My irises, so large and proud, forced to the ground like a hostages in a heist. I looked around my gardens this morning with a heavy heart. So much beauty senselessly destroyed by the same element that nourishes it.
I’m miffed but I’ll get over it. I’ve been through this before, it doesn’t make me want to stop planting, stop gardening. The loss is tough but like farmers in the province at least my livelihood isn’t over. Extreme weather can be a death to crops. I only have to swallow a bit of disappointment.
I’ve gotten behind in my weeding. There’s been a lot on my plate lately and the rain made all the weeds shoot up with a vengeance. It would be easy to give up for the summer but I won’t. I’ll play the game of one step forward two steps back with mother nature. I’ve invested a lot of sweat equity in my little flower patch so until I hang up my trowel I have to move forward. When the day comes that it’s too much to handle I’ll give my perennials away and either let the grass take over or put in low maintenance shrubs. For now, it's curtains for my lost peonies and poppies, their run was short but sweet. I am waiting for the next act. Enter stage right, the Lily show, their magnificent performance is always worthy of a standing ovation. Although winter was a harsh critique and I lost some of my major players, my incredible Stargazer and a few Asiatics, I have a huge cast of day lilies, several show stopper Stella Dora's that are in rehearsal for the magnificent show about to open on this broad's way.
This red poppy is almost a foot across. It's delicate center is amazing.
No garden is complete without a Peony Patch. I have white, light pinks, deeper pinks, yellow and rich cranberry. The smell is intoxicating and every whiff stops the earth from turning. I find the peony more fragrant than roses, although disappointingly, some came without any smell at all. I'm so sad for those plants.....what has man done to you? My yellow peony hasn't opened yet but the plant is filled with buds.
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