Ramblings-n-Writings

I think I’m getting a case of spring fever! Warm days, sunshine, green trees, birds….Sigh. Our weather has been so wacky this winter that it has been easy to lose track of what month we are in. After realizing a few days ago that the hummingbirds were starting to migrate north (read that post here) and spotting my first robin last Friday (a rather plump robin too!), I’ve been checking up on my flower beds eagerly waiting for the time when I can dig my hands into the dirt.

So what’s going on in my garden? In the above ground bed, I have a vine that never actually died off for the winter – I was impressed although I may have just overlooked that fact when I chose the vine (oops!). Nothing else is happening in that bed since it has only been there for one summer and is the perfect spot for impatiens and touch-me-nots. However, the other flower bed is where all the excitement is. My irises are about 4 inches tall, but again some never fully died off this year because of the bouts of warm weather. Today I also noticed some new iris sprouts about a 1/2 inch high! Near the irises are miniature daffodils and according to my photos from the last two years, they should be blooming within the next week (however, I don’t see the first sign of a bud…sigh). Poking up next to the irises are a couple of hyacinths. These beauties didn’t bloom last year so I’m hoping they grace us with color this year. If not, I guess I need to read up on hyacinths. Today I also spotted the first sprout in the hosta plant. And the wild day lilies as well as my regular lilies are all showing signs of growth. I have one lily that I don’t remember seeing sprouted (note to self: check on yellow lily tomorrow) and an asiatic lily that hasn’t made an appearance yet.

I have grown to love gardening during the past three summers. My mom always had extraordinary flower gardens while I was growing up, but I never lived in a place to start a flower bed until moving to W.Va. three years ago. Now mom’s gardens are mostly gone, compliments of the local deer, and I’ve inherited most of her lilies and irises. Apparently, deer like nothing better than the tender sweetness of an almost opened lily bud. Looking back at pictures, my mom’s flowers were so beautiful, they could have won a prize at a flower show! I haven’t quite mastered the art of gardening like she did, but already my mind is scheming for this year’s show of color – marigolds, impatiens, morning glories, cannas, sunflowers, petunias, purple ruffle basil…

Did I say “purple ruffle basil”? Ah, the thorn in my side and the source of a rabbit trail. If you need a hardy plant that will grow most anywhere (despite what the garden websites say – if it can grow in my driveway, it can grow anywhere) and make a beautiful background plant, consider purple ruffle basil. One word of caution – if you allow it to go to seed, it will return in epidemic proportions the following summer. Three years ago, mom dug up a hosta plant in her garden for me. Buried in the depths of the soil were a few lonely little basil plants. Silly me let those plants grow and go to seed. Last year, the 10 or so original basil plants turned into about 300. We made a nice profit off of the seedlings by selling them at the local farmer’s market, and crazy me was crazy enough to let the plants go to seed again. I think I have a reoccurring nightmare of millions and millions of purple ruffle basil plants taking over my flower bed, my yard, my house… But back to my main point.

So, anyway, where is all of this garden talk going? I am reading a new series of books by Patti Hill titled “Garden Gates” (watch for a summary in the next week or so). Hill’s main character, Mibby, is a garden designer. At one point she is considering giving up working in gardens for various reasons. Another character reminds her that a garden is where she is supposed to be. Then the character makes the most profound statement (it actually wasn’t horribly profound, just profound to me). He asks her where God put man after creating him? In a garden! Gardening is in our blood going back all the way to the very first generation. Remember that feeling of being alive when you’re on your knees digging in the dirt? Or when you’re desperately trying to get the dirt out from under your fingernails before going to church but not regretting that dirt for a minute? That’s because the desire and love for gardening was put there by our God! Whoa! Watching those first springtime sprouts, tilling the ground, enjoying the fragrance of lilies, watching the morning glories climb…sigh. All of that wonder and amazement was given to us by our loving Heavenly Father! He wants us to enjoy the beauty of creation and the thrill of watching a small seed turn into a fragrant, lovely flower (anyone else see the analogy between the seed and flower and the seed of salvation and a Christian?).

Will you be planting a garden this year?

Related posts:

1. How-To Help for Every Gardener
2. Warm weather = gardening
3. Books to Websites to Flowers
4. The Best Christmas Gift
5. What Did I Do?

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