For the Love of Dirt: April 2018

Friday, April 27, 2018

Patience....

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience..."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Patience. The greenhouse is full of flats.Patiently waiting to be planted.

Clematis pods exploding. Waiting for the blooms.

Peace flower unfolds, day after day.

Bleeding heart droops in the air.

Patience. Spencer-the neighbour's-cat, sits on the fence . Tail twitching.

A tray of broken marigolds. At half price. Seem to miraculously mend themselves in their flat. Patiently hoping they won't get squashed again.

While the Smoke Bush puffs away on pollen.

"Wait. Be patient. The storms will pass. Spring will come..."
-Robert Schuller

Cordelia-from-the-hill shows like a frothy ghost against the plum tree.

Blossoms fall. Consistently.

Light changes. Sun moves from here to there and back again.

Centaurea. Waits to bloom. Pops out of the compost. Like some sort of horror flick. Only there's no horror.

"Patience is not simply the ability to wait, it's how we behave while we're waiting..." -Joyce Meyer

Cobra ferns twist and turn. Waiting for the weather to change. For rains to come.

And so skies change. And everything waits . Waits for the next day. And the next.

And Spencer.Who has a great deal of patience.... snoozes on the porch. In the Dusk.

"Have patience with all things......" -St. Francis de Sales

(Smokey (Spencer's brother) from 2017. Sleeping in what was his favourite spot)
Photos 2018

Monday, April 23, 2018

First Planting....

“May I a small house and large garden have;

And a few friends,

And many books, both true.”
― Abraham Cowley

It's time! It's here! Time to plant stuff! Well, some stuff......Boing Boing Boing! So happy it's first planting! Bulbs and tubers and seeds. Lots of seeds...

First, make sure your earth is ready. Sea soil. Compost. Dig it up. turn it over...

It's usually good to go when cherry blossoms are starting to pop.

Dig rows with a hoe, or rake - thingy....earth should be loamy and wonderful.

“Novels and gardens," she says. "I like to move from plot to plot.” ― Bill Richardson, Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast

Dahlias, Glads, ready to stuff into the earth. NO sunflowers this year. Kind of tired of them. They turn into trees by september and then I have a horrible time hauling them out of the ground.

I debated on where to plant bulbs this year. Bulbs and tubers are still new for me. Figured the hill would be the best bet. Lots of sun. Lots of room. Must remember to plant them the right way up.....

Then a couple more rows for Bush Beans. I'm not very neat. I tend to scatter. I don't worry about placing every single seed in an exact place. I like to toss. So toss away I did....

To be different this year I picked up a number of small summer bulbs and planted them in standing planters, and troughs. I saw that on one of those gardening shows. Fills up space and you can still add annuals later.

After the garden being revamped, I still have oodles of Cranesbills hiding here and there under benches and at the side of the house. I envision bees this summer. They love cranesbill...This year, I saved many knots of this native plant and redistributed them wherever I could.

And of course, Spencer, Scientia Cattus ( "cat plant" ) still holds court in his favourite pot. I won't be planting in it again this year. Again. It's his. Always will be.

Get the Bulbs nestled in their dirt beds. Ready to be covered up with soil.

I think they will do well up on the hill. Dahlias, Glads, Beans and Knee Hi Sweet peas. A full thick row of them. I missed them last year.

I didn't plant any Knee Hi's, and the vine ones just shrivelled up in the wicked heat. But knee hi sweet peas are so hardy. Maybe this year is the year they will flourish...

The patio is looking huge. Waiting for annuals. Not yet. Soon. Very soon. At least the first planting is done. Can hardly wait to get my hands on all those flats in the greenhouse......