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Blooming This Week Last year at this time Ron
and I were working in the annual bed by the front door when Ron suggested I
write about our garden. For many years we have had an open house at Christmas
time where friends and family gather, eat, and sing Christmas carols. At that
time our gardens have been under a blanket of snow, or on many occasions the
land has been a dreary brown still waiting for that Christmas card look. We
tell people about our gardens, but there isn’t really anything to see at that
time. This letter is a way of sharing our garden and an open invitation to see
it in the season it looks the best. We live on five acres
in We had chickens for
awhile, but they have become part of the circle of life courtesy of a very
industrious fox that roamed our backyard. Our poodle, Michael Henry is our only
farm animal, and I doubt that he thinks he is anything but our daughter
Veronica’s little brother. He spends his days wearing baby clothes, being
pushed in a stroller, and riding Veronica’s big wheel left over from her
toddler days. A major part of the
joy of being here is enjoying the garden and land with others. Since school is
finally over. Thank you God for the break, and the job to break from, I can
spend my days working in the garden. I’m not going to school this summer, and
after about a 10 minute discussion with myself, I decided not to teach or get a
summer job. We still hope that people will just drop by. Last year I also
discovered the joys of photography. In order to make my letter more attractive
I began taking pictures of the garden to better illustrate my words. While
striving to get the best shots of my garden, I learned how important it was to
walk the garden daily in order to not miss some perfectly splendid displays of
color, texture and form. Perennial gardens change daily. I now realize how much
I missed the year before. For just a few precious days I got to enjoy our new
tulip bulbs we planted last fall. Unfortunately, the hyacinths and the
frittalaria never appeared. I didn’t miss them until I Recently, we had a
lone vibrant orange bearded iris bloom on the back side of the In February this year
I began geranium seeds inside. In mid-April I seeded flat trays of potting
soil, with sunflowers, zinnias, purple salvia and African daisies. I have had
very little success with seeds over the years. I have used grow lights and had
leggy spindly plants that never looked as good as the nursery grown plants. I
have waited all summer for a bloom on geranium seeds begun in January. I have
spent countless hours in the summer, trying to weed grasses and other weeds
from marigolds seeded thickly around a vegetable garden. Seeds never seem to
save me time or money. In fact, they seem to require more of both.
Mrs. Daniels, my
mother’s neighbor has had great luck with seeds. Last summer, she told me she
scatters seeds in pots in potting soil. When the seedlings are large enough she
transplants them where she wants them to grow. Potting soil has no weed seeds.
In mid-April, she just lets the rain and sun grow the plants like everything
else is growing. The seeds will grow when it is time for them to come up. Except for the
geraniums, which I did start indoors, all the other seeds were directly seeded
in flats with drainage holes filled with potting soil. Everything came up
beautifully. I chose plants that should bloom in late July, August and
September. Last year, we didn’t have the color I wanted toward the end of the
season. My neighbor had a beautiful bed of zinnias that were outstanding in
August, so I promised myself I would seed them. I have wanted to do a sunflower
house for Veronica for many years, and I was able to transplant the seedlings
without having to try to identify what was a sunflower. Ron prepared the soil
for my bed by killing everything that was growing there and then tilling the
area. Memorial Day the seedlings went in. I am hoeing the area about every
other day to get rid of the crabgrass and other weed seedlings that have
germinated. It is much easier to do since the sunflowers are so much bigger.
Each time I have hoed, there are fewer and fewer weeds. The zinnias are in
different spots that I chose for the ease of planting and for their future
bright spots of color.
We have already had
several meals featuring asparagus, which comes up every year, and our front
door strawberries were an early June treat. I am not expecting to not have to
buy any fresh produce over the summer, but I’d like to be able to eat some of
all of what we planted and enjoy the view provided by the plants. In my mind I
see our vegetable patch looking like the McGregor farm from Peter Rabbit. I used to stress over
the imperfections and untidiness of our garden beds. It seemed that I had no
hope of coming close to what I see in my head, in some other gardener’s yard,
or at the A good friend of mine
and I were talking recently. She and I both agreed that when we garden we learn
something of how God wants us to live. We learn about patience, we learn about diligence,
and we learn about how abundantly we are blessed. A most important lesson I have learned is that
moments are precious. All of our crabapple, cherry and the Mother’s Day tree
blooms are just memories. Our Miss Kim, French, Dwarf Korean and Miss Gold sedum flowers
have begun along with the yellow evening primrose which covers half of the
upper tier behind the garage. I am always a little sad when each plant reaches
the end of its bloom, but there is always something just as and even more
beautiful which begins after the one I loved is gone. If they all came at once
and stayed for the entire season, I would not be able to appreciate the ever
changing view. It would become like wallpaper, and I would cease to see it, a
background that disappears from conscious appreciation.
As we did last year,
we invite you to come and visit. I keep sweet tea and ice cold lemonade on
hand. You are welcome to walk around, sit on one of the benches we have around
the property, and on a hot steamy day a dip in the river can be really fun. We
are planning to camp out in the back this year, and if you are game, you are
welcome to put up a tent and join us. We are hoping to host picnics on Sunday’s
after church and are intending on keeping Sunday afternoons for garden walks
and fellowship. Any time is fine. If
you call ahead, I probably could manage to be relatively clean and free of
serious mud and dirt. You are always welcome, Lois For back issues and other information go to http://blooming.crystaltreasuresinc.com |
Ron’s dream to have a hobby farm, and my dream to live where ever he
was with room to roam. I wasn’t enthused about farm animals, but space and a
“view for my soul” was my desire. I wanted to be able to walk my yard in pajamas
and enjoy the feeling of being in our own world. I wanted a place that I could
be free to explore and be steps away from my own woods and fields.
looked back at my journal and realized they had never come up. I may
try more tulips next year; and maybe hyacinths once again. 
We have also planted a vegetable garden. 
am willing to allow myself to enjoy what I have, and not be concerned or
distressed by what isn’t done or perfect. Just “looking” at perfection would
not be satisfying any way. I know I need to do both. I need to work it, but I
also must give myself the grace to walk away and enjoy what is there without
stressing about what I haven’t done.
Now, the Japanese lilac tree, and the baby catalpa with its magnolia
like white flowers are presently blooming in the yard. Yellow foxglove and
purple Siberian iris are just in the middle of their bloom. A few varieties of
bearded irises are still putting on a show but are beginning to end.
I will also provide directions for those of you who need them.