gardening — Page 4

On Sunday

May 27, 2018 at 10:20 am by Claudia

You think you see everything, but quite often, you’re missing something.

Case in point: I was taking a photo of fleabane. I saw a little bug on the plant, so I quickly snapped a picture.

I kept shooting because I wanted to make sure the fleabane was in focus. And look what I got:

Two little bugs flying around!

I love surprises like this.

The oriental poppies should be opening soon. (I hope it’s before I leave for NYC, otherwise I might miss them.)

This fern has been popping up in one of my beds for a couple of years. This year it’s pretty big. I’ll have to keep my eye on it, because it’s right next to some coneflowers. But I like it.

And this morning, I walked out to the porch and saw this:

First daylily blooms!

It’s a rainy day, but so far it’s a gentle rain. I sat on the glider as it began to fall. It’s a strong sense memory for me, afternoons sitting on the porch of my childhood home, watching the rain fall, staying there as long as possible before the rain started to hit my feet and legs and I had to run back inside the house.

Yesterday was incredibly hot and humid and my allergies have been through the roof, so I mainly stayed inside in the A/C. Of course, I couldn’t help but go outside a couple of times to pull a few weeds and I had to water everything as well, but mostly? Inside.

I watched hours of coverage from the Chelsea Flower Show on YouTube. Amazing. The British are true garden lovers, of course, but as far as I can tell – correct me, British readers, if I am wrong – the BBC covers the Chelsea Flower Show twice a day. There’s an afternoon show, and then there’s a prime time show in the evening. And I think it goes on for a full week.

Can you imagine that happening in this country? HGTV can’t even give us an hour or two of garden programming.

My ancestors were predominately British, so maybe it’s in my blood. Goodness! I love seeing their passion for gardening. I’m going to watch more today. The perfect escape.

Happy Sunday.

City Gardening & Old Friends

May 14, 2018 at 10:18 am by Claudia

What was to be a work day outside yesterday turned into a rainy day. All day. Not heavy rain, just a constant light rain. Curses! I was surprised by the rain. Did I check the updated weather forecast? I’m not sure now. All I can say is that I was sure it wasn’t going to rain, so at some point, that’s what the forecast said.

Anyway.

This is going to be one of those weeks where there are maybe two days without rain. Today is one of them. Thursday is the other. I know we need the rain, but frankly, it’s cramping my style!

I forgot to share these pictures with you. When I was in NYC last week, Don told me that he wanted to show me the courtyard behind his building, so we went out the back door and saw this:

Someone is gardening there. I suspect it is the tenant on the first floor because it looks like that apartment opens on to the courtyard and I saw some grow lights and seedlings inside. (Yes, I peeked through the window.) Is it open to all of the tenants? I think so, because you can get out there quite easily. Nevertheless, I think it’s probably part of that tenant’s lease. Don’s going to find out.

Isn’t that neat? Another way to grow things in the city.

I’m fascinated and want to learn more, of course. But we didn’t linger, just in case we weren’t supposed to be there. There are other raised beds and this contraption looks like it was an investment, so I think my instinct about it being the ground floor tenant’s domain is correct.

I saw her one day. Hopefully, I’ll run into her again and we can chat a bit.

Don’s great friend of 45 years and his wife were in town from California yesterday and they saw the show. They loved it, of course, as does everyone who sees it. Then the three of them went out for dinner. I chatted with them via FaceTime. There’s nothing like a friend who has known you for that long. Incidentally, both Don and his friend Adrian have the same surname. I’ve known Adrian as long as I’ve known Don, and I got to work with him when I was back at the Old Globe several years ago coaching the Shakespeare Summer Repertory. If you’ve been reading this blog for a long time, you might remember that Adrian had his dog with him and his apartment was right next to mine so I got to hang out with both of them.

Old friends are the best.

Happy Monday.

Thoughts on Gardening

May 12, 2018 at 9:42 am by Claudia

Mother Nature took control and made it rain today.

Thanks, Mom. Because I need to cool it for a day. I’m really, really tired. I’ve been doing a lot around here and there are still things that need to be done. But less and less, thankfully, as I cross items off my many lists.

One of the things I noticed in the Community Garden was how densely every bed was planted. Now, I know that takes place over time, but one of the things I’ve been thinking about lately is this: gardening takes a toll on my body – specifically, my back. And it’s a lot of work. The more plants I add, the less space there is for weeds and the less mulch is needed (both jobs give me a backache.) That’s a lot of plants to add and it won’t happen in one season. Much of the big garden bed is full of plants, simply because the David Phlox and bee balm and decorative grass have spread (thank goodness!) I need to do the same kind of thing with the memorial garden and the garden beds on the other side of the house.

I love our property, but it’s not flat, it has several different levels, and that makes gardening and mowing life harder. Plus, we’re really in ‘wild’ country, so there is a constant battle to keep the wildness from taking over. If I left it alone for a few summers, it would be a mess.

These are my thoughts as I acknowledge that I’m not 30 but more than twice that age. I also need to lose some weight and my allergies have been going haywire this year, so all of that takes a toll. But I love gardening. It seems to be when I am happiest, feel at peace, and it’s a great stress reducer. And, at this insane time in our country, that is most welcome.

We can’t afford a gardener, nor would I want someone else doing the things I love to do. Just as I would never use a decorator. I sort of feel the same way about mowing – I know the quirks of this property, the divots, the little holes, the areas that have to be mowed or the ‘wild’ will take over, that kind of thing.

Sigh. Mission this year: plant more. And find inexpensive plants because I’ve already spent a lot.

I did get some pots planted for the porch yesterday, as well as the barrels and galvanized planter on the funky patio. I finished mulching.

Here’s a little update, some photos I took toward the end of the day.

You can see that the hostas and coneflowers are growing more and more each day.

I bought some lobelia for one of the new pots. I just plopped it inside the bigger pot.

Not the best quality photos, I snapped them rather hurriedly, but they give you an idea of what’s happening – at least on the porch. More will be coming of the garden beds.

I love gardening. It may be my favorite thing to do. I look forward to it every year. This year, winter went on so long that it made the need to get things going even more pressing (especially planting seeds.) All the seeds have been sown and Mother Nature is taking care of the watering duties today.

I’m off to Rick and Doug’s for some French Toast, a laugh or two, and time with Sam. They’ve had gardeners there for the past week clearing out some of the overgrown spaces and I can’t wait to see what it looks like now.

Happy Saturday.

On Sunday

City Gardening & Old Friends

Thoughts on Gardening

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives