Class, today’s lesson is about the mercurial nature of garden plants; i.e., those plants that seemed to be thriving, then didn’t. Then did.
Case(s) in point:
This tulip, planted long ago by a former owner of the cottage, pops up every year. Last year? Nothing – not even a leaf – leaving me to conclude that it had met its maker. Thankfully, it’s back.
Or these hyacinths, normally blessing us with beautiful and fragrant flowers. Last year, the leaves appeared but there were no blooms. Yours truly thought that maybe they were reaching the end of their time here. (I discovered them while digging a garden bed on the other side of the cottage. They had flipped over under the ground, so they weren’t producing anything at all. I replanted them in the big garden bed and discovered the mystery bulbs were hyacinths.) Anyway, back to the subject at hand – this year there are blooms.
Or this oriental poppy, which usually provides the most vivid orange and purple flowers in the spring. Last year, it simply didn’t appear. Not even a leaf. This year, it’s back.
My conclusion: Last year’s winter was very mild. If you remember, we didn’t use the snow blower once. No snow pack to speak of at all. This year’s winter was another story entirely. Lots of snow, lots of cold weather. Therefore, I posit that these plants need a cold winter with the requisite snow pack to thrive in the spring.
End of class.
Really, I was thrilled when I saw these babies yesterday. I knew that the leaves of the hyacinth had broken ground, but not until I had the chance to examine them more closely did I see the flower buds. I started cleaning out the garden beds yesterday, raking the leaves/mulch that I leave there during the winter. That’s when I saw the tulip leaf. And there are tiny bits of hosta breaking the ground, catmint, bee balm, sedum, grasses and crown vetch as well.
I started off cleaning off the porch, sweeping and organizing everything. Then I raked the garden bed closest to the porch, filling the tarp with leaves, lugging it up to the area behind the shed. Then I moved on to the big garden bed. I got about 3/4 of the way through it when my back started complaining, so I stopped for the day. There’s a lot of work to be done out there, but I must say it feels so good to be working outside again!
Lilac buds.
Daffodils coming up on the edge of the woods.
More egg cups – the rooster on the left in another one made by Fanny Farmer, you can see the word Fanny on the base. It’s very heavy and was made by McCoy. A bunny, chick, duck, goose and another rooster on the right. The wooden man and woman set was a gift from a reader of this blog. The eggs are salt and pepper shakers. And the egg cup in the middle is from Prague (from Don.)
Congratulations to Jeannine, who is the winner of a copy of English Roses!
Happy Monday.
