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Hoping for spring
It was snowing when we drove to work this morning -- heavy, fluffy flakes. Oddly, at this time of year I really don't mind snow. The real GOD WHEN IS WINTER GOING TO END breaking point tends to hit me in late February and March. By this point, it's getting above freezing during the day (generally speaking) and you can watch the snowbanks recede a little more each day; the sun is still shining at 9 p.m.; the rocks are starting to show beneath the snow covering the gravel pit. It's light enough to walk the dogs both before and after work, warm enough to walk around outside without a coat. As in late fall, this all means that I can relax enough to really enjoy the snow rather than regarding it with gloom and feeling as if each flake makes spring a little farther away.
I didn't even try starting seedlings this spring. I'm looking forward to getting out in the garden, but I just didn't feel as if I had time or inclination to add to our household complement of "things that must be watered/walked/fed/kept alive". I'm *really* looking forward to seeing if the irises come up. Last fall one of my co-workers gave me a bag of iris seeds that she'd gathered from wild irises in their yard, and I spread them liberally throughout the Lawlor estate. Not knowing what the preferred habitat and growing conditions for wild irises are (do they need to freeze to germinate, or to be protected? do they like boggy or well-drained soil? shade or sun?) I just planted them in every different sort of environment that we've got. Therefore, iris seeds are scattered along the driveway, strewn in the woods, carefully planted under leaves, sprinkled around the rhubarb and flung on the creek banks. It'll be a miracle if we're not hip-deep in irises by July.
I also hope the septic tank rose survived all the tromping around on the septic that we did during our freezing up period. The funny thing about the septic rose is that it really shouldn't be alive and yet it is. I didn't even know about it during the first winter and so I hadn't done any winterizing whatsoever -- it was just a lonely little rose sitting in a patch of gravel. And yet not only did it not die over the harsh winter, but it blossomed last summer, two little white blooms which were immediately eaten by Lucky. Last fall I piled leaves on top of it when I mulched the rhubarb and the strawberries, hoping to see it through another winter and get some more flowers. Actually, this is the first winter for the latter perennials as well, so it'll be interesting to see if anything survived.
Maybe I'll get the rose a friend this year.
Man, I love being in a place and knowing I'm going to be here for enough time to make it worth planting perennials and making long-term plans for them.
I didn't even try starting seedlings this spring. I'm looking forward to getting out in the garden, but I just didn't feel as if I had time or inclination to add to our household complement of "things that must be watered/walked/fed/kept alive". I'm *really* looking forward to seeing if the irises come up. Last fall one of my co-workers gave me a bag of iris seeds that she'd gathered from wild irises in their yard, and I spread them liberally throughout the Lawlor estate. Not knowing what the preferred habitat and growing conditions for wild irises are (do they need to freeze to germinate, or to be protected? do they like boggy or well-drained soil? shade or sun?) I just planted them in every different sort of environment that we've got. Therefore, iris seeds are scattered along the driveway, strewn in the woods, carefully planted under leaves, sprinkled around the rhubarb and flung on the creek banks. It'll be a miracle if we're not hip-deep in irises by July.
I also hope the septic tank rose survived all the tromping around on the septic that we did during our freezing up period. The funny thing about the septic rose is that it really shouldn't be alive and yet it is. I didn't even know about it during the first winter and so I hadn't done any winterizing whatsoever -- it was just a lonely little rose sitting in a patch of gravel. And yet not only did it not die over the harsh winter, but it blossomed last summer, two little white blooms which were immediately eaten by Lucky. Last fall I piled leaves on top of it when I mulched the rhubarb and the strawberries, hoping to see it through another winter and get some more flowers. Actually, this is the first winter for the latter perennials as well, so it'll be interesting to see if anything survived.
Maybe I'll get the rose a friend this year.
Man, I love being in a place and knowing I'm going to be here for enough time to make it worth planting perennials and making long-term plans for them.
You have Rhubarb?
(Anonymous) 2006-04-10 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)Oh, amongst all the other to-do things: want me to show you my kickass two-day 100% whole wheat bread process?
Re: You have Rhubarb?
Re: You have Rhubarb?
no subject