An Arrangement for RubyMy painting , above, is dedicated to an avid gardener, my dear Mother who died when I was four. It was purchased by a woman whose sister loved gardening and was dying of cancer. Flowers are much like humans. A seed is planted and it grows and flourishes. It brings joy and beauty and then one Spring it doesn't return.
Spring is a time of renewal and regrets for gardeners. The earth is still brown or white with snow and we begin to fret about what we didn't do last Fall.
I've written my list for next Spring :
Plant Forsythia along the fence in my front yard. I have one in back but it looks so nice to see that cheery warm yellow every Spring and walking up and down my street I see so many announcing Spring has arrived.
Plant more Spring bulbs. Species tulips , the small flowering ones for rock gardens and the lily-flowering May tulips with pointed petals are my favorites. Planting tulips is almost an annual thing in Chicago as so many seem to disappear or get eaten by rabbits. I havenoticed that the ones that make it year after year are the daffodils, Darwin hybrid and species tulips.
Plant more hellebores for the earliest Spring bloom. I want a "blue " grass lawn like the one I saw down the street - Scilla had colonized and it looked so soothing to see the clouds of blue. Seems if you like them they won't colonize and if you don't, they will. I love them and my neighbor considers them a nuisance.
Fight the war of the weeds : Dig out every Star of Bethlehem that keeps travelling to my garden from next door. For me, these are the biggest nuisance of all and if you ignore them they will take over your entire garden. My garden used to be plagued by Johnnie Jump-ups which I kept after until I finally conquered them. Oh, and don't forget the garlic chives that I foolishly planted and that are now travelling South.
So, just like the Chicago Cub fans , I say, " wait until next year ".
Meanwhile, Spring is due in Chicago this week. The long-range shows 60's and 70's. Yahoo !
The blue scilla lawn was my aim when we lived near Chicago - they bloomed early and then politely disappeared. But you are so right! Those Stars of Bethlehem weren't one bit civilized. Good luck with the forsythia.
ReplyDeleteIn spite of the sad dedication, it's such a lovely painting, Carolyn, with great colors. I have a pitcher much like that one, and might try to copy your arrangement when my daisies open.
Your comment on my blog kind of shocked me - thank you very much for the votes. It's been both an exciting and an eye-opening experience to be nominated.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I hope you're over the shock ! I can only imagine how exciting it is to be nominated. Best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Annie, that painting is so lovely!!
ReplyDeleteI knew I would miss spring so much that I planted 200 bulbs, last October. Now I am so busy planting new things that I don't even notice the bulbs!!
Thanks, Sissy for your compliment. It makes me happy to know that it brought peace and joy to the last days of the buyer's sister.
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteI love the scilla too - a house down the street from me is full of them and it's beautiful. Unfortunately it's too far for any to accidentally appear in my lawn.
As for the bulbs, I'd like to plant more, but when it the right time in our climate? I have them all from the previous owners, but I agree more is better, especially now when they are all that's blooming.
And you had left me the comment to rip out that star of bethlehem and I am slowly, but surely doing it. It has totally taken over from last year.
Rosemarie,
ReplyDeleteBy all means you have to keep pulling out the Star of Bethlehem and let other plants take it's place. I've eradicated a great deal of it but I have a lot more to do.
The right time to plant scilla is in the fall.