Working in the flower garden is really therapeutic. I love the hours of quiet thoughts and listening to the sounds of nature. Tom bought a radio for the cart I use to haul everything and I never turn it on. I don't want the world to invade this peaceful place.
This year we had a cold wet spring and I hardly even looked at the flowers until the end of May. Then it was catch-up time. One morning Tom asked me if I had seen my flowers out front yet, seems the snapping turtle decided to lay eggs and couldn't decide under which flower to dig. My nature loving friend said they like soft ground and "Don't be mad at her Fran, she doesn't know better." Last year she actually dug through stones in a landscaped bed to lay the eggs. Interestingly, she lays those eggs and walks away. The eggs hatch, if not disturbed and eaten by raccoons, by the heat of the ground and the little ones are on their own.
I've rescued two flower beds this year. One was put in 2006 with a small Japanese Maple, a small low evergreen bush, and perennials that included 4 Shasta daisy plants. It really looked great for a couple years and then those daisies started taking over the bed! I dug those daisies out and gave several buckets away and moved others around the yard. Now I have 3 cone flowers and 4 Abalonias, a cute little purple annual.
The other bed is a shade garden. Actually, when we put it in about 10 years ago, it had at least 6 hours of sun. Well sun or shade, the weeds took over and thrived. Can't have that. My sister-in-law who is a master gardener came to the rescue and gave me a trunk full of plants. Now, I need to baby them along.
We also moved a Burning Bush from a bed near our patio. It was a gift from friends in memory of Tom's father who died in 1995. The bush served us well over the years, it housed bird nests and gave us beautiful red leaves in the fall We really did trim it every year but it grew to be over 10 feet tall! Way too big for the space. A friend of ours said he could use it to provide privacy for his deck and we were glad it would have a new home. In its place is a no named bush that we bought thinking it was a Rose of Sharon. Then an actual Rose of Sharon is in it's place. I am looking forward to seeing those beautiful August blooms, well maybe that will be next August.
Most mornings, I enjoy time on my front porch having a cup of coffee, reading scripture and praying. It is such a blessing. As I sit there quietly, a robin flies in and out of her nest in the Japanese Maple, the humming bird sticks his beak in the Hosta flowers and a doe and her two fawns walk in the woods and sometimes the little ones jump and chase each other in the yard.
Oh, those deer are cute but they like to feast on most of the flowers. Usually they eat the blossoms and show no respect for newly purchased and expensive plants. I must be ever vigil. (Notice those missing blossoms?)
Some gardening experiences are not so treasured. Ants, everywhere, spiders of many shapes and sizes and moles galore. There is also those other insects that eat leaves and the petals of the cone flowers and daisies. Did I mention the nation wide heat wave?
I guess gardens mirror life. They are beautiful, amazing, give joy, like to relocate and need lots of attention. If you ignore them they will take over a bed, beg for water, drop their flower heads and look messy. They require lots of work, plants get diseases and plants will die. But they also provide lots of surprises and give us wonderful memories.
This hydrangea, this year's surprise, is blooming blue, lavender and pink flowers and is a constant pleasure.
