Out of the Rabbit Hole and Into the Garden

...the world very much alive in the bright light and wind, exultant with the fever of spring, the delight of morning... ~Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, 1968

(Lily flowered tulips)

Spring, the great motivator, launched me into action and has me sowing dozens of flowers, sweet peppers, basil, tomato seeds, potting up dahlias (to give them a head start), digging holes for roses and scouring the garden for spots to plant the ten new ones I ordered. I'm adding two varieties of dwarf delphiniums, and salvia, violas, peach colored hollyhocks...I started from seed. More catmint, hardy geraniums, Oriental lilies, clematis, and lavender have gone into the Memorial Garden, or soon will. And the list goes on of roses, bulbs, and plants I've specially ordered or started from seed. I'm also putting in a salad/vegetable garden. It's downsized from before but will still produce plenty of greens and veges. Mixing flowers with vegetables and herbs is a favorite of mine and is good for attracting beneficials to the garden. I'm sprinkling seed around like a flower fairy. 

Yes, I get quite tired, but after a good rest I return to the garden, digging, planting, dividing clumps of asters and phlox and, and. It's truly a magical place, apart from our crazy spring weather that seems bent on wreaking havoc. After several days of ridiculously warm days, we're windswept with a cold bluster and threated wih frost. This is a recurring garden challenge in the Shenandoah Valley in spring.

I've gardened forever, but my endeavors really took off when I decided to create the Memorial Garden after my dad and younger brother, Chad, died. This living memorial is also for my mother-in-law whose garden this was before me and who passed soon after my father. I got really serious about taking care of my plants and went stark rose mad. Once you catch rose madness, there's no return, so take care. I'm now committed to caring for dozens of roses with more on the way. Can you have too many bulbs or roses? Nae. I'm also taken with Oriental lilies...

Stay tuned.

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King...
~Emily Dickinson

The Time of Daffodils

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden. ~Ruth Stout

Daffodils are such happy flowers. I can't imagine anyone not liking them. They're easy to grow and mix in beautifully with crocus, hyacinths, and other early blooms. Daffodils have always been on the farm. My mother-in-law had them, and the families who lived here before her. I've divided old clumps, spread them around, and planted new varieties over the years. The waving yellow and white blooms are a spirit lifting sight. When I'm outside working among the flowers, I feel more peaceful and not as freaked out about the pandemic. Like countless others, I'm at home for the duration and especially grateful for the garden. Having an early spring in the valley is a boon. I wish I could share the beauty with everyone. This is the best I can do.

Spring forever appears
      the soothing music part
      of lyrics unspoken.
It thaws the frozen fears,
      mends the wounded heart
      that Winter has broken.
~Aarno Davidson

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~Henry Van Dyke

The sun has come out... and the air is vivid with spring light. ~Byron Caldwell Smith, letter to Kate Stephens

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King.
~Emily Dickinson

Winter sprouts springtime wings and flies off into the budding year. ~Terri Guillemets

Daffodils, so bright and yellow,
      Hyacinths of varied hues,
      As they nod their heads, in gladness,
      Telling us they bring good news...
~Gertrude Tooley Buckingham, "Springtime" (1940s)

I sure hope spring brings good news to us all