Perennials Multiply

Spring flowers (and all the best flowers are Spring flowers) are in full bloom, and I love looking out my window and seeing all the fragrant colors. Recently, however, I couldn't stop looking at the bare spots and crowded areas, spots that had been occupied by plants that didn't make it through the winter, and areas where happy plants were spreading into their neighbors' land. There were attractive regions of the small garden, and some not as attractive. 

I like this spot

geranium died off, catmint was divided last year = empty

can't even remember all that was here before

that little hole used to be a daisy

I had been thinking I didn't want to spend any cash on this garden this year, but as I took photos to document bloom times and such, I kept being bothered by what I saw. 

So, starting to dig, divide, and replant, I ended up giving the garden a makeover. 

Helping Mama

The end result feels more balanced, it didn't take long, and I was able to use only plants that I have. Nothing to buy! This is where perennial gardening becomes fun; small plants put in the ground 1 or 2 years ago have grown to a point that they either need to be divided or need more space. Rearranging or dividing to spread them out is fun, well, for those that like that kind of thing.

It may not look like much, but I guess I see some of the tiny plants with their full grown size in mind, and it's a much nicer balance. The constant change is one of the joys of gardening. As soon as you get one area looking all nice, something grows or dies, or your taste changes, or you get a new idea, and it's time to move things around. It may be frustrating to those who don't enjoy a little yard work, but for those of us who do, the persistent drift toward entropy and the need to organize it is what keeps us engaged. 

I can't help but think that retirement will be a blast! 

But the growing season really is far too short here. 

Time to start planning retirement in the South!

In the meantime, I will be enjoying this growing season, and improving my outdoor space one garden bed at a time! 

Morels and Flowerpots

 

May is my new favorite month. Green things go from just starting to grow in April...

... to beautifully blooming in May.

I just love the crabapples, lilacs, and everything else that blooms this month!

And May is when the frost ends, so annual flowers and vegetables can be planted outdoors. Both Mike and I grew up with the tradition of spending Mother's Day purchasing and planting annuals, so we've starting doing that now with our own family, since I love flowers and the date so conveniently coincides with the average last frost. This year we also spent a day going to some Amish greenhouses in the area for the first time, and I'm so glad we did.

 

 

 

 Going to multiple nurseries and greenhouses this year, I purchased a beautiful collection of annuals that spoke to me, and then spent a day arranging them in my planters. Perhaps I could have made things a little simpler, and probably cheaper, by buying a large quantity of just 3 or 4 different annuals and filling my containers with those, but really, a stereotypical overflowing pot of sweet potato vines or petunias is pretty, but just doesn't impress me the way a color coordinated mix of foliage and flowers does. It's also fun to try new plants each year to see how they grow and mesh with old favorites. Someday I hope to extend this hobby of mixing plants to the larger scale with landscaping, where the risks of mistakes resulting in lost time and money are a little higher.

 Mike's farming season is starting off well. He is very excited to have a spot at the weekend farmer's market this year. The first one was last weekend, and he sold a good amount of home-tapped maple syrup, homegrown jam, along with one bunch of rhubarb, one bunch of purple asparagus, and a few containers of shiitake mushrooms and Jerusalem artichokes.

Yes, he really did go to market with ONE bunch of rhubarb and ONE bunch of asparagus. And he sold them. Whatever works, I guess!

Another fantastic part of May are the morels; hunting for them makes me feel like I'm a kid searching out Easter eggs, as if God were planning a fun activity for us every year like we do for our children. Actually, I think that's probably exactly what He's doing. Mike was able to go out sans offspring this year (much easier to hunt on thorny hills without a baby on your back), and he found a nice crop, which he'll be taking to the market tomorrow. 

 

 There's not a whole lot to sell this early in the year. He's yet to even plant his heat-loving crops, which means constantly tripping over tomato and pepper plants and such in my kitchen or on my deck until he can get them in the ground. At this point, it looks like the frost is probably over, but there are still some lows in the 30s in the forecast, and 38 degrees Fahrenheit + tomato plants = sad and stressed tomato plants!

 As much as I'd love a greenhouse, or even just a room to keep all this garden debris in (you can't even walk through the garage, and we have a large garage!), I have to say that I'm loving seeing this green stuff everywhere, feeling the days get warmer and longer, and enjoying the absolutely perfect weather, even if that means stumbling over jars of sweet potato sprouts in the kitchen and a smelly bag of chicken poop fertilizer when I open my car door.

These moments are what we dream of and live for all winter long.

May really is my most favorite month

 

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