The Shape of Things to Come

As a gardener, my vision tends to be slightly unhinged from reality.  Not in the alternative facts sense, but in my determination to see what will be rather than what is.  You might also describe this as living in the land of wishful thinking, except that it's based upon a past reality, rather than the present.  I'm making this too complicated.  

More simply, it's the ability to look at a tightly knotted rhododendron blossom like this that survived the winter, deer incursions, and a late snowstorm...








... but instead of actually seeing the locked down blossom, I see it as it will be in another month; one  of a profusion of pink puffballs on the hillside...

















Or, instead of being able to marvel at the intricate architecture of a peony bud as it slowly unfurls...

... my eye sees the stunning ruffled flower that it will become...







Then there are the Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra) that start out looking like generic pink buds.  To me, they appear instantly in their full bicolor glory -- to my mind, one of the strangest and most intricate creations Mother Nature has ever come up with.                                                                             

Despite the rather gruesome common name, these are truly a marvel of design. They plump up as though inflated by some miniature compressor, and attract legions of bees and smaller insects who sip delicately at the nectar in what looks like a tiny teardrop.



And then there are hydrangea; the source of so much heartbreak, and a true triumph of hope over experience. The minute they start to leaf out again, I always see them as I want them to be...  

A swath of blue against the adjacent greenery, with yellow day lilies next to them -- a yellow and blue salute to Mr. Mulch's Swedish heritage.

Alas, that vision comes to pass only once every couple of years, thanks to late frosts, early deer, and inept pruning.

The same phenomenon prevails  in the vegetable garden.  Each season, we start with a blank slate as the raised beds slowly thaw to a workable state.  As Mr. Mulch fills the beds with the seedlings he's started indoors and hardened off outside, I see not the fragile shoots that need the protection of "walls o' water"...

... but instead see visions of the bounty to come (assuming Mrph takes care of the chipmunks) in July and August.

And who could get excited by the appearance of the first microscopic pea shoot nosing up out of the bed -- can you even spot it in this photo?

Only someone who is instead seeing the lush climber this will become, anticipating the harvest of sugar snap sweetness that will follow.

And in what is probably the largest feat of optical insanity, when Mr. Mulch puts out the eggplant, zukes, basil, and other seedlings to prepare them for planting, I don't see a bunch of indistinguishable infant veggies, but instead see a harvest basket brimming with vegetarian delights, ready for sauteeing, pickling, and pesto.

In truth, I am overdue for my next eye exam.  But with sight like this, can you blame me for putting it off just a bit longer?

Tiptoeing into the New Season

A spring garden is a precarious place. So many tender shoots, and so many possible disasters.  
I find myself gardening with my fingers permanently crossed -- hoping I don't step on the first sprig of clematis probing through the mulch, hoping the new Chinese tree peonies we planted last fall survived the winter, hoping I remember what the hell I planted over there, and hoping I get the pruning right this year so maybe, just maybe, the hydrangeas will bloom once again.

This year, with more time available, I'm trying to get out in front of some of the preventable threats. I treated the roses to an early systemic potion designed to help them ward off the sawflies that make doilies out of their leaves.  I pruned the rhododendron and andromeda assiduously so they can focus their energies on the hardiest stems.  But there's only so much even a vigilant gardener can control. Weather, bugs, and garden invaders operate on their own agendas and generally at cross purposes with mine.  

At this point, it's way too soon to tell how it will turn out.  So I'll salute each arrival with optimism, faith, and that thing with feathers* -- hope.  

Garlic has awakened from its winter slumber

Hydrangea are leafing out

Tarragon wakes up in the herb garden

The new tree peonies made it through the winter

Solomon Seal rises on the mound

I think these are some kind of iris, but damned if I can remember what I planted here!

Geraniums return to the front garden

And, best of all, the asparagus are up!

*and apologies to Emily Dickinson

The New Guy

Mr. Mulch has long been my partner in our gardening adventures. That's not entirely accurate; I've been his gardening partner, and one might better describe me as a limited partner.  He has always exercised his farmer genes and, being completely honest, I've only recently evolved into his almost-equal, since he did the heavy lifting for so many years.  But since my new "retired status" means we both bust hump to empty a truckload of mulch now, and I'm available whenever it's not raining, the sweat equity balance is starting to even out.

So, naturally, it was time to add another garden helper.

Mrph looking very debonair

Meet Mrph, a two year old male orange tabby we adopted (well, I adopted; Mr. Mulch grudgingly didn't stop me) in December.  Mrph is his nom du blog, not his real name.  It's the sound he makes when he's looking for me -- and it definitely has no vowels in it.  It's what I should have named him had I waited to get to know him before I gave him a pretty stupid name which he actually answers to, so I don't want to change it and confuse him.  (For the record, it's not as bad as the name they gave him at the shelter: Thurston.)

Mrph joined us in December and kept me company as an indoor cat through the worst of the winter and my foot-recuperation.  He quickly adjusted to the rhythms of the household, bonded to "she who feeds me," and followed me as I hobbled around, asking for chin scratches and butt rubs. So cute and adorable; who knew that underneath that debonair and civilized veneer lay the heart of a hunter?!

Assuming the position

Our first clue came on a January day when I discovered him prone on the kitchen floor in a most undignified position, with his head wedged under a cabinet.  He spent the better part of an hour like that, undeterred even as I moved around him making lunch for Mr. Mulch and myself.  As we sat down to eat, I was relieved to see Mrph finally get up and assume his normal lope en route to the dining room. Then I noticed that he was strutting more proudly than usual... and then I looked even more closely...

Click to enlarge and see the evidence

That's not a toy in his mouth -- that thing with the pointy head containing two panicked beady eyes and a tail at the opposite end -- that's the real deal.  I don't know how he managed the extraction, but he was awfully pleased with himself.  The mouse was not so pleased, and even less happy once Mrph drop-kicked him and began a game of knock-hockey. At that point, we intervened and spared Mickey additional torment.

Mr. Mulch delivered the now-corpse back into the hands of mother nature and when he returned, it was clear that something more significant than rodent burial had transpired.

When you're a gardener, all those cute little critters -- chipmunks, mice, squirrels, moles -- are the enemy.  Our strawberries were ravaged by mice last year; chipmunks gnawed holes in our ripest tomatoes; squirrels went after the corn, and moles make a mess out of all that mulch we so carefully spread.

But Mr. Mulch now saw an ally where before he had only seen a concession! Lo and behold, Mrph had managed to do something I never imagined possible: endear himself to Mr. Mulch!

Mrph on guard as we harden off the lettuce

Happily, Mrph has taken to his new role as protector of the home turf with enthusiasm.  Since the snow melted, he has mastered the old doggie door we had installed for the big dogs we had when we first moved in, so he's free to hunt to his heart's content in the daylight (we keep him indoors at night -- there are coyotes in the area).

So far, the score is Mrph: 5 -- rodents: 0  He's caught mostly mice and moles so far, but we're optimistic he might graduate to larger garden pests like chipmunks... maybe even a squirrel now and them.

Supervising raking

For those who are anti-letting-cats-roam-by-themselves; I do understand the risks. But Mrph seems happiest outdoors, and doesn't stray far. We spend a great deal of time in the garden, and he's always nearby, supervising for as long as we're out.

Supervising pruning

I worry more that he doesn't understand insects, and loves chasing wasps and bumblebees. Our late Boxer, Guinness, once managed to catch and eat a bumblebee.  His face swelled up as large as a catcher's mitt.  I don't think Mrph would enjoy that, though it would look pretty funny.

"Supervising" blogging

At the end of the day, he's no dummy.  He knows where his food, bowl, and bed is.  And treats.  Lots of treats.


And it's really nice to have a fur-person back in the house.

Making Up For Lost Time

It's been three years since my last post.  Inexcusable, really.  Although I did spend those three years working hard at my dream job as head of Marketing for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society -- an organization that funded the development of the therapy that put my Lymphoma into remission.  So I can at least claim that I was spending my time doing something more worthwhile than selling magazines or toothpaste -- or writing blog posts.

In any case, my LLS gig ended last fall. After some foot surgery and serious soul-searching I've decided that 40 years of working for others -- even ultimately for a good cause -- was enough. I'm done.  And back to blogging, now that I have only myself (and Mr. Mulch) to answer to for how I spend my time.

Much happened in the garden over the past three years; expansion of the raised beds, many plants moved from initial failed locations to happier spots; depredations of the occasional adventurous deer breaching our defenses, and the never-ending mulching.  I do wonder, after all these years of adding mulch, why the level of the garden hasn't risen by at least 10 feet; it can't possibly decompose as quickly as we spread it, can it?  But I digress.

We got just enough rain the day before to green everything up!

The best thing that happened in the garden these past three years occurred just this past September. My older daughter got married there, surrounded by all the greenery and flowers that made it through the worst drought we've had in years.  Just.  We actually ran our well dry a few times trying to water enough to coax everything through until the end of the month.

Standard hydrangea blossoms hung on, framing me and the bride!

With the incentive of the impending wedding, we had spent much of the summer doing all the garden clean up, fix up, and general tidying that we had put off for years. And because it was to be held in late September, we heavied up on the few plants that bloom then -- rudbeckia galore, a cross between that and echinacea imaginatively named echibeckia, and anemones.

The ceremony, and all our borrowed potted plants.

We planted, mulched, and weeded like lunatics, endearing ourselves to our local nursery, Gossett Brothers, which turned out to have been a very strategic move indeed.  Despite our best efforts, with the ceremony rapidly approaching, there were still some prominent bare spots.  Gossett to the rescue: thanks to our frequent gardener status they graciously allowed us to borrow a truckload of potted plants, and -- presto chango -- not a bare spot in sight.

All in all, a magical day!

All the effort was well worth it.  After a minor scare with showers the day before, we lucked out with a glorious, magical wedding day. Bride, groom, guests and garden all looked spectacular.

We got the wedding in just in time.  The following weekend, winter moved in abruptly with raw rain, grey skies, and gloom -- a gloom which only deepened with the election and its aftermath. I spent inauguration day in a timely and merciful painkiller-induced haze after having my disfiguring bunion removed, and then spent the rest of the late and too-long winter hunkered down indoors, waiting for spring.  March was determined to make the wait as long as possible, with an 18" snowfall late in the month.

Hellebores, also known as Lenten Roses for their early start

All that is past now (except, sadly, the election aftermath), and Spring seems finally to have arrived. In the sudden warmth I join the early arrivals like Hellebores and Chionodoxa, emerging, uncoiling, and soaking in the welcome sunshine.

Chionodoxa, the first blooms on the mound.

Oddly, I find myself actually eager to rake the leaves we missed last fall (and there are an awful lot of them!), and looking forward to hours pruning and cleaning up the winter's detritus. And, yes, I'm even looking forward to slinging yards and yards of mulch with the Mister!

And that's where I'll pick up in my next post. Stay tuned, and Happy Spring!!