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!!