I tell you what. I was going to use this article to whine about the ugly houses that are springing up in my area. But, spring is too beautiful a season to whine about ugly houses. I’ll do that in a later article.
On my way to a medical appointment, this morning, I had occasion to look – really look – at what has been developing in our spring air. Yesterday, Bryan started clearing the flower beds in the front yard to make way for this year’s vegetation. There is still way too much grass that has encroached into the beds, but removing it will need to wait a week or so.
The quince bush that I brought into the house for early spring bloom in March is almost in full bloom – in the yard, this time; not in a vase. These blossoms are a deeper pink. No leaves, yet. Tiny lilac leaves appeared over the weekend; we are weeks away from blossoms. The crocus is up and blooming in the front beds.
So is the pink hyacinth. A few old tulip buds have appeared from the old established bulbs.
Next to the front steps, the scilla are in bloom. Tiny flowers, no larger than a quarter of an inch in size. Larry always said that I could plant into that bed in the spring, but I must never – NEVER – transplant from that bed to anywhere else on the property. Scilla are incredibly invasive! If they ever escape the confines of that flower bed, the entire property would be covered with tiny blue flowers.
It’s almost time to bring petunias to the flower beds. Larry always said that May 15 is the safest date for planting the tender annuals. The tulips that Bryan planted, last fall, have not shown their leaves, but we expect them soon. Our neighbors have generously provided flowers for the spring show.
Iris will come later. Larry loved iris and planted about fifty different varieties in the north ends of his vegetable garden beds. His vegetables were grown in French intensive garden beds, 20 feet by 4 feet – seven beds for vegetables. I had visited the Integral Urban House in California when on a conference journey for my city. We were able to visit especially wonderful places to bring back information for our city to try. The “House” was a recycler’s heaven. They recycled everything – and, I do mean everything. For me, the most interesting component was the garden. Raised beds. Double dug (that means, removing the top twelve inches of soil, digging down another twelve inches and turning over the soil, returning the top twelve inches of soil to the garden. Crowded planting. When I described the gardens to Larry, he decided to give them a try. Over the years, he grew enough food to feed a lot of people. Tomatoes, peppers, egg plant, peas, squash, potatoes, kohlrabi. He tried corn but was never successful with that. He always wanted to know why the two of us couldn’t consume all of the food he harvested.
Anyway, iris will come later. We replanted the ones we wanted and gave away ever so many.
It will take a couple years for the newly planted corms to mature enough to bloom with gusto.
Larry spent three years preparing the flower beds for planting. The first year was spent driving around to see what flowers bloom when in the metropolitan area. Year two, he double dug the beds and added “stuff and junk” to encourage the plants that he put in. Year three, he set the split rail fence. And, year four was for planting. He’d spent the winter pouring over garden catalogs deciding what to buy and plant. He found a gorgeous iris that he thought would be spectacular in the front bed; but, it cost $40! Remember that this was many years ago; calculate what the cost would be, today. He decided he could not justify buying that iris. I reminded him that he had just spent three – COUNT ‘EM , THREE – years planning and building these beds, and that he would spend the dollars and buy that iris. It proved to be the crowning glory of his front flower beds!
Driving south on Broadway to the doc’s office, I noticed for the first time the trees in full bloom – white blossoms; probably, crab apples. Along the streets and in front yards. Soon, we’ll see the red bud trees.
It seems that spring has finally sprung
Be safe and well.
The Cranky Crone
If you have thoughtful feedback or questions, please let me know with a comment below.
5 replies on “Ramblin’”
Thanks, Marge, for the flower photos. So nice to see what you are growing up north with higher elevations, acidic soil and moisture.
So glad your flowers and gardens give you so much beauty and so many reasons to think of Larry.
Do you remember when he dug the vegetable gardens, digging the first 12″ down? And, then we started finding concrete and bricks and more concrete and more bricks? We girls helped dig out what we believed had been a large (very large) fireplace in the corner of the yard. It took many days. And then, we had to haul it all away! Boy, that was a job!
Replying to #3 Daughter:
Actually it was only YOU who helped dad with the concrete and bricks. I escaped that chore. Also, dad decided that it was he uncovered a shrine that the previous owners had in the backyard (probably like those that people put up for Mary). There was, of course, the brick fireplace close to the patio.
At least it wasn’t a halfway buried claw foot tub!