Saturday morning dawned cool, cloudy.
And sad.
Sloan dubbed them “mean teenagers”
The group that swept through our neighborhood
Stealing and smashing pumpkins Friday night.
Two solid block of streets littered with pumpkin parts.
And little girl’s broken hearts.
Since they smashed the pumpkin
Sloan had grown from seed.
In the early morning dampness
We all dragged our poly carts out and cleaned up the mess.
Shortly after that
The sun came out.
And the day began again.
This was the weekend I’d set aside for planting tulips
In the new bed at the front landing.
You may recall I ordered these
From a new (to me) catalog
Called “Colorblends”.
Because I hadn’t ordered from them before.
I was a little nervous
Would they be big and firm?
What you need to grow glorious tulips
Come spring.
I was not disappointed.
They are great.
I followed my tried and true method of bulb planting.
Plant lots in a smallish place.
It gives you a burst of color
And stops people dead in their tracks.
Guess I have to confess and give an exact example.
Okay, I bought 500 tulips for this new bed
The L shaped bed is approximately
One foot wide by eighteen feet long.
And if you’re planting that many bulbs
You won’t dig 500 holes.
Dig a trench
Placing the dirt in a wheel barrow
Or on a tarp close by.
My trench was about 4″ – 6″ deep.
I’ll plant annuals here after the tulips fade.
Which means they will likely rot
From summer’s watering.
So I consider them an annual.
And don’t plant them too deep.
Once the trench is dug
Sprinkle bone meal
Then mix it with the loosened dirt.
Place the bulbs point end up
Close together but not touching.
Refill the trench.
Gently at first to keep from knocking the bulbs over.
Pack it down from time to time
You should be able to replace all of the dirt.
This year I’m over-planting
With solid purple pansies.
There’s a lot of yellow in this tulip mix
So I’m thinking the complimentary color scheme
Will be fun.
Now you may recall I’ve written a similar blog
Each fall at this time.
But this year is different
New bed
New tulips
From a new source.
And…you may also recall
That my tulip planting buddy Megan.
Married and moved to Florida.
Where I’m guessing
She won’t be planting any tulips
In her zone 9 flower beds.
I missed you Megan
Both your help and our conversation.
Some new helpers arrived
Dressed in their cowboy boots
After attending “Family Farm Day”
At the museum.
Interesting concept here in the farmbelt
That you go to the museum to learn about the farm!
They may be city girls
But they are not afraid of dirt.
They helped me refill the trench.
Having a great time
Throwing the dirt.
In the trench
On each other
And in those cute new cowboy boots.
Today we added the purple pansies.
And watered it all in.
Megan’s sister Katie refers to this
As “the enchanted neighborhood”.
She’s moved back to raise her family here.
Saturday proved her right.
It’s not perfect.
Clouds will roll in.
Your pumpkin may get smashed.
But even a four-year old will bounce back.
And bask in the community and love
Of this neighborhood.
Gail
“The connections we make in the course of a life–maybe that’s what heaven is.”
Fred Rogers
In My Garden 