Category Archives: spring

March 13, 2022 · 8:37 pm

FINALLY…THE BEGINNING

After a March of fits and starts

This weekend feels like the beginning of gardening season.

The 10 day forcast shows no freezing temperatures

And it is the 13th of the month.

Put those two things together

And I spent several hours

In my garden

Doing “spring things”.

I pruned the last of the roses

Planted lettuce, arugula & strawberries.

All Star Gourmet Lettuce mix edging the flower bed May 2021

Cut back the Annabelle hydrangea a bit

For the first time in their lives.

I was chicken so I just cut back every other one

And not by more than a third.

Finished planting sweet peas

The blooming kind this time.

And cut the old crispy leaves off of Hellebore

To expose those glorious blooms.

Who doesn’t love a late winter blooming flower.

But mostly I reveled in the miracle that is a garden

When the negative wind chills of just a few weeks ago

Nipped the baby buds on my rose bushes

They simply made more.

They did not pout or throw a tantrum

They just got on with the business of living

Bringing beauty into the world.

And hope.

A gift for a world in great need.

Gail

“Where flowers bloom so does hope.”

– Lady Bird Johnson

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Filed under Annabelle Hydrangea, Arugula, Hellebores, Hope, Hydrangea, Lettuce, Nature, Peas, spring, Uncategorized, Vegetables

January 24, 2021 · 1:20 pm

HOLD ON

Just when I think

The darkness

May overcome me

This!

Hold on

Spring’s coming.

Take care of yourself and stay safe,

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Hellebores, spring, Uncategorized, Winter Garden

April 29, 2018 · 3:22 pm

RAIN, BLESSED RAIN

Most of the country has experienced

What seems to be the longest winter

In recent memory.

Our winter has been

In and out.

Bitter cold days

Sprinkled into sunny winter glory.

But it simply has not rained.

Fires 100 miles to our west

Attest to our dry fall and winter.

Thankfully it starting raining on a recent Friday night

And continued through Saturday.

Bringing hope to my garden

With each drop.

The Japanese Maple trees

Are sighing with relief.

They leafed out on schedule

Only to be frozen a couple of times.

Creating the saddest looking tree

I’ve seen in a long time.

Now, with this moisture

They have begun the process of

Putting on new leaves.

And things are budding out.

Iris

Allium

Peonies

With their attending ants.

And those stunning Japanese Tree Peonies.

They don’t last long

A few days of bloom and they are gone.

Yet, they are so worth growing.

With these buds

Comes hope

And so it is with gardeners.

Whose spirits have frozen

And thawed

And frozen

And thawed

More times than we can count.

But with the rain comes

Hope.

And gardeners thrive on

Hope.

Gail

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Filed under Allium, Bugs, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Iris, Japanese Tree Peony, Peonies, Perennials, spring, Spring Flowering Bulbs, Uncategorized

May 28, 2017 · 4:27 pm

PUTTERING AROUND

You can tell that spring is winding down.

The temperature is rising slightly.

There are fewer rainy days.

And the big garden jobs are done.

The few pots I have are planted.

Tulips have been pulled.

And the plants I couldn’t resist

Have nestled into their new home.

Now comes the weekend

When there is time

To putter.

You know

Doing the little things

That you’ve been walking past

And ignoring

Till the time was right.

Digging and thinning the Iris.

Hanging the sticky traps for those nasty thrip.

FullSizeRender (11)

Spreading the crushed egg shells around the Hosta

Hoping to discourage the slugs and snails.

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Planting the first Zinnias in the bare spots.

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Staking, trimming and caging the tomatoes.

It’s going to be a good tomato year

Since I’m all ready seeing blooms and tomatoes

And finding time to see the world

Through my macro lens

Discovering a pollen laden bee

Inside a Hollyhock bloom.

I so enjoy puttering.

Gail

P.S. In my last blog I said that there was not a farmer in my generation.

I stand corrected and apologize.

My sister Ann took delivery on her new tractor this week.

FullSizeRender (9)

She’ll use it as she tends her 40 acre pecan grove.

Planted by our father.

Which she inherited

And is improving.

So she can pass it on

To the next generation.

1 Comment

Filed under Bees, Generations, hollyhocks, Hosta, Nature, spring, Tomato, Uncategorized, Zinnia

April 2, 2017 · 1:39 am

TULIP TIMING

Each fall when I order tulips

I check the calendar for the next spring.

I try to time them to bloom

For my annual Easter Egg Hunt.

That’s tricky

At best.

Easter can swing wildly over a month

From late March to late April.

Then you throw in the weather changes

And you’ve got a challenge.

I’ve been pretty lucky over the last few years

And somehow managed

To have some kind of blooming tulips.

Perfect for photo ops of all kinds.

Last fall knowing that Easter would be relatively late this spring

I ordered the latest blooming variety I could find.

French Blend from Colorblends.

I’ve been planting these in the front bed

For several years.

And they always bloom well behind

The varieties I plant in the back.

So this year I decided to plant both areas to French Blend.

The days we hit the high 80’s in February

Made me a little nervous

The leaves came popping out of the ground

At record speed.

Then March began to actually act like March

And the whole process stalled.

This week the yellow tulips in the back starting blooming

And now a few in the front are popping with color.

If these cloudy days hold on for another week.

It looks like I’ll have another Easter

With tulips.

Please know this has nothing to do with any special gardening skills.

It’s simply planning

Backed up with faith.

A pretty good combination.

Gail

3 Comments

Filed under Easter Egg Hunt, spring, Spring Flowering Bulbs, tulips, Uncategorized

April 18, 2016 · 1:59 am

The Many Sides of Rain

Spring rain

Has always been a blessing

To gardens

To the soul.

After decades of gardening

And listening to thunderstorms

Move through the countryside

Just this morning

I realized

Another side of spring rain.

It rained last night.

Most of the night I think.

So we woke up

To an emerald green world

On a cloudy Sunday morning.

Any good gardener knows

After a good rain

It’s important when you walk through

Your garden.

To stay on the path

To keep from compacting the soggy soil.

Rain also means

That you won’t get to do much digging

For a day or two.

The result is that

Rain slows me down.

It focuses me on the beauty of the garden.

Not the “to do” list

In my head.

Rain washes away the clutter

In my mind

So I can see.

Really see.

Enjoy!

Gail

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Filed under Chive Blossom, Columbine, Grape Hyacinths, Hosta, Rain, spring, Uncategorized

April 11, 2015 · 8:34 pm

GENERATIONS

Four years ago

When we were planning the first Good News Easter Egg Hunt

We didn’t have a lot of children in our congregation.

So we encouraged everyone to invite

Their grandchildren

And great-grandchildren

And neighbor’s children

And friend’s children.

And they did.

Two families from Wichita have come home every year.

So I was elated

When Elliott and Kristina

Began making plans to bring Henry & Harper

Here for their first Easter.

Traveling with twin 8 month old babies

Is brave to say the least.

But they have been amazingly relaxed parents.

Last Saturday afternoon

We gathered in the garden.

Many of these children have been coming every year.

They are very comfortable in my garden

And respectful.

They know they are welcome to wonder through it all

As long as they stay on the path.

They can even leave their name in chalk.

Fewer and fewer each year are concerned about

Ladybugs crawling up their arms.

This year one child even made my

“Why do we release ladybugs in the garden” speech spontaneously for me.

Sloan realized that we were a bit deprived

In the signage department

And convinced her mom to fix that problem.

As more children have come to our church

Our numbers have grown.

It’s common to have three generations of families come.

Sometimes even four.

Which is why I was thrilled when

My uncle George dropped by

To meet Harper & Henry.

George is the last of my father’s 12 siblings.

It was a poignant moment to see them together.

The past meeting the future.

Gardens have always been a gathering place

A place of reflection

A place to pass along knowledge

And wisdom.

Generations of life happen in a garden.

I’m so pleased that some of those memories

Are being made each Easter

In my garden.

Gail

Thank you for this personal indulgence. I promise to get to serious gardening next week!

6 Comments

Filed under Easter Egg Hunt, Grandchildren, Grandchldren Generations, Lady Bugs, spring

Tagged as Bugs, Children and Gardens, Easter Egg Hunt, Generations, Grandchildren, Spring;

May 19, 2014 · 12:51 am

GARDEN QUESTIONS

Blogging is a curious adventure.

Some weeks ideas pop into my mind

All week-long.

Other weeks

Like this one

The mind is a void.

Not an idea at all.

So with the clock ticking away

On this Sunday evening.

I simply went into the garden

Breezy evening that it is

And clicked away.

Like any garden stroll

Questions arise.

So tonight

We’ll just do a little review

Of what’s blooming.

And ask a few questions

That popped into my mind.

The roses continue to bloom

And thrill my soul.

The staples in my garden

Are Katy Road Pink

And Belinda’s Dream.

But this week

Some new and old friends

Have been making me smile.

In my quest to add yellow roses

Sorry Daddy (he disliked yellow roses)

Julia Child is happily blooming away.

Then two that I dug and brought

From my old garden

Are the best they have ever been.

If only I knew their name.

It’s poppy season here.

And the rosy red ones that dot my garden

Remind me of my neighbor Patti

And the fun we had gardening

Back and forth over the fence

That attempted to divide our yards.

I can’t look at a poppy or a lady bug

Without smiling and remembering Patti.

Now for the questions

What’s the deal with the Redbud trees?

The are loaded

No, over loaded with seed pods.

So much so that the branches are

Hanging even lower than usual.

It seems to be a good year for seed pods

Not only Redbuds

But the Silver Leaf Maple has produced

Enough “helicopters” to replant

The southern plains.

So…did you ever wonder

Why columbine has these funny little

Spear like things coming off

The back of the bloom?

I’m not sure I really want to know the answer

To my questions.

You see

I love the mystery.

Of nature

And of life.

Gail

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Filed under Columbine, Gardening, Redbud Trees, roses, spring

Tagged as Columbine, Nature, Poppies, Redbud Trees, Roses

May 12, 2014 · 1:34 am

THE LUSTY MONTH OF MAY

Every time I looked at my garden this week.

Alan Lerner’s words from Camelot

Kept going through my head.

“It’s May, It’s May

The LUSTY month of May.”

And lusty it is.

Roses

Peonies

Iris

Columbine

Allium

I don’t know how Mother Nature pulls it off

But every year on Mother’s Day

My garden hits its spring stride.

There is still much to come

But this week

It’s glorious.

With lots of blousy blooms.

Perhaps it’s Mother Nature’s way

Of honoring mothers.

Those who nurture

And prod

And encourage things to grow.

Happy Mother’s Day

Gail

Image (2)

Four generations of the women of my family circa early 1950’s

2 Comments

Filed under Allium, Columbine, Iris, Peonies, roses, spring

Tagged as Allium, Columbine, Iris, Peonies, Roses, Spring flowers

April 28, 2014 · 2:25 am

TULIP TIME

One of the last things I do at the end of the gardening season each fall

Is one of the first things to bloom come spring.

Tulips

It’s a gift we gardeners give ourselves.

Just at the end of the season

When we’re almost too tired to do another thing

And our knees really don’t want to bend down

Comes the time to plant Tulips.

Some years it’s hard to get it done.

But when spring comes I’m oh so grateful that I did.

Last fall I planted the path to the garden house

With my favorite varieties

Packed the trenches

Covered them with pansies

And let them sleep.

We had also added a new bed on the landing in the front.

Which was planted with a new variety

Of tulips called French blend.

They have proved to be perfect for this spot.

This variety bloomed a little later than those in the back.

Which has turned out to be a good thing.

You see this is a very sunny place.

Surrounded by bricks

Without a drip line.

So the only thing I know to plant there for summer is periwinkles.

But since periwinkles don’t like cold wet weather

You have to wait till May to plant them.

So having a tulip that is still blooming

This last weekend in April works well.

They’ll last a few more days

Then it will be time to pull them up

And plant again.

The cycle goes on.

Gail

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Filed under spring, Spring Flowering Bulbs, tulips, Uncategorized

Tagged as Spring Flowering Bulbs, Tulips

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