Spring 2021

Days fly away, hours accumulate in the thin air of the horizon as seasons come and seasons go.  And what about us where do we go to gather dreams and hopes and pray for the peace of this world?  It seems years since I stepped here last, but wintery weather has started to move away, petals are painting the grounds in pinks and whites everywhere and the lilac tree has giving us its jewels with which to perfume our nests.

Thus, I am out again.  Out in the garden working for hours as much as I can.  I have painted old pots and altered the topography of the garden by removing old plants and bringing new ones in.

This year, I decided to remove one of the Quaking Aspen I had planted along the northern fence, in the hope to cover the two-story house on the other side as quickly as possible.  The Quaking Aspen grow very quickly, I love their cream to white-colored trunks, and whimsical ‘eyes’, as I call them, which are actually the dark markings where side branches used to be. 

They provide a wonderful finishing touch to a suburban yard, and quiver delightfully in the breeze. Their leaves are charming — deep green in the summer months and brilliant gold in fall. Unfortunately, despite their lovely fall foliage color and other attributes, quaking aspens can be significantly problematic.  They are invasive. Clusters of clones will quickly grow and take over your garden.  You will have to cut new shots everywhere all the time, and they are not too reliable either, as for some unexplainable reasons, part of it, if not the entire tree can die in just a few years. 

Our neighbor on the other side, had to cut theirs down, and part of one of mine needed to be cut off too.  So I didn’t want to take the change with this one and therefore removed it roots and all, the other day.

I painted pots and painted birdbaths and whimsical things around the garden... and we gave our back porch a new coat too...

Right outside our kitchen area, three old roses that were doing very poorly were finally taken out too.  I had waited too long and had been too sentimental towards them, until now.  To replace them I have planted three new red double-Knockouts with lots of red cluster that last forever.  I will have to wait until next spring to see the growth, but I can wait.

In every season, in every time, there is some magic unfolding in the garden, but nothing like on these spring days… to walk in it and dream, to work and received to sow and to collect and sense and taste and hear… what more could I ask? A few flowers at my feet and above my dreams, the stars.