The days of the garden

April3—on and off all day today, a light rain sprinkled from dark thunderclouds above, but I didn’t pay too much attention to circumstances and decided it was the perfect day to plant.

In one of those few moments in between rain spells, I went to the garden and started planting. I finally put the Miss Kim Lilac in the ground—large, fragrant, lavender-blue panicles that soon will be blooming. 

In Mom’s little patch, on the other side of the garden, I planted two Japanese Beech Ferns that already look lovely among the rocks.  Something about ferns I can’t properly explain… they speak to my soul in such special way… and perhaps is something to do with the nostalgia and mystery related to their natural habitat and places where they usually grow?  In dappled sunlight, under giant trees and shady places in the woods. 

I also planted a Dwarf Burning Bush, and a Red Twig Dogwood and then… it suddenly started raining again.  I should had run back inside, but I was already too deep into it and kept working the soil… rain pattered down over me as I planted along, dreaming about how I wished these new bushes would grow tall and big in a day or two...

...all the while enjoying getting soaked to the bones in the company of not a soul.  Except, perhaps, for my little garden friends who are always very much interested in knowing what I'm doing out here!

Despite the wet and chilly conditions, it was an ideal time to take care of a few transplanting tasks around the pond and in mom’s little garden… and thus, I relocated some more irises and garden Phlox. Rainy days are not the most agreeable time for an organic gardener to be outdoors, but it is perfect weather for setting out hardy transplants, and relocate bulbs and perennials that have already started to come forth. 

I also planted another clematis; this time under the new Colette climbing rose, in the rotunda.  I’m missing one last clematis bulb that I can’t find nowhere and I’m thinking that I might had lost it or throw it away mistakenly. 

Today, I also planted a little pot of Rosemary...  

I love rosemary in pots, and I will be placing it in a sunny spot in my back porch this summer, and then hopefully I can continue on nurturing it inside.

All the dahlias are also planted now… all were put in different places, filling empty spaces throughout the garden, and among roses.  Oh I so want more!  And I will definitely buy more.  I have never planted dahlias before in my life, and thus I can’t explain why I have so fallen in love with them this year, being that I have never cultivated them before.  Then, I just found out recently that The National Garden Bureau has named 2019 the year of the Dahlia!  Can you believe it!  What coincidences!

When I finally was done with my task of love in the garden, I almost couldn’t recognize myself… dripping wet, dirty, in thick mud to my ankles and clothes so soiled and damped, that I almost had to be carried in by way of birdwings all the way to the shower so I would not get anything soiled.  But how happy I felt.

Have you started working in your garden yet?  I hope you have... if not, may it be soon!