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Notes From the Garden
Notes from the GardenPause, Ponder and Quietly Celebrate Your Garden
By Madeleine Wilde
May 07, 1999 -- Spring sprang with a force unseen in recent years. From zero to the speed of light and please do not feel alone if you are seeing 'plant behavior' that you have never encountered before!For our Northwest gardens, this year's winter had devastating consequences. Most non-gardeners will concur that we are weeping crocodile tears for they remember that there was no great snowstorm, and yes it did rain a lot (90 days straight!), but isn't the rain always nurturing our gardens in this green, green landscape?
All of that is true except how it all merged together. We encountered a 4 day devastating freeze last December that severely weakened our plants. Many of them did dig their heels in and started to recover very nicely, but the incessant rain gave the final coup de grace. Their weakened state could not overcome the rot that set in with the dampness.
There was no sunny warm break in February to get their spring growth started and then POW! the sunny warm days erupted. My Loderi rhododendrons usually spill out their fat blooms and then after that grand display they unfurl their new tender leaves from the sides of the withering flowering buds. This year the leaves popped forth with the warm weather and the flower buds seem to be following slowly. Go figure!
Several beautiful and grand rosemary plants have failed completely from the wet weather after the freeze. My daffodils and tulips have never performed better. The maple trees appeared unharmed yet the Algerian Iris clumps turned to mostly mush. What are your tales of surprise and woe and felicity? Did your sweet pea seedlings recover from being midget-size and burst forth in the warm weather?
One has that ominous feeling of dread--what next from the weather gods? And yet the great Arboretum, Bellevue Botanic, Seattle Tilth, etc. Plant Sales are in full swing and trips to the nursery fill our patios and decks with treasures waiting to be planted out into our gardens. Then of course there are all the seed packets waiting to be distributed, and those eager seedlings which have bent their way around our light-source systems seem to be leaning towards the door out to the garden. Suddenly we don't care about what might be in the mailbox, on the voice mail or e-mail, for we drop everything (hopefully) when we get home and rush out to find what new treasures are ready to bloom. The light is so crystal clear from the west as we yank those tiresome weeds out of the way for our exciting new plants.
Savor your joy in your garden. Dismiss those hopes that this year your garden will achieve that look you thought you wanted after looking at all those glossy, perfectly pictured gardens in the magazines and the books. Your garden has its own secrets that are beautifully unfolding right now. Take the time, slow down, and let the early morning light or late afternoon light illuminate for you this grand unfolding. Pause, ponder, and quietly celebrate this remarkable rejuvenation. Let the headlines and the important issues take a back seat for a moment. This is your garden and it is showing to you its own quiet integrity. If you find the yellow glare of the vigorous dandelions upsetting, just look at them for all their wonderful intensity and duke it out with them later, for the garden does give us such a rich panoply of reactions and dreams.
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