So my bulbs arrived last week and I just finished planting them today. Well, I planted about 3/4s of them and made Craig do the rest. If all goes according to plan, I should end up with these flowers some day:
The funny thing about all this is that I've realized my approach to gardening is completely wrong. For example, I don't like wearing gloves. They annoy me. And I don't mind getting my hands dirty. So I usually just go at it bare handed. But. I hate the idea that I might accidentally plunge my hand into some bugs or worms or something. So I'm weirdly squeamish about my bare-handedness. I can't think of a happy middle ground there, though. (Suggestions?)
My friend Janine was a great gardener. She could spend hours "playing in the mud" as she called it and worked constantly to make both her front and back yards things of beauty and taste. She studied all the different variations of flowers and had very high standards for them: she wanted scented flowers (especially roses!) that would unfold, beautifully displaying each petal.
I have the feeling that Janine is horrified at the way I just chucked all my bulbs in the ground willy-nilly without even really remembering which ones were which, and all the while trying to not let my fingers go anywhere near the writhing earthworms I kept turning up. I love the idea of gardening, but I never seem to know what to do with the reality of it. In my mind, all I should have to do is go outside with a small shovel, dig up the dirt, turn it over, and plant those bulbs. How hard could it be? But reality hits me hard in the form of a rose of sharon bush that sends up a billion shoots all along our fence-line which are ridiculously hard to pull up. Add to that the odd stumps, oodles of weeds, a few plants I can't identify or don't know what to do with (like the wild strawberries?), the dead leaves still lying there since autumn, and-- don't forget!-- the bugs, and suddenly I feel completely helpless.
Maybe if I had a fresh yard that wasn't already frantically growing anything that fell its way I'd have a better idea what to do. But I don't think those are easy to come by, unless you happen to have a backhoe handy. Which I don't.
So I muddle along, hoping that maybe something I planted will grow, but not ever letting my expectations get to high. And hoping Janine will forgive me for whatever I just did to those poor bulbs.
4 comments:
My suggestion, a glove on just one hand. you won't like it, but it won't touch the bugs and the other hand will be free, but could touch bugs... if you find worms though give them to me for composting.
I wish gardening in real life was like on Webkinz... except I can't even keep those plants alive.
I'm afraid I have no suggestions as I'm a terrible gardener! I do remember Janine's lovely garden, though, and I'm sure she's laughing light-heartedly at your gardening technique, and not cringing. :0) Good luck with everything!!
Oh Alanna, I loved this post! :)
My first reaction, of course, was that "oh no, I'm sure my mom would just tell you that whatever you needed to do for your own garden is best. Stay sane!"...
Then I remembered all the cringing she would openly do in response to how some friends would treat their gardens! :) Really though, I think her judgements were limited in rose-pruning, so I think you are off the hook?
Quick example: a couple winters ago, one good friend offered to come over and prune all of her roses. Considering how many our garden had, that was quite a generous offer! A few hours later, when the friend was finishing up, my mom looked outside and could not tell almost any difference in how anything looked. Didn't anything get pruned? But she calmed herself down and repeated that the graciousness and generosity of the offer was more important than the precision of the pruning itself. This would be okay.
Then, a few weeks later, a different friend came and offered to prune her roses. (Obviously unaware of the first friend's gesture.) Because my mom had already thought that the first try wasn't really enough, she accepted. This time though, the friend HACKED her roses. There were barely stubs left! My mom cried. Of course, the second friend (who was also an avid gardening type) thought they'd done the perfect job, but my mom swore to never let them touch her flowers again.
So, really, I think as long as you aren't haphazardly gardening with HER flowers, I think she is fully supportive and happy for you doing what works for you. Just don't hack the roses :) And I know that she would be THRILLED with you buying so many bulbs on sale!!
Love you, Alanna!
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