Flowers, flowers, and flowers
The compulsive gardener resumes her passion...
Last week, I started working in my garden. My first of expected weekly visits to my favorite garden center yielded flats of pansies, marigolds, and lettuce starts, as well as some spinach seeds. My favorite semi-lovely discount emporium had lilly bulbs for sale, so a few came home with me. My chives, strawberries and daylillies all survived the winter; several pots have masses of healthy green shoots.
On Thursday, I brought home more pansies, and cleaned out the last of last fall's debris from the larger planters. Several bags of yard waste were delivered to recycling, and the cleared baskets, now with fresh potting soil and pansies, were rehung on the ramp.
On Saturday, I decided to spend most of the day at the Museum of Fine Arts, admiring "Art in Bloom", a celebration of floral design inspired by the MFA's art works. (This is similar to Worcester Art Museum's "Flora in Winter" exhibit every January.) I took the first train into Back Bay, pushed down to the MFA, and stayed until ~10 minutes before the museum closed. I didn't get to see every floral artwork, but I covered all of the second floor and most of the first, then caught the evening train home.
Today, I pulled on my oldest denim shirt and scruffiest stained jeans, and attacked the mess of stored planters on the back deck. By late afternoon, the planters were cleared of dead leaves and debris and repositioned, the deck clean, the hanging baskets back up, all the plants into soil, and the cool-weather seed crops in the ground. I gave all containers a thorough soaking to set the tender new plants properly in their new homes.
Now I have pansies in bloom, the cool-weather seeds in the ground, and the promise of lillies in bloom in July. I still have planters and window boxes on the deck rails empty of greenery, but those can wait empty for now for the more tender varieties like tomato, pepper, and impatiens.
For now, I'm content.
Last week, I started working in my garden. My first of expected weekly visits to my favorite garden center yielded flats of pansies, marigolds, and lettuce starts, as well as some spinach seeds. My favorite semi-lovely discount emporium had lilly bulbs for sale, so a few came home with me. My chives, strawberries and daylillies all survived the winter; several pots have masses of healthy green shoots.
On Thursday, I brought home more pansies, and cleaned out the last of last fall's debris from the larger planters. Several bags of yard waste were delivered to recycling, and the cleared baskets, now with fresh potting soil and pansies, were rehung on the ramp.
On Saturday, I decided to spend most of the day at the Museum of Fine Arts, admiring "Art in Bloom", a celebration of floral design inspired by the MFA's art works. (This is similar to Worcester Art Museum's "Flora in Winter" exhibit every January.) I took the first train into Back Bay, pushed down to the MFA, and stayed until ~10 minutes before the museum closed. I didn't get to see every floral artwork, but I covered all of the second floor and most of the first, then caught the evening train home.
Today, I pulled on my oldest denim shirt and scruffiest stained jeans, and attacked the mess of stored planters on the back deck. By late afternoon, the planters were cleared of dead leaves and debris and repositioned, the deck clean, the hanging baskets back up, all the plants into soil, and the cool-weather seed crops in the ground. I gave all containers a thorough soaking to set the tender new plants properly in their new homes.
Now I have pansies in bloom, the cool-weather seeds in the ground, and the promise of lillies in bloom in July. I still have planters and window boxes on the deck rails empty of greenery, but those can wait empty for now for the more tender varieties like tomato, pepper, and impatiens.
For now, I'm content.