It's Finally Here

Please excuse my absence.........but I have been in the garden! After months of dreaming, planning, longing and infinite (seems like) waiting.......the season is now in full swing. As I have said before, Wisconsin is very fickle with her spring weather. One day can be warm and the next cold and rainy. I'm not even going to mention that there was a June FROST warning!
When the sun shines and it's warm enough, everything needs to be done and done now. Needless to say, I am very busy during May and most of June, digging, planting, weeding, staking, transplanting and generally, loving every minute spent following my dream.
Gardening is so much a part of my life, of who I am and how I feel. I want nothing more than to share this part of me with others, to live in beauty among the flowers and welcome all who enter my world.

Blank Slate

Our Wisconsin springs are unpredictable at best. There are still chances for a frost until the end of May, so, I usually plant my vegetable garden around the Memorial Day holiday. The long winter wait is over and I can finally stop dreaming and start doing!
After the soil is tilled and smoothed out, I relish the "blank slate" situation since it is a new beginning every year. By this time, I have forgotten last year's failures (insect pests, cucumber disease, drought, storms and rabbits) and once again can start fresh with new hope that THIS year I will have the perfect garden.
Realistically, I know there will be things beyond my control that will happen....that's what being a gardener is all about. Learning patience and acceptance, knowing that there will be disappointments as well as successes, these are the things that get me energized to do it all over again. So, you must excuse me now, as Errol (my little dog) and I have some planting to do.

Wonderful Magical May

A merry May Day to all! As a child, I would deliver handmade May baskets to special friends and relatives in our neighborhood. There were always spring violets blooming in my backyard on May 1st, so, I would pick a nosegay and carefully place it in each basket. For my best friend Debbie, I would substitute candy for the flowers. Then, the real fun would begin. My younger sister and I would carefully sneak onto each porch, place the basket on the doorknob, ring the doorbell and run! We had to find a place to hide while we watched the intended recipient being surprised....or feigning surprise. Either way, it was great fun and something I looked forward to doing every year. A tradition I think that I will revive.

Spring??

Spring warmth doesn't come easily in Wisconsin. The majority of days in April are the chilly, wet and mostly grey kind. After a long, cold winter, my soul and heart crave warm breezes, sunshine and days working in my gardens. There are seeds to plant and dead stalks to remove. Luckily, the bunches of daffodils, crocus and hyacinths are spotting the beds with tiny shots of color. Note to self: Plant LOTS more spring bulbs this autumn!

For now, I have to be content to tend to my indoor seedlings and grab every short chance of nice weather to dash outdoors and get my hands dirty. Gardening is bliss.

A wonderful St. Patrick's Day celebration to all.

Crochet Bits

Decided that today I would pick up my "fancy" work. I had started this crocheted Irish Rose Sachet, some time ago, so, after some initial studying of the pattern and determining where I had left off.....why didn't I mark my stopping point?.....I worked a few rows. I enjoy any kind of needlework and find it a creative and soothing way to spend time, not to mention that I end up with a lovely, handmade heirloom to boot!
My Mom and both Grandmothers were avid crocheters. As a child, I would sit and watch their hooks flash through miles of thread and was amazed at the lacy, webbed wonders that grew from their nimble fingers. Finally, after begging her to teach me, Mom showed me the stitches and techniques that make up the crochet repertoire. My awkward, painfully tight stitches were horribly misshapen, the white thread grubby from my sweaty little hands. It took me so long to make even the simplest chain.....I felt certain that I would never be able to coax anything remotely resembling a work of art from my clumsy hook.
Over the years I would try crochet again many times. Slowly, I practiced and became more and more comfortable with the hook and yarn and even turned out a few nice things. My Mom didn't give up on me and she would always be there to answer any questions and help me solve whatever goof I had made. My Mom and my Grandmothers aren't with me anymore. I am fortunate and grateful to have inherited many doilies, afghans and other "pretties" they created during their lifetimes. They grace my home and life with their remembrance and beauty. When I pick up my "fancy" work, I am flooded with memories and a feeling of continuing their legacy. I know that they would approve.

March Gardening

When the calendar says "March", lovely thoughts of spring and warmer weather drift like clouds through my mind. Wisconsin just laughs gleefully and gets ready to throw more below freezing temperatures (and at least one more huge snowstorm) at us desperate dreamers. I am certain that every winter season lingers weeks longer than last year's, sending me deeper into a frenzy of.....Gardening Withdrawal!
The only treatment for this horrid syndrome, the only way I can feel better, is gardening indoors in pots. I hear you laugh.... a poor substitute for the real thing I admit, but it helps me make it through the long, cold, slushy, grey days of everlasting winter, intact.
I am extremely fortunate that my husband heard my pleas for a year-round garden room and we added a greenhouse addition off the kitchen. (Don't ask him why anyone in their right mind would add a glass room to a house in a climate with nine months of winter......his crying gets pretty depressing every month when the heating bill arrives). Here, my much loved sunroom/dining room/greenhouse holds my salvation. My beautiful amaryllis bulbs are blooming right now, and none too soon! It's also time to bring the Angel Trumpets from their winter slumber in the basement, to the light, along with their fellow pots of shamrocks. And, the most fun of all.....it's time to plant seeds for the vegetable patch and bedding plants! Soon, dozens of tiny pots of seedlings will litter the floor and every available surface creating an olympian obstacle course just to get to the dining table. Can life get any better? So, come on Wisconsin, throw me your best snowstorm! I am happily puttering and potting in the warmth of my greenhouse and nothing you (or Wisconsin Power and Light) can do will dampen my enthusiasm!