March 15, 2007
I guess I might survive
it's only supposed to get up to 35 today.
I guess it's good that it's still above freezing. It's supposed to get down below freezing at night this coming week, but the days are all supposed to be above freezing. My mom reminded me that makes for good maple syrup weather.
Not that we tap our trees or have any personal interest in syrup weather.
But I really liked the 60 and sunny day. It sure was nice.
Of course, Spring only reminds me of my lack of planning and know-how in the gardening realm. While everyone else is getting excited about seeds and seedlings and transplants, I'm half frustrated and half-glad that I didn't order my plants last fall and that my spring order is going to fall through.
Did I tell you about that? I heard of a deal ~ $25 off a $25 order ~ this past fall. I was excited. And daunted, I stress out a fair amount about what to get for where and whether I'll just kill it in the end. But I finally picked some things and was relieved, except that I didn't really write down where I thought I would plant them, so I knew I'd just have to re-figure all that out when they arrived in Spring. Now I'm always a little nervous ordering when I hear about a deal, thinking maybe the deal is one-code-per-customer and I'll spend all the effort (which is not minimal, for me) to pick what to order, and then be crushed at the checkout that the code isn't valid for me. But it was.
Until this Spring. When I got an email saying the company reviewed their orders and codes and that the code I used wasn't assigned to me. Months after the order went through.
So, bummer. They did offer $25 off of $50, which is nice. And I'm sure they only checked because they were freaking out about possibly hundreds or thousands of nearly-free orders ... the problem is, I'm not up for *re*picking *twice* as many plants as I'd picked before. $50 worth of product is a lot for a plant killer.
So I guess I'll just let the order drop and get nothing. Which is sad because later I'll be sorry I didn't order anything.
I would love to have a beautiful garden of flowers. I think it would be neat to have a successful vegetable patch. It's not that I feel I should, it's that I really think it would be neat. Only I'm not only bad with plants, but also lazy, which usually makes for a lethal combination.
Last year we had that nice young man help us whack out our weeds and cover things with weed barrier and mulch. The good news is that it looked good for the rest of the summer. The bad news is that there are weeds and plants poking through the weed barrier. Which might be good, if the plants I *like* pop through. But what if it's just the weeds? I covered up some daffodils and things, because late summer it was too late to remember exactly where they were, and the weeds needed some *major* control (think of them being neglected for 5 years that we've been here and countless years before that) .... so anyway, I'm not sure I'll have much at all coming up this year.
My idea was that I would be pretty vigilant about weed control for now, and plant thoughtfully in the future.
But now that it's Spring, my guess is that I'll neglect the weeds, and not figure out what to plant, and will continue to be sad that I don't have a lovely garden that comes naturally to me. Because I really don't have the knack for it, I don't think.
My sister is cool, she's bold and daring and remembers things. So she tries things out, and has success with some, and moves other things around, and it's neat. But I am both more timid and less hard working and forget everything, so it just doesn't really pan out in the gardening area for me. I think the biggest problem is that I want to only do it once, to have a good, smart plan and have it work smoothly, progressively, not have to re-do things that didn't turn out like I thought.
Boy, I guess I should quit whining about gardening. It sure made for a very long post! I didn't mean to whine about gardening. I only meant to whine about the weather a little.
Apparently they're somehow, mysteriously, related.
Posted by Kim at March 15, 2007 8:38 AMI was looking at my newly uncovered flower bed yesterday and found that I had some tulips up. I had totally forgotten about planting tulips last fall! LOL So that was a rather nice surprise.
I hate weeding. But dh gets annoyed when it isn't done, so this year I need to make a concerted effort to stay on top of things.
Plus he enlarged the vegetable garden last fall. :-/
Posted by: Rosanne at March 15, 2007 9:35 AMLOL. your sister took a college class in botany which taught her that it was possible to take care of plants without killing them. One of the rules was, stick your finger in the ground. If your finger feels dry, the plant needs water. That's the rule she still uses.
She now arguably spends the GNP of some impoverished African country buying discount Wal-Mart plants at the end of the growing season when they are 75% off, and sticking them in the ground. Whatever was meant to survive survives, the other 80% doesn't. Your sister tries not to think about how many plants she has killed. Her rationale is that those plants were not intended to grow in Zone 4+3/4 and that it was a mistake for Wal-Mart to stock them in the first place.
I like being outside, and I like doing something, so I end up doing gardening. The dishes don't get washed and the house doesn't get clean, but I play in the garden. For me it's therapeutic. I've also learned lots from talking to Wendy at the local herb/plant store. I read about plants online. It's a hobby.
On the other hand... I also dream about having a nice kitchen, but for me it will never happen - I won't get in there in paint, I won't reorganize my stuff, I won't figure out what will bring together my plates and my serving dishes.... in short my kitchen will never look as nice as yours - because, frankly, I don't have the interest. It doesn't make me less of a person... but I'll probably never be a great cook, and I'll probably never have a paint color that I really love, and when people come over to dinner they will not say anything nice about my kitchen or my cooking.
That's really, most of the time, OK with me.
I say find one of your kids that has an interest in gardening. For some reason I'm thinking that might be Tobi-Wan... I think it was T that helped me rake for like an hour when we were raking leaves in your backyard last fall? Take the interested child(ren) to some 4-H extension classes on gardening, or some community center gardening basics or whatever. Maybe Moog or Poppie would be willing to attend a class with them?
Give them the 'responsibility' of the yard, telling them that the rest of you all are willing to help. Take them to the gardening center and let them pick out some plants. Give them a budget, and tell them they can't touch the sea of squill. That way even if they fail, it's educational failing, and it's no worse than leaving the yard neglected.
I just wish I lived closer, so I could garden with your T and my Chickie and maybe Bubbie, and you could figure out a paint color for my kitchen. But then I guess I'd need to go wash the cupboards. :o)
Posted by: kelly at March 15, 2007 9:58 AMIn our Michigan house, I killed everything that was there. I tried to plant a garden and ended up with 5 cherry tomatoes and two inch-size ears of corn. I finally gave up and had my mother in law come take away the few rose bushes and flowers in the back (I hate to weed) before they died too. They thrived for her, and I threw down grass seed and had pretty grass that I could just mow once a week. That was the extent of my "gardening".
Flowers and landscape are nice, but if it's not your thing, move on to something that doesn't make you have fits. Sounds like your kitchen is both cheery and yummy!
Posted by: For a Season at March 15, 2007 12:55 PMKimbo...I'm thinking that you're talking about planting perennials? I, too, have always dreamed of lush, colorful, lovely gardens blooming profusely from spring to fall, but the thought of weeding, watering, treating, and actually researching and picking out everything has so far been overwhelming to me.
So I found a good compromise. On Memorial Day weekend--after ALL threat of frost has passed in Michigan--I go to Walmart or McDonald's nursery, and I buy lots of impatiens, marigolds, and petunias, getting at least three different colors of each kind. Then I throw in something new each year...I just wander around and find something pretty and cheap. I also purchase some of that spiky grass, and maybe some lobelia.
I take all that home, and over the next week, I plant. (A lot gets done on the weekend, since it's a holiday.) I put all the petunias in a "circle garden" around a tree; plant the marigolds wherever they'll get plenty of sun; and plant the impatiens in shady places. I pull out a few pots in different sizes, plant the spiky grass in the middle, and a few flowers all around it. The lobelia works well because it's "drippy" and hangs over the edge. Then I place pots on my deck...porch steps...porch railing...by a sunny door...wherever I want a pretty splash of color.
Then...for the rest of the summer...I assign children to water and weed. Every morning, one older child and one younger child goes out before breakfast and waters everything that needs watering. I divide the weeding into "zones" and have them rotate around. So they might weed 2 or 3 afternoons a week--usually after lunch--and get through all the flowerbeds every 2 weeks. By doing this, it doesn't take them long, because weeds only have 2 weeks max to grow. While only 2 kids water at a time, all 5 help with weeding.
I find this system do-able, because I only have to work at it for about 1 week in the Spring--getting everything bought and planted--and it gives me "instant" color which increases nicely as the summer goes by; and if I get tired of certain flowers, I know I can get something else next year.
Someday, when I have more time to research and work at a garden longer (i.e. remembering to plant bulbs, etc., in the Fall!) I would still love to do perennials. But in this season of my life, the Annuals Compromise will have to do.
Betsy
Posted by: Betsy at March 15, 2007 4:11 PMPerenials. Our area is good for losts of flowering plants. My azaleas have been here and blooming since we moved in back in 94. :-) I also have gardenas, india hawthorne, and an iris, and trees that flower. No bedding flowers though. I would have to plant those each season. LOL!
