WANNA BUY SOME FLOWERS?

My gardens are very important to me (OK, they're not "my" gardens, they belong to the campground where I work) and I'm very protective of them. I'm out there every day caretaking, keeping things happy and neat and as weed-free as I can. I feed and water, and yes, I do talk to the plants -- more fun than talking to myself, dontcha know.

So, yesterday evening I was doing some watering, and a young boy about 10 or so came up to me and said "hey lady, wanna buy some flowers?" For an instant my mind went blank. I'm surrounded by flowers, why should I buy more? Then the light went on, and I asked, "where did you get the flowers?" "Over there." He pointed to one of my gardens.

After my inner scream subsided, I took a deep breath and said, as kindly and gently as I could, "you know, these gardens are for our campers to look at and enjoy, but not to pick." Then he went blank for a second. I said, "so you won't pick any more will you?" "No, ma'am. I'm sorry I picked your flowers."

The boy's immediate (and correct) response softened my ire, and I had to smile. How nice to have an innocent, polite, and cooperative kid, picking or not. He showed me and the gardens that he respected us. I really like that because nowadays it's a bit hard to come by from youngsters who've just been turned loose in a campground. They're like little wild animals who've been caged in a small place, and here they are, set free in acreage, with so many places to go and explore; probably they don't realize that they're trampling on some precious plant or new seedling, and I know this is a risk that comes with the territory. It won't make me stop gardening, anyway. Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow.

When I told the story to some of the other staff here (who know how protective I am), they laughed to the point of tears. Now whenever they see me, they ask "hey lady, wanna buy some flowers?" Brings a smile to my face!

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

Here I am smack in the end of the middle of the gardening season, still focused on keeping all the gardens happy and blooming, and I realize that in less than six weeks I'll be storing up my travel trailer for the winter and joining one of my daughters in her brand new motorhome for a six-month trek through the Great Southwest, where neither of us has spent any quality time!

My routine ? A drastic change. I ADORE change! Once we hit the road, this blog will no doubt gravitate to a travelog of sorts: my role as gardener will fade to the background while me-as-wanderer will be taking center stage. I expect to uncover some fresh insights stimulated by things I've never seen before!

Stay tuned for SIX MONTHS OF THE SOUTHWEST, beginning mid-September! Be sure to check out our trip site at

http://web.me.com/sara.justbe/Our_Great_Adventure/Welcome.html

MAKING PEACE WITH NATURE

Ah this is not always so easy. Especially after several HARD rains, the kind where raindrops each weigh about five pounds and wash away roads. My proud stand of zinnias took a hard hit last week, so hard that many of the plants actually broke off at the base of the stalk.

I kind of felt like an undertaker as I took these broken plants away. Then I felt like a grave-robber as I cut whatever "fresh" blooms I could for a bouquet for the office. Then I just felt really sad when I took the remains up to our compost pile.

All these feelings were negative, and I don't live well with negative feelings, so it was time to put on my Regain Perspective Hat and sit and think:

• Heck, sh*t happens -- I'm not in Paradise yet
• Don't mess with Mother Nature
• At least the office has a really cheerful vase full of flowers
• Next time, stake the darn plants before this happens
• Time to roll with the punches, go with the flow
• Suck it up and move on

Moving on I am:

• I took a deep breath, gave thanks for all the plants that didn't get flattened (the Mexican Sunflowers are awesomely strong).
• I just planted a new batch of Cosmos and Hollyhocks. They WILL be staked.
• I'm going out to buy a new supply of stakes.

GREEN THUMB OR NOT?

My boss told his young-but-wise grandson that I have a green thumb. AJ answered, "she does not!" So, who's right?

My gardening and landscaping endeavors have been, for the most part, quite successful. I bask in the daily oohs and aahs of the campers walking the various garden paths; I humbly say "thank you" a zillion times a week when I'm told how wonderful the lavish gardens are. But for all that, I can't say I have a green thumb, just a great passion. I'm no professional, just a hobby gardener who learns as she goes and who relies on internet sources for her continuing education, and who, with the help of all the garden gods, continues to create happy accidents in these gardens.

To help me believe that I do indeed have a green thumb, I'm seriously considering painting my thumb green (or having it tattooed). Sometimes a person just believes better with visual aids!

LIFE'S LITTLE SIDE TRIPS

Here I am, all settled into my routine of summer garden job in the north and winter vacation in the south, always the same places, and very content with this arrangement. Along comes a daughter telling me she's quitting her corporate job, buying a motorhome, and she and I will travel the southwest U.S. for six months.

OMG, panic in the streets of my mind! What, get me out of my comfy little rut, and make me think again? How Dare You. Now I have to learn how to winterize my trailer, something I've never done before. Now I have to find a keeper for my truck for the winter. Now I have to make lists of what to bring on this new adventure.

Remembering that the difference between a rut and a grave is that one can still climb out of a rut, I'm loving every minute of this! New Adventure is the name of the game, and this is my opportunity to join forces with this daughter in new ways, as we not only explore the great outdoors of the southwest, but also the great "indoors" of our inner truths. We're not a religious lot, but we are spiritual seekers.

Life's little side trips add such richness to the equation; the unexpected can be so delightful; each little trip gives us the opportunity to say YES! to adventure. Look out World, here we come (beginning mid-September)!

DOING THINGS THE OLD WAY

No rain in sight . . . gardens are thirsty! I fondly remember the early spring days when we had frequent gentle ground-soaking rains, and I never had to water. I had time to finish up garden prep, and do all the needed planting. Now, as I drag my watering hose from spigot to spigot, I think an irrigation system would be wonderful.

Oh, wait --- is that what I really want? With my hose, I get to seriously visit each section of the garden as I water. I get to see who needs deadheading, and who has weeds that are pretending to be flowers (and I pull them as I see them). I get to notice all the new little buds that promise continued blooming. I get to be surprised at the first hibiscus bloom, and can imagine what our "hibiscus hill" will look like when all seven plants are in bloom and look forward to getting pictures of that! Our first giant sunflower just opened fully, what a delight, and there are buds there too. I get to notice what garden insects are active, and I get to capture that darn japanese beetle who thought he was hiding in the rose.

When I water I see so much detail that I might miss if all I do is walk through the garden. This way, I'm standing in front of one section at a time. It's the difference between driving through a neighborhood and walking through a neighborhood. When you walk, you have the time to wave at people, and stop for a friendly chat.

OK so I don't want an irrigation system after all.

PICTURES, AS PROMISED

Our newest garden area: a former grassy field has been transformed by a gazebo surrounded by small gardens and pathways. Less grass to cut and surely easy on the eyes!

This first picture taken in April is of the "naked" garden areas, ready for planting. . .

This was my first-ever experience at doing it all, from laying the bricks and gravel paths, to planning then digging the gardens, hauling lots of compost to amend the soil, to setting the borders, to doing the actual planting. There's color for every part of the growing season! The rest of the pictures were taken a few days ago; all planting is done for this year and there's room for more next year.

Of course we're not finished: there are more areas to be transformed. Saving that for another time; Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

Campers want to know what the plants are, so I've placed labels for the more unusual things we have growing. This sparks so many nice conversations with our visitors!

They're surprised to see we have herbs scattered among the flowers. . .

And these final few pictures are of some very happy faces!

FINALLY, MIDSUMMER!

I've been working toward this since March: the time when our summer perennials begin their blooming! I see buds everywhere: blackeyed susans, coneflowers, mexican hyssop; daisies have opened, the zinnias are too. The hollyhocks are in full bloom. Our ten hardy hibiscus bushes are even sending up buds, with promise of another spectacular show -- one of my favorites! The roses continue their blooming, they must like the food I give them.

Best news of all (knock on wood) we haven't been overrun by japanese beetles. We decided to NOT put out the beetle traps this year; instead we vigilantly search for them (very few so far) and get rid of them one by one, via smashing or capturing in a baggie.

This is not to say all's been planted that will be planted. On this little piece of our planet, the campground owners continually come home from a shopping trip with "oh look what we found!" And they bring forth more perennials: several russian sage, and shrub roses that will grow to a width of ten feet, and a few other things. Here's my challenge, the one I love the best: where the heck do I put these things?? The two russian sage plants when fully grown will be about 4' tall and 3' wide -- each. Heck, there's just NO ROOM in the existing gardens! And the shrub roses? Who knows?

After studying different areas, I caved in and simply built a whole new little garden area for the russian sage. This will be a specimen garden, unlike the other gardens that dance with a wonderful mixture of flowering beauties of all colors, shapes, and sizes. As for the shrub roses: we just happen to have an appropriate area along one of our pathways that will accommodate a 10' wide shrub.

OK: I promise to take pictures this week!

WHAT THE HECK?!?

This morning I was up early, wanted to get to work before it got too hot outdoors; worked til lunchtime; had lunch, took a nap, went back to work later in the day. So far, so good.

I crawled into bed at 10pm tonight, with plans to repeat today's schedule. Then it happened: I lay there, sleepily musing about some good stuff in my life. One thought led to another, and yet another, things/people/events I'm so darn grateful for. I kept saying, in between these thoughts, "time to sleep now, let the healing begin" (I consider the dark sacred night a healing time while I sleep) but the thoughts continued. At 11 pm I got up, had a glass of milk, went back to bed.

At midnight I was up again. Still wide awake. Turned on my computer, did some surfing, and now it's 1:30 am, it's tomorrow, for goodness' sake! What the heck?!?

Oh, no --- can it be that FINALLY I've had enough sleep? Am I reaching the time in my life like my grandmother's, when she said she only needed four or five hours of sleep a night?? Please no, I really like sleep!

Panda, my little dog friend, dutifully followed me from the bed to the couch. She looks at me and wonders what's up. Is it morning already? It's still dark outside! I think this gratitude thing is backfiring on me, I might need to turn it down a notch? Nah, I think not. I'll just sign off here and work on my to-do list for today when the sun shines. If I'm awake then.

OOPS --- HOW TIME FLEW

MY BAD! For the past three weeks or so I got so caught up in planting, I didn't even think about blogging. One of my 'keepers' reminded me how behind I am. Time to catch up.

All the zillion plants we bought are now in the ground or in container gardens or in hanging baskets. All are doing very well -- I think because of the rain we've had. Rainwater is SO much better, the plants tell me.

Couldn't rest on my laurels, though. The owner reminded me that in his greenhouse he has a truckload of flats, all seedlings he planted earlier, and they're ready to go. Zinnias, Giant Sunflowers (the 8' tall kind), Mexican Sunflowers, Cosmos, Daisies, Marigolds, and a number of things that are no longer labeled (labels blew away). I finally got all that stuff planted this week. The unlabeled ones were fun to plant, and it will be fun to watch them grow, and fun to discover what they are, and fun to see if I planted them in the right place! I'm hoping they want a full-sun home, because that's where I put them.

Good spring rains is a two-edged sword: the plants love it and thrive, and so do the WEEDS. Much of my time has involved weed control, as in pulling them. It's not that I love pulling weeds, it's that I love the end result; but it's like housework, it's never finished. That's OK because I guess I like being on my hands and knees --- I have the callouses to prove it. My one weeding knee (the one I'm always using to kneel on) has a marvelous callous, also known as body armor.

Even though our perennials aren't in full bloom yet, the campers here are already raving about the beauty of the gardens. They ARE lush with greenery, and the annuals we've put in give the needed color, and we have an incredible variety of plants (see the April 4th post for a list). I tell the campers, please come back in midsummer and you'll see a REAL show!

What's next on my to-do list? A bit of tree-trimming: got to raise the canopies to get more sun onto some of the gardens. I wait for the gas-powered pole saw to be fixed, because I'm so ready to trim!