FINALLY, TIME TO PLANT

Two days ago the bosses and I went plant shopping -- a good four hours of finding annuals and perennials for our extensive gardens. We hit two large nurseries in the process, and came home with a trailer load of goodies. This annual event is like binge-shopping

While at the nurseries, I watched the employees tending the plants and I thought, 'what a great job to have'. Reality set in and I realized MY JOB is so much more fabulous: the nursery employees nurture a billion young plants, and that's so important; but I get to selectively adopt plants, bring them home, find the right spot for them to live and grow and bring pleasure to lots of people, tend to them for years on end (the perennials, anyway), keep the beasts at bay (especially those darn japanese beetles) and grow a long-term relationship with them

Yesterday I began the planting: I put together 24 container gardens then began putting plants in the ground. I'd envisioned working until nightfall because we have SO MANY to plant! But, no matter how willing the spirit, the flesh just wouldn't last that long, so I had to give it up for the day. Ah, that's OK: I also can't eat a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting, nor have I ever been able to eat an elephant in one bite. This means, beautifully, that for the next very many days I will be planting, and planting, and planting . . .

NEW AND DIFFERENT, EVERY YEAR

My first spring at this campground began on March 15, 2007. When I arrived from warm humid southwest Louisiana, it was COLD up here (Maryland) but I needed to get to work right away. There were a good three to four inches of leaves that obliterated all of the rock gardens, and those leaves needed to be removed. Because of all the plants and shrubs, it had to be done mostly by hand. As I worked (and it took a good three weeks) I noticed I was trampling on the new shoots under the leaves, of the season's first arrivals: the tulips and daffodils and crocuses and irises. I cringed every time I uncovered one of my victims! It all got done, though, and we had a great "crop" of flowers once the mountains of leaves were removed. It was a great and exciting first year at my new job of gardener/landscaper.

The following year I decided to wait until April 1st to arrive (I was remembering how cold it was the previous year and I was chicken). I arrived to find a young man had been hired to get the leaves out of the gardens, and he'd used a rake; had raked the gardens SO vigorously that some of the new young plants had been removed along with the leaves. Ah, well, life goes on, doesn't it. This particular spring was cold for a long, long time and it seemed forever before things poked their heads through the ground. Our planting season was slighty delayed due to the late-arriving spring, but the weather turned suddenly HOT and we really scurried to get new planting done quickly. Remembering how much time I'd spent watering during the last summer's drought, I laid soaker hoses in all the large gardens so that I could spend my time doing other things while the gardens were being watered. It worked well.

THIS year I returned in mid-March, wanting to be the one to do the garden cleanup. Yes, it was cold but I was being brave, and gardens were cleaned up without disturbing any plants. No trampling this year! However: the new experience is the rain! It's like living in a rain forest, I think. The ground has been thoroughly soaked down to about China. I have several new gardens in the works and I'm eager to build up the soil and get things planted in them, but the soil right now is like mud soup. No sooner does it begin to dry out and we get another four-hour deluge or all-day-and-night soaking steady rain. Temps have been cool, too -- good for tulips lasting a longer time than usual (until we had four days of freakish July weather which ended the tulip season), the nurseries have been slow in putting out their inventory due to the cool and wet, and we're behind schedule in creating our forty or so container gardens and almost as many hanging baskets. I'm just hoping for an extended spring so we can get all the work done before the really hot weather arrives for good.

Gee, I wonder what will be new and different NEXT spring!

P.S.

Thinking more about what I said yesterday: years ago, I was a bricks-and-sticks homeowner because I had a family to raise, and that was part of the deal. So perhaps there are others in that boat, taking care of business in the best way for them. You know, the home site, the stability factor, giving the kids good roots and good memories for later. The stability factor is a big one, I think.

I'm just glad I now have the freedom to be unstable. LOL.

DOING IT MY WAY

Yesterday a friend asked me if I ever get tired of living in a camper. Yeah, right! If he knew how I love housework (my idea of cleaning is to sweep the room with a glance), he'd know I never, ever want to go back to living in a real house!

A real house is for domesticated folks, folks who like having roots in one place, who dote on having lots of stuff to mess with. They probably enjoy dusting and sweeping and mopping. They must feel comforted by being surrounded by family heirlooms, or fine art. Many of them have serious collections of stuff that need to be displayed. There are lots of pictures on the walls, in every room. Of course they surely enjoy entertaining their friends.

Hey, you know I like all those things too. The only difference is, I'm not so domesticated; I'm at heart a feral animal. I like my roots to be nestled comfortably in different places at different times. I enjoy the heck out of cleaning THE GREAT OUTDOORS!! I love to dig up weeds, and rake leaves, and grow and tend to plants. Pressure washing is a really fun way to clean stuff. My family heirlooms and fine art are the trees and flowers, and the sounds of nature. My alarm clock is the birds in the morning, who seem so happy for the return of daylight. My pictures hang in my heart and on my computer. My collections of stuff are planted in the ground. The one thing I've never been good at is entertaining. I never learned how to host a party. I recently learned, however, that after five glasses of wine I am apparently very funny. I guess that's a form of entertaining.

Yep, I'm sure not regretting selling that house and all that stuff, because now I'm really free to live the way I want to live. It's all so good!

FINALLY! The rain and cold has gone and we're having five days of midsummer heat (one extreme to the other but I shan't complain). The projects? Got my loads of compost and have been amending clay soils in several garden areas; dug up a mountain of grass growing in the wrong place, laid out landscaping cloth and covered with mulch; dug a truckload of weeds out of the soft ground (it's always easier); uprighted a number of collapsed garden borders; relocated some hostas from sun to shade; relocated our astilbes from sun to part shade (where they belong); moved a whole bunch of groundcover plugs to areas needing them; strewed a bucket of wildflower seeds out by our front entrance; all the while basking in the beauty of our gazillion tulips now blooming for all they're worth, and in campers' compliments on the gardens!

Today I lay out all our soaker hoses, quick before the coming-up plants get too tall! With the temps reaching the high 80s I fully expect to break a sweat today. No matter -- I LOVE working in short sleeves and capris!!

PS I finally found out the explanation for my calloused hands, elbows and knees: my body is making its own protective armor! Who knew I'd be growing a soft exoskeleton?!?

MORE PATIENCE NEEDED!

I've been very patient (well, mostly patient) during the past several weeks of cold and windy weather, lots of rainy days, and almost five days of being sick with some kind of bug going around. Today is no different: an all-day rain has me once again sitting on the sidelines (indoors) instead of out there gardening til the cows come home.

There's so much I want to do out there! So many projects, both big and small --- things to be done before it's time for serious planting (in May)! Yet here I sit, reading books; or napping; or cleaning up my house (this travel trailer takes about five minutes to clean, yes I'm not kidding); and I've surfed the internet to complete exhaustion; and I've played Solitaire a few times too many.

During all this inactivity, I've been feeling a buildup of energy. My body is hoarding it. It makes my ears pop sometimes. It's starting to make me crazy. This morning I donned my rain gear just to walk the dog, having every intention of going to work on one of my projects, the weather be damned. But I couldn't do it. I didn't have the guts to ignore the rain and get to work. So here I sit, still, conjuring up more patience, because the forecast is calling for more rain next week, possibly four days in a row. AAARRRGGGHHH.

I'm trying to comfort myself by regaining some perspective here: we need the rain. The rain is a gentle soaking one. The earth is gathering up all this rain and saving it for future dry days. Etc. Etc. Still, cabin fever is beginning to set in. Maybe I'll go shopping like I did yesterday. After all, how wet can one get going from car to store? At least I'll get some exercise walking around the stores. More patience needed, please.

I THOUGHT IT WAS PUBERTY

Turns out it's just laryngitis. My voice change, that is -- that happened a few days ago. Yep, turns out I caught the bug that's going around. Imagine that, I who brag often about how I never get sick. Must be Life's cute little way of reminding me that no, I haven't died and gone to heaven yet (most of the time I'm thinking my life's so perfect, that's what's happened).

If none of this makes sense, then maybe it is puberty after all. I mean, I AM feeling a little light-headed.

WHAT'S NEXT, GARDEN?

There's an icy wind out there, 33mph with gusts to 40 something: not a gardener-friendly day, so I'm inside my 8'x18' living area doing some thinking and planning. There are six newly-created gardens with nothing planted yet: what to put there, I wonder?

After searching the online nursery catalogs for inspiration, and looking for the new and unusual, it's time to review what we already have in the gardens:

BULBS:

• crocuses
• daffodils
• hyacinths
• day lilies
• tulips
• irises
• Gladiolas
• Dahlias

PERENNIALS:

• Blackeyed Susans (Maryland state flower)
• Coneflowers, several varieties
• Garden Phlox
• Four O'Clocks
• Daisies
• Blanket Flowers
• Coreopsis
• Coral Bells
• Potentilla
• Digitalis/Foxglove
• Hardy Geraniums
• Red Hot Pokers
• Sedum and other succulent varieties
• Peonies
• Bleeding Heart
• Ferns / varieties
• Lenten Rose
• Cannas
• Wisteria
• Asiatic Lilies
• Hardy Hibiscus
• Snow-on-the-Mountain
• Columbine
• Lamium (Nettle)
• Goldenrod (NOT the sneeze-inducing Ragweed)
• Russian Sage
• Lavender, varieties
• Hyssop, varieties
• Hollyhocks
• Roses
• New England Asters
• Clematis
• Trumpet Vine
• Chocolate Joe Pye Weed
• Astilbe
• Hostas
• Hibiscus
• Sea Oats
• Ornamental Grasses

SHRUBS & TREES

• Cleveland Pear Trees
• Magnolia and Tulip Trees
• Rose of Sharon
• Butterfly Bushes (everywhere!)
• Wiegelia
• Tree Peony
• Hydrangea Trees
• Crape Myrtles
• Smoke Tree
• Japanese Dogwood Tree
• Japanese Cherry Tree
• Dwarf Red Maple Trees
  
• Various Evergreen Shrubs

Since the new gardens around the gazebo are set up differently than the existing rambling gardens, perhaps a tad more 'formal', I'm thinking the selection of plants and layout should be a tad different as well. What fun this will be!

OOPS

I apologize: I didn't just turn 69, I turned 68. This error is no doubt due to my chronic affliction, CRS. This means, of course, that the outstanding birthday party provided by some real good friends gets a re-do. Next year.

FRANK BARONNE SAYS IT BEST

HOLY CRAP!

I'm fast approaching my 69th birthday. What the heck? I'm not upset about this, I'm simply amazed, and curious. I don't FEEL 69, but then -- how is a 69-year-old supposed to feel, anyway? I think I stopped feeling older somewhere in my mid forties.

I think 69 says "hey, I've been here longer than you, Pal, so quit your griping." I think it says "I've paid my dues, now I no longer have to care what others think." "I'll do what I darn well please, thank you very much." I like the fact that people exclaim "oh, you can't be THAT old." I laugh when my younger friends say, "let Jeanne do it, she can still bend."

Several years ago I wrote a tribute to aging:

ODE TO OLDER

I look in the mirror and what do I see? An older, grayer, wrinkled me! Age has its own beauty, so I’ve been told and we have nothing to fear in growing old.

I tend to agree, there’s nothing to hide; the wrinkles and bags are only outside. I’ve known this truth for many years, and the inside of me laughs at all those fears.

Sometimes I sag and my old bones creak, and I wish to be kind of young and sleek, just a little while longer, I’ve sometimes said in charming sweet dreams in my old head.

The truth be known, it’s freedom I seek, and I get closer with each passing week; nail polish was tossed a long time ago, hair color rejected as frivolous show.

Debt is no friend, and I long for the end of those monthly payments I dutifully send. I’m now quite convinced I have all I need and less is more, so I’ve been freed!

Youth doesn’t leave, it just hides itself, like a mischievous imp up on a shelf waiting with glee for someone to see its delightful, insightful energy!

Older is wiser? Yes, sirree --- Older has seen life’s misery and won’t collapse on aging knee, because older knows just how to be in tune with all the ups and downs, accepting all the smiles and frowns.

In peace, in trust, in harmony, Older dances with the clowns, Happily!