Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A Season to Grow


It's been a wonderful spring here, fecund and fruitful. Jamieson's Folly commences, slowly but surely. Preschool is done; I now have a mini-me to help dig in the garden. Our little corner of the world blooms with late spring splendor. The rhubarb begs to be picked. Seedlings have emerged from the sleeping soil in Andy's vegetable garden. Our raspberry bushes are crusted with tiny green berries.

Even the flower beds look particularly lush. Thanks to a gentle winter, all my perennials have returned. This is my purple and yellow season in the beds. It's been a long haul, getting these beds to this point. We started eight years ago with no real clue what we were doing. We've killed a lot of innocent plants on the way. But things have settled in and sent out roots and showers of seeds. Even my woodland bed looks happy for the very first time.

The process encourages me. What started out tentative has become something wonderful, a place to reflect, to be quiet, to be together. Our daughter has come to love gardening. Our happiest weekends are spent digging in our gardens, ferreting out weeds, pruning back shrubs, removing spent flowers. I'm hopeful the results here will be mirrored in my results with Jamieson's Folly, that what is worthwhile will thrive, that I'll know what to plant where and what to snip off.






5 comments:

J.C. Towler said...

Gorgeous grounds Greta. That's a lot of love and hard work going into making things look that good. I like the parallel with your novel and the thriving plants. Hope both bring you lots of happiness (and green).

--John

Stephen said...

The garden looks good, Greta. The Hastas add a nice touch, don't they? I believe in your novel, as well. Writing takes a ton of work, weeding out those pieces that detract and cultivating those that make it better. Keep at it. Folly will make you proud.

Greta Igl said...

Stephen, I adore hosta and have them all over my yard in many different varieties. We have tons of dry shade here and the hosta seem to tolerate it well. They're also rather tolerant of neglect :)

John, I'm always amazed at the common threads between creative endeavors. Cooking, writing, gardening--they all seem to drink from the same pool, but each has its own unique flavor.

Jodi MacArthur said...

Absolutely gorgeous, Greta. I'm green with envy (haha- no really, I am!). I am always amazed at the creative connectivity between these things too. (although I'm more likely to burn dinner or pepper with too much cayenne and forget to water the lawn). Thankyou for posting these pictures, a little piece of heaven you have.

Andrea said...

Everything looks great and it's one of those beautiful visual things that will stick to your and Julia's memory, something you worked on together. Happy Gardening!
Andrea