I am distracting myself with the different plants in our yard. Our daughter, Alicia, really enjoys gardening with all of its successes and a few disappointments. She plans a few extra plants most years and finds gardening to be a real stress reducer. I am hoping that our outdoor spaces will prove to be relaxing to me too during this really difficult year.
Bob and Alicia got a few plants from the store, and Alicia started a few seeds, and a few plants volunteered and came back this year.
We have barely started working on our yard. I don't think it is a week since we had nights with temperatures falling below zero. In Manitoba, it is understood that you really shouldn't be putting out your plants before Victoria Day, which will come this weekend. Winnipeg's average first frost-free day is May 25th, and we expect the first frost of the winter around September 22nd.
We have to start plants inside or consider using plants with very short growing periods and plan how to protect them if there is an early frost. Trees and perennial plants have to survive extremely cold winters. I am sure its year will be different in the garden, but it will still be a retreat for us. With all the Covid issues in our city, I don't think we will be wandering around shopping for our regular annual plants, so we will try and be creative this year.
I will miss being out in nature at our cottage. I don't think I will get to our lovely island Lake Cottage for months, and when I do get there, it is going to be hard moving around and even just getting from the dock up to the cottage. I am planning on creating a few restful places to enjoy and relax in our city yard. The family is doing most of the work, but I will put real thought into how to make more of our yard more accessible for me this year and for the future.
Let's call these "before " pictures, so hopefully, you will be much more impressed when I share more photos over the next couple of months. Bob put in a lot of work today, and it already looks a lot better than you see here.
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| Planters of Coleus hanging off our front porch railing. |
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| One of 3 hanging Begonias from Costco |
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| Two new Clematis vines for our backyard |
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| Chives divided and shared by the neighbour. |
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| A new little plum tree going to the cottage. |
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| Tulips at the front of our house are just opening up. |
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| A single red tulip among the yellow. |
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| What happens to tulips when rabbits visit your yard. |
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| Wave Petunias from Costco |
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| Looking up under my 50-year-old apple tree. |
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| A planter for a picnic table |
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| Lilies planted last year & a couple of Dust Millers that self-seeded. |
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| A sad Ivy that doesn't look like it will survive. |
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| The little tree we brought home from the lake last fall to use at Xmas |
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Some garlic cloves from the kitchen.
The change from storm and winter to serene and mild weather, from dark and sluggish hours to bright and elastic ones, is a memorable crisis which all things proclaim. ~Henry David Thoreau |
2 comments:
I laughed when I learned my mother talked to her plants. As an adult I discovered gardening restores my heart and mind. When I had a vegetable garden I loved going out to weed it after dinner when it got cool. Now I sit on my patio as often as I can because looking at trees and clouds is peaceful.
I love gardening and nature in general. I think it is powerful in its ability to help us heal, as well as calm and center ourselves. I also think working in the soil and growing plants is a good form of physical therapy. I am having such a miserable time moving around right now and that Bob and I are talking about how to make gardening much more accessible for me going forward.
I did a bunch of plant-based science projects through Junior and Senior high and did a lot of research. Talking to plants up close really is good for your plants! Besides sharing love with them it leads to moisture and carbon dioxide from your breath improving their growth. Also leads to more regular care and maintenance behaviours toward the plants. Your mom was on to something there!
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