Just after lockdown began, I went for a run. I burst into tears as I ran by tulips that had just opened, and cherry trees in bloom. Their beauty was more than I could bear as I wondered, “Are we going to run out of food? We don’t have a survival plan. Are we all … Continue reading Hope, at last
At the end of every summer, I think, cool, the garden is good. It looks great. I will leave it as it is; I won’t obsess during winter or move a bunch of stuff around in the spring. Then January comes. I order seed catalogs. I pace. I look out the windows. This year, I … Continue reading Killing grass is how I get through winter
After the holidays, when the fun part of winter has ended but there are still at least three months of bare trees, no flowers, and cold that keeps us indoors, I start getting antsy about the garden. I stand at the windows and stare out, plotting, planning, making mental lists of seeds and plants to … Continue reading A new way to see
I took Friday off last week and thought I might do some garden cleanup — cut back perennials, turn the compost — but I didn’t. I read instead. I finished The Weird Sisters and started Jane Eyre, and really, that’s all I wanted on a cold windy weekend. To lay under blankets and read novels. … Continue reading I think it’s time to put the garden to bed
I slept in on Sunday after I woke at 5:15am to feed the dumb cats. When I got out of bed around 7:45, this time by my choice, the light out back was glorious — a dazzling golden light on a crisp October morning. It shone on the bronze blades of ornamental grasses, on the … Continue reading So many birds!
March through June are full of green growth, spring flowers, cloudy days mixed with fair ones, and rain. July 1, the faucet turns off and the sun turns on. Summer flowers begin to bloom. In early July in our corner of Virginia, many of the butterfly attractors begin to open up, and host plants have … Continue reading Early July in the butterfly garden
