Creative Nonfiction by Andrea Badgley
Snow clings to the boughs of the tall evergreens out back, glittering white chitons on the feather branches that droop under its wet weight. The deciduous trees, naked and twiggy, look like someone pulled a liner brush globbed with titanium white paint across the top of every branch. The flower bed sleeps under a thick … Continue reading Wind dancers
Gardening in autumn is weird. I’m in a flannel shirt and wool socks, moving plants, pulling others out of the ground, recomposing the flower beds for how I want them to look next gardening season. There aren’t green sprouts to get excited about like in spring. I’m working as the weather gets colder instead of … Continue reading Droplets slice
I got out the hedge shears yesterday once the day had warmed a little. I sheared the dessicated salvia, blazing stars, and cleome, bit by little bit rather than cutting them at the base. I snipped them right there in the garden, letting the pieces fall where I cut. I wondered as I scissored if … Continue reading How to decompose
A lot has happened in the garden since my last update in May. Flowers have blossomed and gone to seed, and now that we’re in August, butterflies are everywhere. Everything starts out so fresh and clean in June, and by August things are looking pretty raggedy. But August is when the butterflies are laying eggs. … Continue reading The summer garden
My fiddling in the flower beds is never done. These past two days, though, rain has forced me indoors to watch the garden instead of work in it. I went out today between showers to get some photos. Continue reading Garden update in photos: May 5
I spent last week’s daylight hours almost exclusively outside. I drank my morning coffee indoors, then put on my gardening gloves and hat and spent the days digging, carting, planting, and shoveling. I calculated on my gardening blog that I spread more than 2 tons of mulch in about 3 days. I was exhausted by … Continue reading Buds and blooms at the end of gardening vacation
