Spring Fever
I know, I know, it’s autumn, but I’m getting so much pleasure out of my garden right now.
It’s been a real battle. A year and a half of neglect does not a bed of roses make. I’m about halfway through the backyard makeover at this point — between last year’s unusually harsh winter, this summer’s blast of heat, and my unstinting neglect, very little of my “cottage” garden had survived. I’ve spent a lot of sweaty summer mornings amending soil, pruning, cutting, planting and repotting.
I try to do an hour a day — right after I finish the email and the yoga. I realized right away that sitting on my behind all day was not going to be good for…well, my behind, for one thing. So I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.
Speaking of birds, the hummingbirds are back in full force — and today I saw a pair of beautiful little greenish birds with yellow chests. Just lovely. I’ve never seen anything like them. And the doves are back — oh, bad news, though. I was taking down some of the old dead hanging baskets (the baskets aren’t actually dead, but you know what I mean) beneath the balcony, and I noticed there were a pair of little dove eggs in the dried dirt. I rehung the basket, but I couldn’t remember which particular one it was. Mr. Thrilling told me birds don’t lay eggs except in the spring, which could be true for all I know, but I can’t just…toss them into the compost. Too sad.
Doves don’t fare well at my house, as much as I love them.
Anyway, last week I tackled the really large pots of jasmine growing beneath the balcony — cut all the dead stuff down, trimmed the rootballs, and actually got them back into their refilled and enriched pots. And I started planting bulbs, which is always a lot more work than you think it’s going to be.
In short, when I walked out back this morning I suddenly realized the garden smelled wonderful again, and that all kinds of things were blooming — roses, alyssum, trumpet vine, fennel and rosemary (the fennel wasn’t blooming, but it did smell wonderful). The herb garden is coming back, the roses look really healthy, and the side garden is lovely once more.
I don’t know; there’s something really satisfying about a garden. It’s one of those things in life where you have visible and rapid proof that your efforts are paying off. And I like the physical side of it, I like getting dirty and it not mattering, I like the way the earth smells when its warm and moist, and the feel of a cool breeze, and the birds singing. It’s calming, quieting — even more so than yoga, to tell you the truth. I have trouble not thinking about all the stuff I should be doing when I’m performing yoga (and it is quite a performance, lemme tell you).
But when I’m gardening I find myself working out little writing problems, running dialog in the back of my mind, untwisting the kinks in the plot…
We’re having incredibly lovely weather right now. Balmy weather — chilly nights and mild sunny days. The birds and butterflies are loving it. It’s the last hurrah before the first frost (hopefully still a few weeks off).
Hope you’re enjoying your autumn as much as I am! Do you do anything to prepare for the long winter months?