“When the winds of March are wakening the crocuses and crickets,
Did you ever find a fairy near some budding little thickets,…
And when she sees you creeping up to get a closer peek
She tumbles through the daffodils, a playing hide and seek.”
– Marjorie Barrows
Well here we are a year later, and our Groundhog friend in Pennsylvania said we would have an early spring. Last year he said we would have 6 more weeks of winter. Well he was wrong!! Last year this time I was basking in the early spring sun and watching crocus and dwarf irises bloom. The ground was completely bare and fairly dry. Yes we had late snow in mid May but it wasn’t too bad. We know we get May freezes so we plan.
But this year, we have had record snow. It started in late November and continued through all of December (our snowiest on record). We saw one day of complete thaw on New Year’s Day. Then it snowed and snowed and snowed so much that we are above average with 173 inches including the snow storm last week; and we are approaching our record of 192 inches. We are melting quickly with lots of rain so now I have snow and puddles, but nothing really blooming yet. Everything is still rubbing the sleep from their eyes as they focus on the coming warm temperatures to make them cozy enough to want to peek their heads out. So for this months Garden Bloggers Bloom Day I am having to use my imagination. Imagining what my garden will look like this year. What new plants will grow and what treasured plants will not be heard from.
Actually I have a great imagination. I love to daydream; I have been told I am always in my head. When I plan things, I first plan them in my head, and then write a few notes. My main garden design for the new house was done through this imagining…this day dreaming in my head. I know as gardeners we are supposed to write our plans out more, but my creative process is different. It is very visual and hard to explain. I get a picture in my head that I then create from…it changes of course from the original, but the basic form, the basic plan is usually written and crudely drawn. Now as I am beginning my design business and designing for others, I have started to draw more and use some designing software, but the plan still starts with that picture; the vision I see.
I then research it, to make sure I have found the details I am looking for. I read and read and then I make notes and refine the drawing. With my veggie garden, this is especially so. You can’t leave growing veggies to chance or a whim, and just throw caution to the wind or just try it….well you can but you probably will have many disappointments as I had earlier in my gardening experiences. So now I use veggie garden software online to help draw and plan. I read books, blogs, magazines and online articles to help get the details right. Again it is all in my head, thoughts whirling and making it finally to paper.
So come along for a trip into my garden imagination….
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. ~ Albert Einstein
If you look closely through the snow, you will see the pond and the veggie gardens….sure it’s there just use your imagination…can you see it now..the lush green leaves peeking through the warm earth..the crystal clear water where you can see the tadpoles swimming on the pond bottom. Keep looking as the plants flower and grow in; veggies are beginning to grown…can you see them, smell them…I can.
And what do we have here….the gardens surrounding the pond and patio. I can see the flooding starting by the gazebo, but I am imagining my new rain garden planted this past fall will fill with the melted snow and grow lush flowers in and around it. Can you see the meadow beyond the fence. I can see the birds nesting in the houses and the native wildflowers are drawing in the pollinators. And the white garden is blooming with bulbs first. Will we have a non-white intruder this year into the white garden?
And what do we have here…ahh the corner where we need another rain garden…where roses grow just beyond the moisture loving irises. And there is the new circular raised veggie bed surrounded by beautiful flowers just beyond the new rain garden. What is that house? Oh yes this year we are attracting ladybugs to the garden and that is their house. Can you just see the arbor where my new grapevine is growing?
Now what else can you see….
The wildlife coming back to the garden….just in time to celebrate National Wildlife Week from March 14-20. Get outside for 15 minutes a day, and celebrate the wildlife in your area. I am imagining the fox (we named him Axl) catching voles and bunnies. The deer are jumping my fence and munching on hosta and tulips…scat!! More Bambies will find the meadow….
Boy all this imagining is like dreaming isn’t it..but the reality of spring is around the corner……I can just see it peeking through the winter landscape….