For those of you that might of noticed my absence last Tuesday, I assure you that I am in the pink of health and all is well. OK...maybe my time management skills are running amuck and my tendency to behave compulsively in my effort to get everything that didn't get accomplished over the winter done in a matter of a week ...perhaps those things could stand a bit of improvement. Other than that and the fact that last Tuesday my attention was refocused thanks to my new iPhone 5S dying a tragic death, all is well in my world. 
As for the subject today, my preoccupation with getting my gardens in.One of the things about living in the middle of the country is that our weather tends to be "hit or miss" as to the number of days between November and May that are conducive to being outdoors. Oh sure there are the occasional sunny warm day that begs you to step out your front door. These are usually followed up with a blast of wind, a drenching rain, or a freezing snow storm to remind you that you are in the Midwest. So it isn't really all that surprising that sometime around the middle of May, a lot of Midwesterners collectively lose their minds when the sun makes an appearance. It's very much like bugs being lured into a bug zapper. The light beckons us.
We step out into the world and are amazed that the sun is still in the heavens and want to participate in all that is Spring. (FYI..This need to spend copious amounts of time basking in the sun, is going to play havoc with my blogging schedule.) Thought Number One: Gardening is not a hobby as much as it is an addiction.
While our hardiness zone for planting here in Kansas says that our "suggested" last day for frost is May 15th, most hardy and hail (glutton for failure types) start heading for the local nurseries around April 1st. We tell ourselves that we are just going for inspiration and/or for starter seedlings that we won't plant into the earth for weeks yet. Of course, all the truly avid gardeners, are lying when they say this and invariably end up buying shopping carts full of plants. One would think that the common occurrence of snow in April here would act as a deterrent but no...the delusional thinking of a Midwestern gardener knows no bounds. The signal to get started is the convergence of the sun actually shining AND the thermometer registering 65 degrees or above. It doesn't really matter if those two events only last a few minutes, the starting gun has sounded. 
That, too, is my cue to spend hours and hours AND hours in my yard. This act of coming out of hibernation does not go unnoticed by my neighbors. Those of you that have followed my blog for awhile might remember the comment from the neighbor that suggested that people that "waste" all their time gardening are crazy. The fact she said this to me as I was planting a new flower bed pretty much negated any chance of her being my favorite neighbor. She certainly doesn't gain points if it turns out that there is a measure of truth in her statement.Thought Number Two: Beauty is In the Eye of the Beholder
Just as people have diverse tastes in food, clothing, home styles...and everything else, what people consider a pretty yard is equally varied. This time of year there are garden tours just about every weekend. There is something so interesting about getting to peek into the backyards of people that have fashioned some version of a personal sanctuary.One of the backlashes of garden tours is that the more "ideas" you see the more compelled you are to try new things in your own garden. Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting 6 gardens on the Johnson County Master Gardeners tour and came home with renewed energy to rework my planting beds. A garden is always making subtle changes without any help at all. Nature has a way of creating and destroying a landscape without help from humans but drastic changes are immediate when a human gets involved.
BUT..as with many things, I am aware that planting gardens have become passe. As a Realtor I hear many people say they wouldn't want the extra work required by anything other than the most basic landscaping. I recognize I am an anomaly in my neighborhood. Most people want 100 percent turf. They prefer no obstacle to mow around. The thought of deadheading flowers or watering planters is unnerving. I laughed when one neighbor told me that she was striving for a low maintenance lawn that consists of clover, crabgrass and dandelions. In my heart of hearts though, I can't think of many things that are as pretty as a beautiful garden. I guess this is just one of those things that I choose to follow my own path. If you need me, I am out in my yard.
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35 comments:
Oh if the manure and dirt could talk - why you might start a garden cartoon.
I guess gardeners are optimists.
Ha Ha, one person's low maintenance lawn is another high maintenance lawn if they are neighbors. Those seeds can fly.
You're right, nature does beckon us outside. Our nice spring weather is a brief period of time between the dead of winter and the heat and humidity of summer.
I congratulate you on having the energy, dedication and yes, addiction that it takes to have a gorgeous yard and garden. Are those pictures of your gardens? I'd love to crash on the bench with the aroma of roses wafting in the air.
Back to my reality - I sit here hot and sweaty having tackled an out of control area with yet more branches from the March ice storm that have yet to be cleared. They are way down back next to the woods where no sees it, but still it needs to be cleared out.
I am fighting a losing battle with vines and accumulation of debris. In other words there is a ton of work to be done before I get to the "pretty fun part". OK, I guess my break is about over. Maybe later I can get to smell the roses. ;)
I admire beautiful gardens but I'm too lazy to put in the time and effort required for having a yard to be prud of.
Ohhhh, I LOVE flowers. But I grow weeds, very well, very very healthy WEEDS. Ugh. I have five gardens in my front yard that desperately need weed attention. Unfortunately this year, my sinus infections started early and I'm terrified to get in there. In the meantime, I run to my car and hope the neighbors don't recognize that it's me and my weeds...
I love flowers, when I was younger I told Tim that I wasn't that fond of getting flowers because the die, however, as I have aged I have become more interested in getting flowers and now I love to get them. I can't grow them as I have black thumbs and everything I try to grow dies..............
Are those actual pictures of your garden? Spectacular!
I recently bought a house and we were waiting for spring, and now, we're terrified. As therapeutic as gardening is, the fight against invasive things/plants is maddening. And landscape planning is so beyond my grasp, it hurts.
Hi, Cheryl. I came bu last night but the comments link on your post didn't show up in my browser. I really love flowers ... almost as much as birds ... but my gardening is restricted to ten or so large planter bowls. But I really think it is important to get down in the dirt now and then.. It's good to grow something beautiful and getting muddy while doing it helps make us humble. Your yard is incredible, by the way.
I think a garden cartoon strip could be fun. There are just so many ways you could talk about grass and weed. There is a nursery here in KC that specializes in turf grasses and they have great newspaper ads. Lots of cartoons featuring a guy called "Uncle" that is high on grass. Their products have great names like Nut Buster (kills nutgrass) and Holy Cow (composted manure).
Isn't that the truth about the fall out from a bad lawn next door. The neighbor that thinks yard work is crazy has a real knack for growing dandelions. Luckily my weed and feed tends to keep them pretty much from taking hold in my yard.
We once moved into a house where they had planted 100 rose bushes. Beautiful in May but I hated life when I had to trim them back every February. Then half of them died eventually because planting 100 rose bushes in a West Texas yard is not a great idea. So yeah, I'm one of those people that wants to mow a simple lawn with no obstacles and something less than an acre.
Off topic...but I was thinking about you as I was heading to the airport last Tuesday. Hubby's plane was delayed 3.5 hours. Crazy, huh?
This past winter was an especially long and cold one so I have been super excited to spend time out in the pretty weather. I am sure in about a minute it will be too hot to be outdoors here. In fact, yesterday I spent the day at Worlds of Fun (our local theme park) at it was 94 degrees.
A lot of the last couple of weeks has been winter cleanup. As in your case, there was a lot of breakage and damage to be dealt with. Things are getting back to normal now. It is early in the season here so a lot of things haven't bloomed yet. The gardens are probably a couple or three weeks away from being really pretty.
They do take work. I tend to start in the Spring with a great deal of enthusiasm but by the middle of summer, I have to force myself to keep it all up. Feast or famine as far as my love of gardening goes.
Five gardens would be a lot of work even if they were weed free. I don't have many weeds right now but we had our lawn overseeded in the fall and the company that did it wasn't particular fussy about were the grass seed flew. I am spending a lot of time mulching and manicuring the edges of all the beds.
Sorry that you are dealing with sinus issues. I have experience with that as well and it's no fun. This year I am having a good year. I love that Nasacort is now over the counter as that helps a lot in addition to my regular allergy medicine. Hope you feel better soon.
I think a lot of luck with gardens has more to do with where you live and your actual yard. I had lovely gardens when we lived in Texas and fight the fight here in Kansas. It has taken years to amend the soil enough and have the right plant mix to create a beautiful yard.
No that's not my real garden. It's a little early to have blooms here other than phlox, daffodils and maybe tulips. I tried to pick pictures that are comparable to my gardens. In a month or so, there might be some gardens that are picture worthy.
Totally agree about the maddening aspects of gardening. The things you don't want have no problem growing and the things you want seem to disappear thanks to weather or rabbits. GAAAHHH!!!
I agree that it's fun to garden even if on a smaller scale. When we used to live in apartments, I did container gardens. If I had my way, I would live in a cottage somewhere that allowed for the entire yard to be one big garden. That wouldn't be met with enthusiasm here in my cookie cutter suburban house. Sadly, the pictures I used isn't my real yard but the picture with the bench is very close...when my flowers are in bloom. It is really too early here to have anything looking lush. Nothing is in bloom yet. The magnolia trees have flower pods and the peonies are just forming buds. I have a couple of rose bushes that have a few blooms but nothing is quite picture perfect yet.
I am not overly enthused with a yard heavy in rose bushes. Roses require work. Even those that like to point out that the newer varieties are easier, that may be true but they still require pruning and deadheading. As both of those things cause a close up contact with thorns, leaves me not an avid fan.
I did love gardening in Dallas though. Things like verbena and lantana are perennials there. You can't kill them if you tried. AND crepe myrtles, Indian Hawthorn and nandinas. Seriously, those are all so awesome.
There are certainly days that I would appreciate the "no obstacles" approach. There is something to be said for making life easier.
Love the bouquet of puns and other play on words in this post- Trespassers composted! I love to see, I love to pick, I love to enjoy but I do not love to garden. Just as many enjoy hearing musical instruments but do not play, there are many who admire those who work at perfection in what they love, and those who appreciate the fruits of those who work at their love in gardening. I admire natural beauty. So, a wave of appreciation to you, Cheryl, and all those who plant, weed and hoe- I honour your diligence.
So first off, the sentence fragment that caught my eye first was this one: thanks to my new iPhone 5S dying a tragic death, all is well in my world.
Which I thought was perfect!
Until I had plants that I managed not to kill off, I had no idea how hard gardening was, physically. Lots of respect to the great aunt who did it until her 80s.
Well at least you've got one. Ours has been pulled up and carted away over the years as trees died, neighbours wanted new fences and storms blew over what was left. Now we just have a mound of wet dirt and I can't be bothered with it.
Great pics as always.
Fellow Overly Manic Gardener checking in here.
I don't have a yard, so I can't even make my exterior look pretty. I live in a townhouse, so I have about a 10 foot patch of dead grass and a bunch of awful flowers that the HOA takes care of. And by "take care of" I mean they pay a bunch of immigrants who don't give a crap to weed whacker everything into a basic shape, even if that means decapitating flower heads and leaving the plant dead as a doornail.
I, however, am hardcore with my gardening. I garden year round, so when my plants aren't out in pots on the balcony, I have a spare room in my house devoted just to my veggies and fruits, utilizing the best technology that marijuana growers can provide. Those guys may be lazy and a little weird, but they sure know how to grow a mean set of plants without using a lot of electricity!
I understand how gardening wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. It seems there are more relaxing endeavors that one could persue as a hobby. I think that love of gardening was passed to me from my grandmother who gardened up into her late 90's. Her gardens were magnificent.
You have said in the past that your husband does the yard work. Does he garden and if so...does he enjoy it?
Even though I think my flower beds are quite pretty, other people's gardens always look better to me. Most of my friends say the same thing. Gardens are always prettier if you don't do the work. You might have the right idea. Enjoy the gardens of others.
Are you laughing at my tragedy? My poor little phone "fried" during an update. I considered doing my post on the hours spent at the Genius Bar at the Apple store while the poor little thing was resurrected. I don't know if they are actual geniuses over there but perhaps they are miracle workers that can bring dead phones back to life.
Yes, I would agree that gardening is often hard work. I think in past generations when people were forced to garden to have food, they weren't needing to visit the 24 Hour Fitness as we tend to do today. My grandmother still had a huge garden when she was nearly 100.
There are times that it just wouldn't be worth the fight. If I felt like it was a losing battle due to neighbors and/or weather, I wouldn't want to mess with it either. There have been years where hail or drought wiped my garden out and I just let it go. There is always next year.
We have thought about going into a maintenance provided community at some point. I think that there will be a time that I am ready to not work this hard for the sake of gardening.
Thanks...some pictures are more fun to do than others. I had fun putting bib overalls on Crabby Pants where she is laying down. That was a challenge.
Your neighbor sounds like a real gem, but I do like the one going for clover, crabgrass and dandelions .. I have lots of those.
I usually can't stay away from getting a garden going, but since we're moving this year (and since planting a vegetable garden in posts is nearly impossible here) I am doing everything I can to keep from throwing down a few seeds and chanting "Grow, Grow, GROW!"
Us northwesters also run into the sun when it decides to come out; enjoy it!
She is a gem all right...rough cut and not at all bright and shiny. She bought a new car just as her driveway needed to be redone. As the concrete takes 10 days to cure before she can drive on it, she is parking on my drive. I am worthy this week (and next) to be her neighbor (albeit a crazy gardener).
Is your move coming up soon? Did your mother find a house?
I love summer vegetable gardening... sadly I just haven't had the money these last two years to get the soil, the plants... the whole nine yards. But one day I'll get back to it. I miss those fresh cucumbers and tomatoes!!!! Your last picture absolutely cracked me up!
This year the neighbors are certainly mad at me... as I have a garden full of poison ivy!
I totally understand the costs involved. Gardening isn't necessarily an inexpensive hobby anymore. I am particularly bad at not being able to say "enough is enough". The only thing keeping us solvent is the small amount of land I have to work with (at least as far as my personal little gardens...I don't have any input on the farming...which is gardening on a big scale)
Poison Ivy...yikes!!!! I hope you aren't overly sensitive to it. My husband can get a rash from wind driven spores. If it weren't for his extreme sensitivity, I might think it would be fun to mess with my neighbors and plant a few plants in the fence row. Aren't I mean???
E-gad! I never seem to get these replies. I came back for a mother read and found this. sooooo We move in August, and she did finally find a house. The yard is 100% grass. Well, except for the areas covered in concrete. Not even one single tree... OY. I'll have my work cut out for me.
Hot town Summer in the City back of my neck gettin' dirt n gritty. Been down isn't it a pity. Doesn't seem to be a post on your blog. Yeah that doesn't rhyme. Hey are you going to have time for a post?
I'm glad you have access to such healing means of therapy. Your neighbor is just jealous. Hope you're well and stay well, Cheryl.
I hope to be back posting in the next week or so. Hubby came home for a bit before having to travel again and I am just staying off the computer. Blogging is a great time killer when I am here with nothing much to do but I don't like to play on the computer at the expense of real interaction with people. I still am struggling to find balance between the two. I, also hope to get back to reading blogs. Sorry that I have been so MIA in your blog's comment section.
Hi Robyn. I am well and keeping quite busy. How is your spring..summer going? I have taken some time off of blogging (both reading and writing just for a few weeks to get some projects done and spend some time with family but hope to get back reading and writing in the next week or so.
Nothing wrong with a good break. I just hope you don't quit. Your Tuesday posts are entertaining and educational to read.
So, my friend, where are you? I hope everything is OK. Now that Top Sites Tuesday has been retired, I'm hoping to see you back here soon.
Hi Bud! Everything is fine. I seem to be at a crossroads of sorts. Decided to take some time away from the computer to spend time with face-to-face friends, do some reading (other than blogs) and revisit some other hobbies that I have neglected. I intend on coming back but I recognize that I was spending way too much time sitting in front of a computer screen and have to find a healthy balance.
Hope things are going well with you and Muri. I haven't been keeping up with everyones blogs but hubby left on a trip yesterday so in the next few days, I plan on reading some blogs to see what is going on in everyone's life.
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