Gold eye in tall grass. #lion #BigCats

REASONS FOR FAILURE OF AFRICAN RESISTANCE

1.Disunity
2.Poor beliefs
3.Natural calamities
4.Military superiority of the Europeans
5.Betrayal
6.European oppressive acts

THE EFFECT OF NAMA AND HERERO UPRISING

1.Loss of people 
2.Land alienation
3.Loss of cattle
4.Poverty
5.The germans dominated continued

REASONS FOR THE RISE OF CHIMURENGA WAR

1.Land alienation
2.Cattle confistication
3.Introduction of hut tax
4.Forced labour
5.The outbreak of diseases
6.Low wages
7.Defending the african beliefs

A Weekend at Americas Oldest Flower Show

An entrants camellias await being groomed and set out on the benches at America's oldest flower show, the 187th Camellia Show held by the Massachusetts Camellia Society held this past weekend at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden.

It's as if Downton Abbey meets the Philadelphia Flower Show, or as if a greenhouse from the nineteenth century suddenly came to life again in the middle of winter. This weekend, I participated in the Massachusetts Camellia Society's 187th annual show - which happens to hold the honor of the oldest continuous flower show in the United States. So special and rare today, at least in the North, camellias continue to capture the imagination of flower lovers, and maybe, just maybe, they are making a comeback, even if only a handful of people can raise them today.

Some very nice Semi Double camellias, waiting to be benched.

If you live in California or in the south, it may seem rather unimpressive, the idea of a camellia show, but in the north where camellias are not hardy, they are today, a very special thing, as few people can grow this somewhat tender Asian tree unless they have the luxury of a cold greenhouse. I would would go a step further and say that not only do very few people raise camellias anymore, but most people north of Washington D.C. have even seen a camellia, let alone touched one or smelled one (some can be very fragrant, although most have no scent.).

My tray of camellias, which I picked that morning, make their way into the exhibition hall at last Saturday's 187th annual Camellia Show hosted by the Massachusetts Camellia Society, held at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, MA.

In many way these are living antiques in the north, which is sad, since a hundred years ago they were as common at florist's greenhouses and in estate greenhouses as were carnations or chrysanthemums in the winter. Native to China, Korea and Japan, camellias do prefer cool to cold winter temperatures, but since they are late winter blooming and have glossy, evergreen foliage, they cannot survive hard freezes below the mid 20's without damage. In a cool or cold greenhouse they thrive in the cool, damp sunny environment, spending the summer out of doors when they do most of their growth, and then wintering over under glass - there is hardly a more perfect winter blooming tree.

In a home, they are practically impossible to grow, unless one owns an old house with an unheated bedroom, which preferably is drafty with bright sunshine. A few people can raised them on unheated porches which are glassed-in, or in conservatories, but generally, camellias are known as rather low maintenance, long lived greenhouse trees which prefer to be planted in the ground under glass, or in large tubs where they can remain for decades.

Exhibitors entering flowers take great care, from picking them in the morning early, to selecting only the most perfect, with no damage on the petals, no pollen stains, and good leaf arrangement. These here are from the Lyman Estate greenhouses in Waltham, MA, another old collection in the Boston area.

At this weekends show at Tower Hill Botanic Garden there were a few hundred blossoms on display. I think that guests never realized that there were only about six exhibitors, which gives you an idea of how endangered the New England camellia collections are. I was asked to be a judge again (I judged two years ago) and my good friend Glen Lord was also asked - we are both camellia growers, but not very serious collectors, at least yet. Camellia enthusiasts are a rare breed in the North today.




Most of my plants came from Nuccio's Nursery in California. When I travel to LA on business, I always try to make a side trip to this landmark Pasadena nursery. I have them pack plants up in crates which I bring back on the plane. I prefer to pick out the varieties I want (usually in early February) when they have them displayed on wooden tables. Camellia shows display flowers in small dishes or in bowls, in much the same way we home growers display camellias in our homes - in plates, or floating in a bowl. I've come to appreciate a February holiday such as St Valentines Day or Presidents day as represented by a bowl of camellias. Surely, any 19th century person would find such a display a very proper solution, and an appropriate one for an parlor or dining table in the era.

The Formal Rose or Formal Double form is perhaps my favorite, often the petals of these forms are so perfectly arranged in lovely fibonacci symmetry. I an imagine Mrs. Lincoln with one of these as a corsage, can't you? 

Some white anemone forms which never made it onto the display bench. This is how one exhibitor brought his flowers to the show. They are picked in morning early, and last out of water for a few hours before being groomed and set onto the benches.

Pale yellow forms are being introduced. This one is the color of heavy cream, but considered close to yellow. The variety is a Japanese one 'Ki-No-Senritsu'. 

Extra flowers are often not tossed into the trash, but arranged on a tray to fill some of the tables. These are some of mine, which I did not exhibit.

More Formal Doubles arranged and set on the bench awaiting judging. 

Flowers can be entered as singles or as a triple entry. This plate of 'Charles Sargent' each showed some very nice variegation, and nice arrangement of petals. 

This  tree won Best in Show in the potted plant category.

The flower on the right made it to the Best In Show table to be considered as Best in Show, while the anemone form flower on the left called 'Lipstick', which I entered, came in second in the anemone flowered class.

Can you guess who this man in in the middle with the beard? That's Roger Swain from the PBS show Victory Garden. He joined us at the judges luncheon, and entertained us with stories. He admitted to me that he's a huge blog fan, and I was very flattered! More excited than when I met J.J. Abrams!

Just before judging, the final touches are made. Extra flowers that never made it to the bench, are removed, and all labels are checked for accuracy.

By noon, the crowds arrived. The line to enter the botanic garden was long, and the parking lot was full. Not bad, for a camellia show!

I was shocked to have one of my flowers win Best in Show! I stepped out of judging at this point, it just didn't seem right. I was very honored.

There were many entries which I felt should have won, like this bicolored semi double Higo type.

Both Glen Lord and I fell for this ruffled one. It's named 'Mooching', and it's a Camellia reticulata, a different species from most of the doubles, which are bred from C. japonica.

I love the boss of stamens on this bright red Higo type. Most of the potted trees in the displays are part of the Tower Hill collection, which came from the collection which was once housed at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Talk about an important collection with provenance.

Nominated again! Growing with Plants is again, a Top 10 Garden Blog by Better Homes & Gardens - They've asked that we request our readers to now vote for the best.

I am honored to announce that again, Growing with Plants has been nominated by the editors of Better Homes & Gardens as a Top 10 gardening blog. I think that it's kind-of amazing, but a very flattering fact, especially given that this is my 10th anniversary of posting. So now, for the shameless request for votes. Oh, I really don't care all that much for such things, but of course, it's always a nice thing to actually win, as well.  Hey, I made it this far!

So if you wish, go to the BHG website and vote four your favorite blog (there is one in each of their lifestyle categories, so you will have to click through and vote on others). Of course, I should mention that you can vote once a day ( incase, you have nothing better to do!  You can vote here. 

All of the nominees this year truly deserve to win (I mean really, Erin from Floret Farm? Margaret Roach?  Come on!).  Since most are my friends, we consider ourselves all winners. Maybe I should note that I am the only guy. I wonder what that means?

I'm honestly fine with just being nominated. Voting does result in a 'winner' however ( a prize),  aSo clearly, I will need to bribe you (wait, shamelessly?). Oh Hell, I am competitive, who am I fooling!  I may not have the funny cartoons that Margaret has to share, and I come not even close her excellent prose (but she was the editor of Martha Stewart Living, after all!).  And that gorgeous Erin form Floret Farm? How could I ever compete with her? OK, maybe I was the first lay claim to starting the sweet peas craze, she has acres!). 

Still, to temp you to take the time to vote (ha - every day between now an mid-March, mind you!), I feel that I shall need to bribe you. 

So here is a photo of Daphne's über-cute, 5 week old puppies.

A darling photo to bribe you to vote!

Awwwwwwww.

Back to gardening....

Is it spring? Or mid-February? It's shirtless time in the greenhouse!

February Under Glass Means Chrysanthemum Cuttings

I shan't write about the weather, I promise. But it's been a little crazy around here, with record breaking cold that shattered 100 year old record, and now spring-like warmth which while not record breaking, is still 70 degrees warmer than the previous weekend. In the greenhouse it feels very much like summer, and with nothing more than a t-shirt and jeans, I began rather summer-like chores under glass, which resulted in wet muddy jeans from the watering, and  even a bee sting from one of the honey bees that made its way in through the open vents in the ceiling. 

Here's an interesting observation - there were plenty of opportunities to observe examples of certain tasks which I have read about in those nineteenth century greenhouse and florist books. Take propagation, for example. I saved many of the exhibition and Japanese chrysanthemum 'stools' under the benches, as advised in most every Victorian gardening book, which all advised ..."will begin growth as the days grow longer, requiring one to strike cuttings beginning in February."

Time to crank up the propagation mats. This one contains both chrysanthemum cuttings, and some dahlia tubers, which I m forcing for cuttings - Cafe au Lait, on the right, if you look carefully, you can see the tubers peaking out.

On schedule, the once very dead looking chrysanthemum stools, which had indeed been spending the winter under the benches, began to send out new, healthy growth. I was so pleased to not only see these plants begin doing exactly what they were supposed to do, I was able to take over 150 cuttings, with plenty more to come.  If there is one thing that I am struck by in reading these 150  - 200 year old books, is that most of what I feel is unique or novel in our modern world, isn't really all that new at all. If anything, we have less choice with much of the plant material offered today for greenhouse culture, but I can say that what we can grow in the North under glass, has all been done before. We've just taken about a 120 year break.

Some mums went onto another heating mat, this one with covers, which means that they need to be positioned out of the full sun - only a bit of sunshine late in the day strikes this flat. With rooting hormone and bottom heat, all o these cuttings should root quickly. It's so nice to be thinking about summer already - even though there is still snow outside.

After striking my first round of chrysanthemum cuttings, I divided a few of the nicer varieties of dahlias which I laid out in vermiculite, sand and perlite soil, prepared over heating mats, to force some dahlia cuttings - a practice so common in the old days of greenhouse gardening, but one which I recently discovered is still practiced by dahlia enthusiasts who are eager to propagate some of their finer exhibition varieties. I felt that it was something worth trying, especially as I start to become more invested in exhibition dahlias (most of mine are just cut-flower varieties right now, but I need to practice).

Speaking of dahlias, our first meeting of the newly formed New England Dahlia Society will be held March 5th at our house at noon - if you are interested in joining, send me a private note, and I'll add you to the luncheon guest list. I've started ordering some exhibition varieties this weekend, a little late, I know, but I was able to study the Fab 50 list on the American Dahlia Society website, and finally found some of the varieties I was interested in from the many smaller nurseries listed on the ADS source pages, but I fear I will be running out of room, especially if I still want to raise some vegetables this year! The space war has begun.

The beauty of this modern  'Margaret Davis' camellia, is hard to beat.

I'm sure that I've shown many images of each of these camellias in the past, but what's wrong with sharing a few more. 

Rose form camellias are perfectly symmetrical. This one is 'Mrs. Tingley'

Oh Daphne. I know that you've been locked up indoors most of the winter with a litter of puppies, and that the soft, deep soil is irresistable to dig in, but really? All of my new French tulips? Naughty, naughty, terrier. Naughty.

Some other horticultural events happening in the greenhouse


The South African bulbs are starting to bloom, as they are in many greenhouses in the Northern Hemisphere (I just saw a photo of the same plants blooming in the greenhouses at the Denver Botanic Gardens). The show here usually starts with the ROmulea species, followed by the Babiana, backed up with the Lachenalia - one of my favorite genus - and a genus, I should mention which was terribly popular also in the Victorian era, but just try to find any today, aside from the few new hybrids marketed in the past few years under the brand name 'African Beauty' strain.

Lachenalia 'Rupert', one of the African Beauty Strain of Lachenalia, or Cape Hyacinth. Isn't the foliage beautiful? Look for these easy to grow (without pre-chilling) bulbs in your fall Dutch bulb catalogs. I always get a few each year, for winter color under glass. Can you tell that this is related to the common Dutch Hyacinth?

Wow. This massive specimen of a very large growing dendrobium (orchid) species is my plant of Dendrobium speciosum. It's nearly 6 feet in diameter, and this year, it has 14 flower spike forming. If it was in better condition, I might have bothered  to bring it in as a specimen plant to a Massachusetts Orchid Society meeting for judging, but it has some damaged leaves, and I know how those orchid folk are about perfection! So, I will just leave it in the greenhouse - maybe the dahlia society folks will enjoy it more? It should in be full bloom by the first week in March.

This larger shot should give you a better idea of the scale. It's a little blurry, but it does show the size. I first saw this species at the Tokyo World Orchid Show in 2008, where it was displayed in back of a pick up truck! I then had to find one (Santa Barbara Orchid Estate).

Do you remember back in September when I decided to raise some cold weather annuals for the greenhouse? Well, maybe it was too cold in the greenhouse, but most are still growing, but they are very small. With the lengthening day, I can see changes however, and some, such as this Godetia above are starting to grow larger leaves.

Nemesia seedling can be as challenging as snapdragons, pansies and petunia, if you have ever tried to grow them from seed -just not as easy as one might think, with yellowing leaves, and sometimes just weak, chlorotic growth. Yet, there is a trick, I'll be writing more about these tips later, but it all has to do with soil pH, electrical conductivity (yes), and nutrients - particularly, calcium and magnesium. A little pinching helps too. I plan on these seed raised nemesia to fill this pots by  Easter with loads of colorful blossoms.

Tropaeolum speciosum tricolor covers a little trellis with its thin vines, and tiny, yet colorful blossoms.

Tuberous tropeolum take over the greenhouse.


I know, I can't get enough of these rarer tropeolum, but they are not that difficult, if one can keep them cool (most will sulk and go dormant if daytime temps remain over 65 degrees). These Chilean and Argentinean treasures are lovely, and they are perfect for raising on those little trellises one finds in the gardening decor aisle at discount stores, which typically are useless for most anything else, practically speaking.

A larger view of this tropaeolum tricolor. I should note that the one Tropaeolum azureum which f suffered a decapitation during a greenhouse accident  involving a giant Bay Laurel tree back in December, seems to have survived. I had feared that I had killed it, as it's single stem had separated from its tuber. It seems to have re-rooted (or at least, it is still alive and appears to be growing). I will resist peeking at its roots until it goes dormant in the spring, but since the plant has continued to grow for two months now, I am hopeful that it has survived.

Freesia corms starting to emerge - maybe some fragrant freesias for the Easter Table?

Winter blooming primroses are a must in the cold pit or greenhouse. If only we could find the finest one, Primula sinensis, but it remains lost in culture. Until someone sends me seeds? I shall have to be happy with Primula obconica (but not this year) and Primula malacoides, which is what you are looking at here. It's a bet fragrant in the strong, late winter sunshine.

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THIS GARDEN IS NOT SPECIAL - YOU ASKED FOR HONESTY, HERE IT COMES

White giant calla lilies bloom in a large tub on the gravel walk leading to the greenhouse.

Fragrant white Chinese wisteria tumbles over small shrubs along the long walk. In so many ways, spring in our garden is spectacular - like a Disney movie with smell-a-vision.

In the far back of the property, understory tree and shrubs such as this Sinocalycanthus 'Raulston Wine' bloom profusely as baby chicks and duckling peep and quack over the growls of our neighbors weed wackers - what? Wait a minute.....

Get ready to see what most of my garden really looks like - but be prepared, since closeups and detail shots and those carefully edited hide much of what really goes on around here. I may have been protecting myself as much as your eyes in carefully cropping out the random dog toy or dead spot, but in an effort to be more transparent, I am letting it all show for once.

Many of you have written me telling me to relax a little about the messiness of the garden here, so I am trying to listen to you. And you know what? It's not easy, but the more I visit the other gardens of friends who have full time jobs, I start to get it. While the more I visit garden blogs I get pissed off ( really? So perfect?) Now I think I am starting to see what you are talking about. A gardeners garden is often like an artists house. Messy, imperfect, but perfectly interesting. This garden is a wreck - as you will see, but while some may see only imperfection, others may see curious plants and an interesting life. Take your pick.

Why do we keep buying plants? Maybe it's because we know that in a few weeks, all the good plants - the interesting ones at least, will be gone from the garden centers. There is only a little window of opportunity to grab the choicest plants before they are gone for the summer. Keeping them watered in their small pots is one challenge, but new tubs need to be bought as well as soil and compost sifted before we can pot them - maybe next weekend?

In an effort to help me overcome my obsessive habits such as bitching about having no time ( I mean really, who really does have free time today?), I am going to pull the curtain back a bit, and show you some of the back stage scenes around here. I would imagine that many of you are experiencing the same bits of anxiety and pressures around the volume of tasks that seem to build up over these first few weeks of nice weather - new plants arriving in the mail, and from what seems to be an endless parade of plants from plant sales, nurseries and garden centers. Those seedlings that you started ( really? 65 Zinnias? 35 Dahlias? 128 tomatoes?), plus the pile of mulch that just doesn't seem to be reducing in size, trimming of hedges, containers that need to be planted before all of the good plants are gone from the garden center - it all can seem overwhelming.

Tomatoes and African Foxgloves waiting for me to find room in the garden - today is overcast, and a Monday holiday, so it may be the perfect time to transplant - but I haven't written a post in a week, so blame the blog!

Breath. Relax. Breath, exhale. Oh Elsa, you perhaps had it right - "let it go".  Most of us garden only on the weekends - perhaps an hour after work, but that usually means simply watering the pots and containers. I think I am starting to understand that most garden bloggers try to focus on design - an ideology of perfection, but really, it this 'interior design' approach really what gardening is about? I admit to you all that I get caught up in the image and perception part of the gardening equation as much as those on Design Sponge or Apartment Therapy do. Hey, perfection is nice - we all need inspiration, but sometimes a little dose of reality helps too.

OK, HERE IT COMES

Yet the more I struggle with lack of time and the realities of gardening,  I realize most people struggle with the same issues. Much of what we do simply is not pretty or perfect.  Sometimes our meals look like fast food. Sometimes our fashion looks like, well, we picked it off of the floor. More often than not, much of what we experience day to day is something else other than perfection. I still beleive that a gardening blog should have more inspiration than reality in it, since who would really want to read, let's say a cooking blog where all they make is fast food - yet who doesn't want to see what Julia Child's kitchen really looked like on the days when they were not shooting in there?

The truth is - gardening is not all white hydrangea hedges and clipped parterres of boxwood. It's not always tidy topiary trees, airplants and mossy letters on brick walls spelling out 'peace'. It's usually more dirty - kind of what a house it really like inside, when company isn't coming.

Dogs can bring both joy and heartbreak to a garden - We love our dogs, but they are ruining most of the garden. I am trying to find a balance between the two hobbies, and it can be difficult when one partner wants dogs, and the other wants Hellebores. This problem area, which used to be my ephemeral garden is struggling under the fierce paws of 6 terriers give or take a few.

 I acknowledge that the designer inside of me really can't help it most of the time- he wants to make it all perfect. I mean, it's just a little tip of the camera, a different angle, crop out that doggie squeaky toy, try not to get that tilted fence post in the shot of the greenhouse which for some reason (laziness) will never transform into a fence. And if that three panel picket fence will never transform into a fence in one years time, how will those 14 panels of lattice leaning on the old fence transform into a fence?

I might bet that some of you still have a mulch pile waiting to be moved to parts of your garden? Please tell me that you still do? I need to get out there today and work on this for a bit, since we are getting a few tons of stone delivered tomorrow.  What was I thinking?

Then, there is the mulch pile - 12 loads a day, and it doesn't seem to get any smaller, still, I have to remind myself that 6 tons of pea stone arrives tomorrow as well, and that is no lighter! Chicks are in the studio under lights, almost ready to move outdoors but the fence needs to be completes in the coops as well - oh, and Joe ordered ducklings that arrive this week as well. Not to mention 7 flats of tomatoes, and far too many annuals that need to find a home in the garden somewhere - what was I thinking?

I am notorious for starting jobs and never finishing them. I actually took some pride in winding up these extension cords so that they could be brought into the cellar. The lawn, a little ( a lot) messy due to a fertilizing error - we never buy lawn fertilizer or even have owned a spreader - but this year, I decided to try one - just because our lawn was looking a little drab and weak. Joe had never used one before, so we ended up with lots of over fertilized spots (I probably would have done the same thing).

Yet why is it that when I visit other plant people's gardens, they are rarely in any better shape than mine is? OK, sure, there are plenty that are far more perfect - such as those that I visited in Michigan two weeks ago on the NARGS tours - but I have to believe that not all gardens are such perfect places. Even ours  sometimes looks nice, such as when we have a garden tour scheduled, but it takes planning and lots of hard work - hired help even, just to get it looking halfway decent. Most of the time, a random visit here will shock one if one expects perfection. Sure, I can choose the best camera angles, but believe me, there are only a few tricks one can do before things start to repeat themselves ( how many times do you really want to see the front of the greenhouse and that martin house?).

The long walk is looking pretty ratty right now. I am considering removing the hornbeam hedge on the left, as it shades much of the path, and it is too tall - not properly pleached (woven), it is trimmed with hedge sheers twice a year, but last year with the death of my father and a summer that seemed to escape me, I missed a years worth of trimming. Now, as I trimmed it on this 3 day weekend, it looks rather weak.

Long rock paths such as ours need frequent weeding ( by hand, on rubber mats so ones knees don't get damaged). Then they will need a refresh of pea stone, not a job for the weak and spindly of us. We try not to use leaf blowers, weed killer or weed wackers around here - so in many ways, we garden as they once did back in the olden days. Not very practical at all, but at least it's a work out, right? It just takes longer, and becomes more of a chore over time. We do this, while our neighbors grind away at their perfect green velvet lawn every Friday with every known electric and gas powered took known to the big box store. No wonder they have time for jet ski's, motor cycles, a pool and parties.

I need to decide if I want to cut out these hornbeams, or if I should just top them off at 8 feet again. Right now, they are too tall to trim without a ladder. Behind them, another fence awaits installation - a project for another weekend ( or summer?). I've tried to plan out every weekend between now and August, and I really can't imagine when we will get this done!

 Yikes! That is one tall hedge of hornbeam! Hard decisions need to be made here, remove it or cut it back? Or, perhaps do nothing for an entire year once again? Which is a reality given the long list of projects that need to be done. Today ( once I get my butt away from this computer) I might continue to wash the windows on the porch - do two more sets, and then try to get some laundry in, then go water the greenhouse and the tomato flats on the deck, try to prepare some beds to get at least a dozen tomatoes in before the end of the day. I might even plant some dahlias which are ready to go in, but which will need extra protection from the dogs. If I do this, I will need to commit to hauling mulch over from two acres away, plus lay down landscape fabric since I will not have the time to week this part of the garden - but the container plants should really be planted as well - as they could die before next weekend. And so it goes, the constant re-prioritization.

And people wonder why we never go to the movies?

Looking forward, I am trying to think about how I could take care of this property as I age. In ten years I will be 65, and if I don't move, I need an easier garden to maintain, as I can barely take care of it now. These birch seedlings are being nurtured to take over the garden. If I could convert much of the garden to native species such as birch, mountain laurel (Kalmia) and other natives, perhaps I can make it more like a woodland.

 I also have to face the realities of aging. I'm not there yet, but I'm pretty certain that many of you alternate those 'outdoor work days' with hot tubs, bath salts and anything to ease those sore muscles. Gardening is hard work. One plan I have is to allow a large part of our property to go natural - but that is a task which is far more difficult than one would imagine, as just ignoring a garden will only allow for weed trees such as Alianthus and other weeds to take over - especially in a city, and where the land has been cultivated for over 100 years. The idea of 'going native' or 'natural' is rather impossible at this point, but I can guide some plants to grow, mimicking our native woodlands, and hopefully, getting to a place where the leaves and annual cycles of leave and needle drop through the seasons, will steer the land back to something that looks more natural.

Trying to find a balance between woodland, native plantings and a garden that looks as if it was always there. Near our front entrance, this fake river bed with native ferns, wild blueberries and wildflowers mixes with hybrid rhododendrons, low growing birch varieties and dwarf evergreens. Still low maintenance, it looks far better than the lawn which once stood here (see the road in the upper far right?).

Thus I am allowing self seeded white river birch to grow and mature, as well as some white pines - all interplanted with either native kalmia (Mountain Laurel) and some similar (yet imported- genus such as hybrid rhododendrons and magnolias as an understory. Layering like this already has worked in part of our garden, and now I am trying to introduce it to other parts of the property, but the results are more challenging - especially the intermediate period when it just looks like weeds and weed trees are growing.

Garden debris from a harsh winter waits to be dumped in the woods, onto an every growing compost pile which for us, means just a big 'ol pile of branches and leaves in the woods. It provides us with an obscene amount of compost, which to be honest, never seemed special to us as kids, but today, makes for some secret wealth which we rarely complain about.

It seems that on every porch and shady spot there are flats of plants waiting to be planted. Waiting, waiting, waiting. It's a bit like an emergency room - with such little time, and an abundance of patients? Prioritization is necessary. First the bareroot fruit trees, then the most expensive  shrubs, then ladyslippers, everything else comes later. In the gardening world, the class system rules. Lowly calibrachoa and basil get pushed to the end of the line.

Baptisia looks fine in the front, natural garden.

Here is an example of a good crop. This portion of our garden is what I typically would show on this blog. A nice wedding cake dogwood, a flood of Petasites japonicus var. giganteus, beehives and archways....

....but really, it looks like this. Complete with dead spots in the lawn, un-pruned Asian pears, and a lovely stack of lawn furniture arranged in a fire pit.

As I said, it's all in the angles. And in the plants.

So --  if I am going to try and not get too upset over being behind in my chores - the mulching - the planting, then you perhaps can take a breather too.  Enjoy this spring. I mean - who cares if the puppies and the dogs have torn up the entire garden, leaving what amounts to a dust bowl effect just one week  before a garden tour? I'm trying not to care as much. Really.