A View From My Garden

And so now it is spring! Daffodils are blooming, tiny grape hyacinths, naturalized into the grass years ago, made a brave showing until Himself got out the lawn mower and the grass treatment and mowed them down. We enjoy them briefly, and I let them grow in the flower beds, but there is no room for them in a truly green lawn. If we do not cut the lawn it will all too soon display its true nature, for after all, this lawn is mostly pasture grass and in the worst places, nothing but jointed quackgrass, Johnson grass and other unmentionables. It requires aggressive attacks in spring; at least weekly.

Still, there are violas and buttercups, also, and a patch of forget-me-nots. There was a patch of true violets, also, but they have disappeared. I tell myself these little wild-like plants really do not matter, but they are such a joy; belly flowers we call them because one has to be down on the grass to truly see them. Every spring I plan to make a series of photographs of them, before the mowing starts, and every year I lag and linger until it is too late. Perhaps next year.

The forsythia is a marvel this spring; just as I hoped it would be. It sits at the point where the driveway divides, where everyone who comes and goes has to pass right by it. One would think it could not go unnoticed, and yet it does. That amazes me, though I realize not everyone in this world is as tuned to the plant world as I, and perhaps we humans could be divided by this; those who notice plants and animals first, and those who are tuned to their own kind's comings and goings. I will not apologize for being in the plant and animal group, though it would not hurt me to polish up a few social skills, either. We are divided by enough walls in our stony society; we do not need more.

Many of the perennials are poking their noses up through the leaves that still cover them. The delphinium beside the lean-to greenhouse is slowly making its way through the leaves and I must set a triangular tomato cage over it for I know I will turn around twice and it will be three feet tall! All the perennial beds need to be cleaned out now, and the scrap run through the shredder and into the compost. There is no end to plant waste here, and no end to the need for it.

The roses are leading out and seem to have come through the winter with no damage. Such a mild winter is bound to be followed by a buggy summer. Two sides to every coin; the balance in Justice's scales, the deep natural balance of Yin and Yang. As I philosophize, I also make a mental list of the bug arsenal which needs replenishing. Get after them early with the safe and moderate means and later on it may not be necessary to use those grand chemicals I abhor!

And so the season changes and so do we. One thing is certain, Himself is determined to have a princely lawn and I will have to enjoy the bright yellow spirit of dandelions elsewhere. I will repeat this little message from a long past Ladies Home Journal, I believe. This says it all.

Your child brings to you the first dandelion of spring, and you say,
"Throw that weed away and go wash up for lunch."