Pumpkins in May

That's a pumpkin plant. There are now six plants in the ground. This is a "new" planting area for me - what used to be the burn pile. I mulched the area with a thick layer of leaves last fall. We shall see how they grow. Note burned branches around the plant. It's, in theory, to prevent likely damage from my idiot dog running through there. There are also potato plants growing out there.

Yes, it is exciting.

And, to note, the farmers planted the field today. What will it be? Soybeans? Corn? I'm rooting for corn!

Gardening: Man's First Profession

What was the first work man did? Think Adam. Yes, he was a gardener. It was his job, but it wasn't a horrible, boss-yelling-in-your-face-coworkers-forcing-you-to-eat-cake kind of job. It was a joy to garden.

Think of it - no thistles!

Probably the best soil ever, with its own irrigation system, right there in the garden.

It gives me the jealousy.

Today I made my third trip to the gardening center. I assembled a variety of flowers into HUGE pots. I'm not very good at it, but I do like it.

And I bought pumpkin plants. I can't wait to get those in the ground.

Gardening that is just planting and watering is just the best. It's like Eden.

Giant Butterfly

This was taken at the Franklin Park Conservatory. When you absolutely need a fix of Spring, this is the place to go. Spend a lot of time there. Smell the flowers, look at the landscaping and watch the vast numbers of butterflies.

Stop and Smell the Wildflowers

Some gardeners are precise. I am impressively imprecise. In fact, I'm just plain a messy gardener, doing things imperfectly, hoping for the best.

For instance, I've already made two serious gardening mistakes - one due to unpredictable weather, the other due to predictable weather.

Weed and Feed is not my favorite to apply to my lawn, but because ground ivy is aggressive, it is a necessity. However, the directions on the bag instruct to apply if a day or two after mowing, and not to mow again a day or two after. Also, not to water for 48 hours after. This is different from some bags that says that it should be watered in within 24 hours. In other words, "when the moon is in the seventh house and jupiter aligns with mars, apply weed n feed." And when I applied it, it rained 12 hours later, not as predicted.

Then there was my overeagerness to get the tomatoes in the ground. Amateur mistake. The May 15th frost-free date is for a REASON and I lost all my tomatoes, save one, on March 10th.

Spring wild flowers are in bloom, and it all comes in good time. No need to rush anything. Stop, enjoy the garden, and smell the wildflowers.

More Harbingers of Spring

(actually, I just wanted to use the word "harbinger")

Just down the road, wild strawberries grow every year. Last year, a late frost nipped them and there was nary a berry. But, they survived this last week's final (hopefully) frost. These berries are by far sweeter than the ones you buy in stores, and even challenge the yummy ones that grow locally. Perhaps that's the purest sense of describing something as "wild and delicious."

"Like Walking into a Hornet's Nest"

Except I really did.

Sort of.

Out walking the dogs, suddenly we were in the midst of a swarm of bees. Oh sure, it sounds like something a superhero would do, but this was me walking into the swarm. Apparently their queen had flown off somewhere because the drones seemed aimless in their cloud of bee mayhem. I knew I had to get out of there, but they seemed to be following me. And one of the dogs chose this inopportune moment to do some extracurricular sniffing.

With a little strong-arming, I got us out of there. How strange that when I looked backwards, I could no longer see the cloud of bees. Isn't that true that once we get some distance from a swarm of difficulties, it no longer seems nearly as troublesome or powerful.

That's as profound as I'm going to get today.

In Clover

If you are observant of growing seasons at all, you've noticed that some years are especially favorable to some plants and flowers over others. Whatever the weather condition might turn out to be, some years favor certain plants.

This year, the clover is flourishing! After mentioning this to a friend, he reminded me that his wife was the EXPERT, second to NONE, four leaf clover picker-outer. She could spot them a mile away (maybe not quite that far). She'd look at a patch, reach down, and pluck a perfect four-leafer. It reminded me that I used to be pretty good myself.

But what had I done for clover lately? Answer: nothing! I hadn't been looking! So, now I'm trying to make a conscious effort to look for the lucky four when I go by a patch. After all, it's a good year for clover.

And tics.