SPRING SEASON_at http://www.oocities.org/ilonapool/

Spring

here's something so special about the garden in spring. I don't know, maybe it was reading and rereading "The Secret Garden" as a young girl. Or the memory of running home from school to check the progress of the bulb's shoots in my Mother's garden. It could be the special fragrance or quality of light.The newness, it's sort of a joy that never jades for me. And all of a sudden it becomes a time crammed with activity.

March is pivotal, what we choose at this time affects the whole of the year. In August,I'm really sorry I didn't dig and divide more; in October, I'm trying to remember which bulbs impressed me and what overplantings created the most pleasing display. Roses planted too late are often lost during the next years winter. So, be ready, gird up your loins to work in the spring.

"Work while it is yet day, for the night cometh when no man can work"

ecause the opportunities are fleeting, accept the invitations of the seasons joys; like newborn babies , the growth is rapid and that sweet and gentle newness passes so quickly. Walk in the woods to catch sight of the wildflowers, envelop yourself in the dogwoods and azaleas. Grasp the glimpses of nest-building birds and breathe deep the fresh earth smell, the lilacs and hyacinths. Sit in the warm sunshine when it breaks through the clouds and chill.

Cleaning. I really don't like cleaning all that much (no surprise here), but mostly because I'm not that good at it (I'm one of those "messies" distracted by plants that need potting, reading long lost articles, believing that "I really will fix that thing up" some day). But, I like to have a spring cleaning. It is an exercise in futility in some ways since the inevitable mud and rain of the season sends the floors and windows quickly back to a less reputable state. At least, I know it's new dirt. Occasionally we make real progress in the spring, so it's always worth a try. Two things which are helpful to me in the quest of a more orderly life are: (1) the idea of "cleaning as you go " and (2) reading Don Aslett's books (his video was hilarious). One needs all the motivation one can get.

Don Aslett

An Organized Home

HomeArts

he darker side of spring is taking stock of the losses. While the dormancy of winter is necessary, its vicissitudes are sometimes more severe than was expected. In the garden, most losses are apparent by the end of spring; and at that point we can choose whether to replace or do without. Schemes for protection can be drawn up, as well. I think wind and the lack of snow cover are the two most devastating forces in my part of the country, so my major objective is creating windbreaks and, in the meantime, using plants noted for their toughness. My roses are rugosa, alba, and those which can suffer the rough treatment of prairie conditions. Therese Bugnet, Gruss An Aachen, Konigin Von Danemark, Charles De Mills, Rosa rubrifolia, Zephirine Drouhin; I'm hoping to expand the list with a Canadian technique I read about: deep planting. The bud union is planted about six inches below the surface. We'll see- my high water table (this was a tall grass prairie) thwarts many a planting here.

More specifically, planting is as follows:
*bare root plants are planted in a hole deep enough to cover the bud union with six inches of soil to meet the surface of the flowerbed.
*potted plants , after dormancy has broken, require a sort of pit which is filled in at the end of the growing season (otherwise,uhoh, smothered plants).

"In the pale sunshine, with frail wings unfurled
Comes to the bending snowdrop the first bee,
She gives her winter honey prudently;
And faint with travel in a bitter world,
The bee makes music, tentative and low,
And spring awakes and laughs across the snow."

Don Aslett

An Organized Home

HomeArts

-Mary Webb

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Thanks to Vikimouse for the 'clean house' graphics

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