Spring Gardening

It's spring and the earth calls to my soul.

It's time to be outside and tend to the garden. I'd been traveling for the last several weeks, so mine got a jump on the season without me. When I left, the shoots in the butterfly garden had just begun to sprout. 

By the time I got back last week, the spring blooms were in full flower. White, pink, purple and blue Bachelor Buttons and tiny red flowers for which I have no name. Chives and sage in purple, peonies in pink. Orange roses and pink Weigelia blossoms. You'd think the colors might clash, but that's not how nature works.

This last week we got a break from the unseasonably hot weather (which is why all the above are blooming at the same time), and I was able to get out in the yard and start to rein in the weeds. The sun was warm without being hot, the breeze cool, the ground pliable beneath my hands, the smells amazing. As I worked, I unearthed a good measure of peace for my soul. *I pause for a moment to appreciate all of the above*

The weeds weren't TOO bad, so I even had time to get to the plant store and pick up some perennials to fill some blank spaces in the beds. Someday, I may actually do some research before I go, but this time I went back to my tried-and-true method of going to the proper section of the nursery (partial shade, native perennials) and picking hummingbird and butterfly friendly plants that I like the look of.

Fortunately, I took time to run the flowers past Google when I got them home, to make sure they'd work in the beds I had in mind for them, before I planted them. Turns out the innocent looking, kind of frail, traily ones I thought would be perfect next to my porch swing put down a 12' tap root over time. Probably not the best choice for my raised bed.

But there are plenty of empty spots in my garden, and I had a lovely time yesterday figuring out what to put where (this is the part many people do BEFORE buying the plants, but hey. I often do things different from many people), and setting the plants in the ground.

This morning, I noticed one of the yard bunnies nosing about several of the new garden additions. I went out there and chased her away, but I'm afraid I may lose this battle. She spends WAY more time out in the yard than I do. Oh, well. All God's children gotta eat.

Spring! Ahhhhh.....