It's the Most. Wonderful. Time. of the Year
I returned late last night from another week-long trip, hopefully the last of those for couple of months. The one thing that makes these business trips bearable is that they are to the state where I was born, 1400 miles east of here, and where two of my siblings still live. I returned home with an extra suitcase filled with daylilies and hostas, from what's becoming an annual tradition--raiding my sister's garden. Which reminds me--the garden blogger's book club selection for this month is Passalong Plants, which looks like a fun read.
Of course I had to make the rounds of the greenhouse, the flower beds, the vegetable gardens, and the windowsills first thing this morning. All the hostas that were just tiny nubs poking out of the ground a week ago are tall cones of furled leaves now. Lilacs and azaleas are starting to bloom. Beets, chard, parsnips, potatoes, and radish are coming up, peas are ready for staking, and the broccoli and brussel sprout seedlings I set out before leaving town are leafless stubs. harumph. I knew I should have put down floating row covers before I left.
But! What makes this the most wonderful time of the year is my favorite plant sale tomorrow. Imagine being able to visit over 75 specialty nurseries in a single day. That's FlorAbundance. Unlike my behavior in previous years this year I intend to exercise some restraint. (I can already hear a certain gardening friend choking in disbelief.) I shall buy only what I can carry. Really, I only "need" some new dahlia tubers to replace the ones that froze winter-before-last, and perhaps a broadleaf evergreen shrub or two.
Next weekend is my second most favorite plant sale, Seattle Tilth's edible plant sale, which I had planned to skip this year, but it looks like I need to pick up some broccoli plants to replace my leafless stubs. grumble. I notice they will also be selling a new dwarf variety of eggplant, Fairy Tale, which they say produces harvest 50 days from transplanting.
Another sure sign of spring: This morning I had to stop the car on the road while a mother duck led her 8 just-hatched ducklings out into the world for the first time. There was a brief moment of panic (on my part;Mrs. Mallard never even blinked) when a truck came around the corner in the opposite direction and stopped just in time to avoid making pressed duckling. The other driver and I exchanged smiles and "awwww"s through our closed windows as the duck family headed for the lake on the other side of the road.
Of course I had to make the rounds of the greenhouse, the flower beds, the vegetable gardens, and the windowsills first thing this morning. All the hostas that were just tiny nubs poking out of the ground a week ago are tall cones of furled leaves now. Lilacs and azaleas are starting to bloom. Beets, chard, parsnips, potatoes, and radish are coming up, peas are ready for staking, and the broccoli and brussel sprout seedlings I set out before leaving town are leafless stubs. harumph. I knew I should have put down floating row covers before I left.
But! What makes this the most wonderful time of the year is my favorite plant sale tomorrow. Imagine being able to visit over 75 specialty nurseries in a single day. That's FlorAbundance. Unlike my behavior in previous years this year I intend to exercise some restraint. (I can already hear a certain gardening friend choking in disbelief.) I shall buy only what I can carry. Really, I only "need" some new dahlia tubers to replace the ones that froze winter-before-last, and perhaps a broadleaf evergreen shrub or two.
Next weekend is my second most favorite plant sale, Seattle Tilth's edible plant sale, which I had planned to skip this year, but it looks like I need to pick up some broccoli plants to replace my leafless stubs. grumble. I notice they will also be selling a new dwarf variety of eggplant, Fairy Tale, which they say produces harvest 50 days from transplanting.
Another sure sign of spring: This morning I had to stop the car on the road while a mother duck led her 8 just-hatched ducklings out into the world for the first time. There was a brief moment of panic (on my part;Mrs. Mallard never even blinked) when a truck came around the corner in the opposite direction and stopped just in time to avoid making pressed duckling. The other driver and I exchanged smiles and "awwww"s through our closed windows as the duck family headed for the lake on the other side of the road.
posted by Molly at 1:03 PM
6 Comments:
I'm happy to read you are going to participate in the garden bloggers' book club's latest book reading! Have fun at the plant sale and don't take "restraint" with you. What fun would that be?
Hi Molly,
Hmmm, why restrain yourself at the plant fair? Have fun, that's what I always do.
Phew, what a relief that mama duck and babies were all OK. I had an encounter like that a few years ago and we'd manage to stop just in the nick of time.
Wish I had a sister whose garden I could raid. ;-) Lucky you!
I love the idea of the daylily and hosta exchange ...75 nurseries in one day is amazing. Good going!
It sounds as if your garden took off while you were gone!
BTW, I have added your blog to my 'playing in the dirt' links!!
Welcome home! We share a love for plant sales. We have a friend that runs a wholesale nursery and opens it up in a couple weeks for one weekend for an annual sale. I can't wait!
Missing your posts, Molly! What's happening in your garden these days?
love the blog, moll! I didn't know you were so plant-y.... :-)
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