On Thursday I visited Mrs. Y, my farmer neighbor and admired her flowers. She has pansies taking over her yard and Christmas Rose blooms lining her walkway. I commented that I really ought to go out and buy some pansies this week.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Gardening?
This weekend I finally planted some flowers. I love looking at flowers... in nature and in people's yards... When I see a pot of flowers in front of a house it makes me smile... but I am terrible about raising flowers myself. I buy a pot and sort of water them... and sort of weed out dead blooms... but I don't particularly like getting my hands dirty. I don't understand this about myself because I love nature and picture myself living a natural life like Tasha Tudor or somebody... I imagine myself living on a farm and raising chickens and tomatoes, a cat by winding around my ankles, a quilt out on the line... But I guess I couldn't really do it as I can't even raise a pot of flowers!
On Thursday I visited Mrs. Y, my farmer neighbor and admired her flowers. She has pansies taking over her yard and Christmas Rose blooms lining her walkway. I commented that I really ought to go out and buy some pansies this week.
"We are past the pansy season. You need to get some other stuff started."
Mrs. Y took pity on me and invited me to go to a garden nursery with her on Friday morning. The two of us looked over the flowers and she gave me a little advice on buying different colors and bloom sizes and heights but basically I just chose what I liked. I'm afraid I don't know a single name of any of the flowers I bought!
Once I got home I dumped out all the out pots of dirt and dead flowers that have been rolling around the yard all winter and then I refilled the pots (same dirt... added a bit more from the forest). I really didn't know how to separate roots so I just planted my new flowers any which way... No fertilizer... no bloom boosting concoction. They look quite pretty right now and they do make me smile when I step outside my front door. But how long will they last? I feel a little sorry for flowers that come to live at my house.
When Tetsu saw my flowers he decided to plant some too... in the yard planters, under a tree or two. Tetsu doesn't know so much about flowers but he doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. I think we both need to take a gardening class!
Did you plant any flowers yet? And advice for a brown-thumbed gardener?
On Thursday I visited Mrs. Y, my farmer neighbor and admired her flowers. She has pansies taking over her yard and Christmas Rose blooms lining her walkway. I commented that I really ought to go out and buy some pansies this week.
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I don't do well with potted plants either. I think I water them too much or not at all. We like perennial shrubs here. They bloom at different times and don't need much more than pruning although that can get to be a lot of work too. I have stakes with hooks and just buy what hanging baskets of what looks good and is inexpensive at the market. I keep it as long as it lasts and replace it when it's done. I have one tub of pansies here - they are glorious purple. You can see it on Instagram.
ReplyDeleteROFL - I'm laughing so hard Tanya - I'm exactly the same way. I'd love to live in a little cottage, have a garden filled with blooms and veggies, raising chickens and goats and making my own goat-milk soap - but I'm city-born and bred, and the only plant I've managed to keep alive is my wee African Violet in my sewing room. Which desperately needs a new pot and some nutrients.....your flowers look just lovely, very spring-y!
ReplyDeleteThey look very bright and cheerful. Maybe there's a garden club you could join?
ReplyDeletePlant things that don't need a lot of attention. If you don't like to get your hand dirty get some non sterile disposable nitrile or latex gloves like the ones used in hospitals and by EMT's. They will keep your hands clean and they are easier to use and dispose of than taking off a pair of rubber gloves and putting them back on. They are not expensive, not here in the US anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe cream daisy like flower in your 2nd photo, look like Flannel Flower, a plant that grows in the bush in N.S.W, Australia. We had them growing wild in our back yard in Sydney.
ReplyDeleteI do like flowers but am a terrible watered--my go to flower is a day lily because you have to actively try to kill them--neglect is okay! I see you have marigolds, a happy flower:). Looking very cheerful!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ruth. Plant things that don't need a lot of care and get a set of gardening gloves. I love to garden but I don't have space or sun. I have been planting flowers in the weed lot at the corner of the street. It is very rocky and the plant vandal ripped up the tulips but I put in pansies and they are fine. I just ask the flower shop to recommend plants that don't need tending and they have given good advice.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Tasha Tudor and the whole bit you describe! I cannot stand the feel of dirt on my hands, and I'm an Earth sign, zodiacally (is that a word?). So, I wear gloves. I have about 50 pairs of gardening gloves....I even have them in my car, in case I have to get my hands dirty doing something to the car. I don't really know how to DO anything to the car, but just in case! I garden in containers, too, because I buy special soil for the containers that doesn't feel quite so....um.....dirty. This doesn't make sense, I know, but I have a love/hate relationship with dirt. It's a quandry, to be sure.
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