I may have, from outward appearances, chosen poorly, and, I may regret the choice in the future, but I made a call regarding my planned PTO time this weekend, a celebratory weekend, to stay at the townhouse, even though it is going to rain, even though up north it is going to be beautiful clear skies. I should do “me time” up north, instead of only taking one day off and returning to working tomorrow on something that needs attention, but I just cannot seem to motivate to do all that is needed for a long weekend up north, and that tells me, I think, I need to go where the peace is right now, here. I think, if I am reading right, it is meant to be a garden sharing day.
Just so I don’t sound martyr-ish, full disclosure, leading up to this celebratory weekend, for a full six weeks, I gave myself permissions to choose my own gifts and have them show up at the house – glory!!! A cotton vintage floral throw I’ve been wanting, some peasant style tops, a pair of legacy style jeans, a set of toiletries, a wildflower scented candle, and 2 pairs of Walmart lounge outfits aka “jammies” – you know the kind with dog and coffee words as designs? That you can throw a zippered sweatshirt over the top and feel ok about wondering about the garden really early in the morning? Yah. Those. They are AWESOME!!! Regarding the “gifts” aspect, Hubs is totally cool with not trying to figure out what to buy me for gifts and having the charge alerts show up on my phone before the gifts do – always a weird thing, right? Been married a LONG time. Good with the “gifts” thing. We got this nicked.
So I have indulged. I am full, and good and apparently ready to garden share. Cuz that is where my heart landed for this celebratory day, and weekend.
I am sitting in my recliner, in one of those Walmart “lounge” outfits, having, as the lounge pants say “Coffee Time”, having a couple of the peppercocker cookies our DIL made me for my birthday (best gift, thank you!!! ❤️). I am listening to the squirrels alert about something or another. The birds started their morning chorus hours ago. Very loud today. I love it. I dozed off, dog on lap, and still, 90% asleep, was enjoying their singing. No need to rush into the day. A good use of PTO. A good day to share, and to share the garden, in a variety of ways.
Recently as a neighbor stopped by on her walk, she said she is looking forward to seeing what I do with the garden this year. Wow! It reminded me how we as gardeners go merrily along, enjoying the garden, its rolling cadence of fun activities, caught in moments, hours, days, weeks, months, seasons, and not fully focused on the wider circle of joy the garden provides while we are enjoying it personally. Yes, we share because, well, we just have to share such goodness.
Sharing time is at a different level right now – that of sharing with other gardens. Two weeks ago I was wondering if I was going to have more empty space than I thought. This week as I watched the garden literally spring to life again, I saw that EVERYTHING was coming back. Even things I thought were gone. And some volunteers. To keep the garden pleasantly sharing joy, I need to share with other gardens – a clematis volunteer here, a cherry tree seedling there. Then, the view will be right, and right-sized, and the rolling beauty will continue, until, like vegetable harvesting in late summer, it is time to share at the giving away level again.
The giving away part is always a bit sad, and scary. What if next year’s garden really misses that, what if the new owner doesn’t care for the plant (and believe me, that happens), what if the new location for the shared plant is not conducive to continued healthy growth? But ultimately it does work out. I have a few regrets, I learn, but mostly I continue to believe in the beauty of sharing a garden. And volunteers are an easy choice to start with.
Sometimes, a “kid” comes home after a short stint in another garden. This beauty coming up is a Rainforest Sunrise hosta. One of my absolute favorites. Back when we thought we were going to ultimately move to the little house up north, I dug her up out of one of the townhouse garden areas and brought her up there. At first she seemed good, then “ok”, but when we sold that house, she needed to rebound. The no-see-um bugs were eating her foliage, and she was covered with ants. We dug her out, cleaned her up, and brought her back home, to the townhouse, to hang out again with all her peeps and shine.
Today, amid rain and thunder spurts, I think I will dig out a clematis volunteer that needs moving. She is, I think, the “child” of another clematis volunteer I need to find a trellis for. Her trellis went to the little house up north and did not come back. But the new volunteer needs new digs. Hopefully she will love the fence garden at the historic cemetery, grow, shine, and share joy there.
Susan's Daily Garden 