GardenBook

Spring rains are welcome, needed, appreciated and deflating. The momentum of spring clean up stops abruptly, the felines head back indoors , the mollusks emerge looking for meal opportunities. A fresh crop of weeds will likely appear in a few days . 

  A light frost lands only on the rooftops here , and the wind machines drone away in the vineyards . In the garden, before the sunrise crests the hill it's chilly but verdant and colorful . The camera will capture sights that are fleeting ; spring always seems the shortest season although the most anticipated. By the calendar, this is the 1st day ,Primavera.

 Though the danger of late frost still lurks in the shadows , it's full speed ahead for garden clean-up.The burnished tones of autumn are long gone, it is no longer fun or even bittersweet to view the sad remains of fall . Verdant green has staked it's claim in the garden , on the hillsides and by the roadside. Under the protective  covering of debris the Fuchsias send out tiny shoots from the base-still vulnerable but exposed none the less. The rubbery textured new rose foliage is shiny, and clean - the glorious moment of beauty before Mr. Blackspot comes calling. Fuzzy Clematis buds seem almost transparent in the sun . Shiny snail trails can be seen approaching favored plants-urgent action is taken to subdue this slimy beast. The flowering trees of early spring are featured prominently in gardens that have the space, alas that is not the case here. One must be content with borrowed vistas, captured with the camera.    

 The Lilies are pushing up , moving the soil aside as they emerge like the tips of spears , a benchmark of spring. Today they all look the same , the color of red lettuce, succulent and powerful . Some will grow to be 6 foot plus giants, others will be compact ..but never discreet. These flowers are the real goddesses of the garden , flaring stamens and pistols , sending out their sublime perfume luring human and insect alike. More will be acquired this spring, for it is always easy to find a spot for a bulb, and the annual regret at not having enough is remembered.

When the gardener took possesion here, this bed was a mono-culture rose garden. As it is admitted freely that roses are an addiction , it was exciting to have the prospect of a brand new rose garden, with twelve roses which could be viewed from a lovely gazebo adorned with clear mini Christmas lights. It was soon discovered that this rose bed had some significant problems, not the least of which was the selection of the roses themselves. They were uniformly pink, uniformly hybrid teas , and seemed to sport just about any rose disease one could mention. As the gardener does not spray, this presented a problem. And then there was the soil. Can soil be dead ? Indeed it can. There was no sign of organic material, not a weed in sight , and the attempt to insert a shovel was met with resistance. Extreme resistance. It was clear that Roundup was used with abandon and that the concept of mulching was unknown. This was close to 20 years ago. The roses are still here, but they have all been repl...

It's a perilous journey this, danger lurks everywhere for spring by it's nature is changeable, fickle, arrives and just as quickly leaves again as the gardener rushes about with frost blankets, snail eradication products and weed removal devices. Fleece garb and a beanie one day, t-shirt and sunhat the next. Some days one is resigned to observing it through rain-spotted windows as the pools of standing water expand and float away the mulch. Every day there is something new to discover .

Complaints about rain, even after what seems like a solid month of it, feels inappropriate , whiny, wimpy and insensitive to the drought conditions that have prevailed for the last few years. Humans want to look up and see skies that are blue,feel the warmth of the sun and walk across gardens devoid of standing water . And the weeds ! This is their golden hour, for they thrive in the heavy waterlogged soil, unmolested , impossible to pull from the clammy embrace of mud and unthreatened by frost. The gardener here can only look briefly and then avert her eyes on the way to and from the mailbox-pointless to even think about it till the soil dries to friability and mulch can be applied without floating away. In the vineyards, weeds are 'cover crops' and provide a beautiful view beneath the bare vines.