Spring Showers bring May Flowers

"On Early Morning
Peach blossom after rain
Is deeper red;
The willow fresher green;
Twittering overhead;
And fallen petals lie wind-blown
Unswept upon the courtyard stone."

Translated from the Chinese by Helen Waddell

This Chinese poem resonated with me yesterday as it rained constantly the entire day. Not that I was unhappy as I love the sound of the rain as it falls upon the earth. I also love, as the poem states, the willow fresher green, for all the world seems greener after a spring shower and there is a certain clean aroma to the earth following a rain. You can almost see the flowers perk up with the added moisture.

Yesterday I also heard a cardinal sing and when I looked up there it was, red and regal in our cedar tree. I felt even more joyful when the female cardinal swooped in to meet its mate. I really hope they set up house in one of the nearby trees for we don't get many cardinals in our neck of the woods, lots of blue jays but cardinals are a rare sighting. I was also surprised to walk out of the garden gate and see a bird's nest in a maple sapling. I haven't seen any birds actually building the nest but it wasn't there a couple of days ago. I'll just have to keep my eyes open.

But not all is rosy at Rosewood (the name we call our house) for Friday our daughter Martha exclaimed that a weird creature had taken up residence under our front porch. We kept watching and yesterday afternoon out popped a groundhog, an unusual critter for a town garden. As much as I love wildlife in the garden, this creature will need to find a new home. He's already dug a few holes in our lawn, so tomorrow Peter will make a trip to the rental store to see if he can get a live trap so we can catch the critter and relocate him to a new home in the country. I really don't want to have him munching on all the tasty delights my garden might offer. The chippies and squirrels are wildlife enough.

I love spring - the tulips and daffodils are in bloom, the hellebores are in flower along with the pulmonaria and the trees and shrubs are beginning to bud and leaf out. As the new tree leaves are forming the sky seems to be bright with lime green colour and the returning birds are twittering overhead. Everything seems alive.

So I leave you with this thought by Margaret Cropper

"Far beyond hope the Spring is kind again,
Lovely beyond the longing of my eyes."

5 Tips for a Spring Garden Tune-up

"With tumbled hair of swarms of bees,
And flower-robes dancing in the breeze,
With sweet, unsteady lotus-glances,
Intoxicated, Spring advances."

from a Sanskrit poem


It's cool, damp, dark and drizzly today (what my husband likes to call a 'Winnie-the-Pooh blustery day') and a friend even mentioned we might be receiving the "S" word ( snow!!!). This rain at least should eliminate the few pockets of snow we still have remaining, so it's time to tune-up the garden for the season ahead.

1. Clean up all winter's debris. We had lots of wind storms over the winter so have to deal with lots of downed branches.

2. Cut back and clean up any vegetative matter you left standing last fall. If the matter is healthy put it in the compost, if diseased dispose of in the garbage.

3. Prune any shrubs and flowering plants like roses and grapes that suffered winter kill and also require a new hairdo (a little shaping for looks and control).

4. Check your compost bin - give it a turn to reactivate it if your fall compost isn't quite finished.

5. Get bang for your buck by planting seeds - now's the time to start planting outdoors your cool weather crops like lettuce and greens, peas and sweet peas.

Remember not to work in the garden until its dry or you risk compacting the soil structure preventing oxygen from reaching the plant's roots.

A pleasant surprise for me the other day as I worked doing garden clean-up was seeing the flash of gold in one of our ponds. The goldfish we put in the pond last summer had survived the winter and are ready to provide us with wildlife pleasures again this summer. It was a meditative day and I was happy for the return of birdsong and the lengthening days - more time to spend in the garden. The daffodils are up now and just about to burst forth in bloom - when they do, it will bring to cheer to these necessary April shower days that promise May flowers. Spring truly is here!

World of White - What Happened!

"All beaut-iful the march of days
as seasons come and go;
The hand that shaped the rose
hath wrought the crystal of the snow;
Hath sent the hoary frost of heaven,
the flowing waters sealed,
And laid a silent loveliness
on hill and wood and field."

Frances W. Wile (1878-1939)
from "All Beautiful the March of Days"

Well, last Thursday I said that spring had finally arrived, the snow was melting and the tulips pushing through the damp soil. But I think I was a little premature. Because over the past two days, winter has not wanted to lose its grip on us. Constant snow and the gardens are once again covered, not truly ready to accept spring's warmth, they have pulled the covers back over their heads. Having packed away the winter boots, I had to pull them out once again to wander through the 6 inches of snow.

Outside my window the birds huddle in the trees to keep warm against the howling winds, shaping the snow into architectural drifts. Nature does have a way of keeping us in suspense. So to bring some warmth into the spirit, I turned to my photos of my recent trip to Florida's Polk County. My new friends, Gorgia Turner and Katy Martin of the Polk County Visitors Bureau warmly showed us the beauty that abounds in central Florida. For me one the the highlights was our visit to Historic Bok Sanctuary, a stunning estate complete with bell tower and natural parklike gardens. For me one of the most interesting items was the beautiful neo-Gothic and art deco Singing carillon bell tower pictured above. As a member of a handbell choir, I was thrilled when we were allowed special consideration to see the inside of the tower. Travelling up in a very tiny elevator, we reached the level of the 60 carillon bells and the view out over the surrounding orange groves was magnificent, as was our guides description of how the carillon bells were played. Handbells are a simpler version of the ancient tradition of changing ringing in church steeples, that then was replaced by carillon bells. A camera in the bell tower, allows visitors to the gardens to watch the carillonneur play during concert times.

Designated as a National Historic Landmark, Bok Tower Gardens provides a continuous array of musical and artistic events throughout the year. Located on Iron Mountain, the highest point on the Florida penninsula the Tower stands as a sentinel. On the ground, visitors can enjoy strolling through the 128 acres of gardens designed by the renowned Frederick Law Olmstead Jr. The gardens were a gift to the Americvan people by the Dutch immigrant and humanitarian Edward W. Bok in the 1920's. Mr. Bok was a world peace advocate, Pulitizer-Prizewinning author and editor of Ladies Home Journal. The gardens bear his grandmother's motto "Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it." Mr. Bok did just that in offering this natural site to the world. Next time you are in Florida take time to visit one of America's finest historic gardens, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

For more information on events, concerts, art exhibits and seasonal bloom times check out their website at http://www.boktowergardens.org/.

Spring is Finally Here!

"Those who look at sea or sky or wood see beauty that no art can show; but among the things made by man nothing is prettier than an English cottage garden."
Willaim Robinson, 'The English Flower Garden'

William Robinson was the great English garden designer known as the originator of the herbaceous border and this photo brought to mind the season soon to come. The sunshine today, that is to be followed by April showers tonight, will certainly be bringing these summer flowers. Already I have hope for the beauty soon to come as I noticed my neighbours crocus blooming just the other day and I see my tulips pushing through the still cool soil. We still have pockets of snow here in the shady corners of the yard but soil is being exposed to the warming rays of the sun.

And inside my tiny tomato seeds are beginning to germinate and I can hardly wait to bite into a vine-ripened red tomato bursting with delicious flavour. I love to eat seasonally so I savour each fruit and vegetable as it comes into maturity, gorging for the weeks when it is at its best and most flavourful and then waiting for its return next season. Tonight I think I'll start some more seeds to get a jump on the planting season and hopefully when they have germinated my new greenhouse will be completed. My husband started it last fall using recycled windows from a local business but winter's early arrival forced him to curtail its completion. But upcoming holidays mean it will be finished just in time for me to start more plants indoors and then move them to the greenhouse prior to our plant out date of June 1st. If only it would get a few degrees warmer!

Winters Grip

It's mid March, a week ago we had a couple of warm days evocative of spring - the birds were singing, the snow was melting, dripping off the roofs, puddling on the sidewalks and then wham! Overnight the temperature dropped causing flash freezing, the roads became as slick as a skating rink and the next day we were back in winter's grip with blowing snow causing whiteouts and temperatures so cold one dared not venture out of doors.

It has been a long and cold winter here in central Ontario and I for one will be glad when spring finally decides to come. Until then I will have to continue to dream of spring and nature's re-emergence. Just looking at floral photos like this fuchsia give me hope that spring truly is just around the corner.

"Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;
Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;
The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys."

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)
from "The Vision of Sir Launfal"

Book Review - "My Natural History" by Liz Primeau

"The garden is not the place for control freaks and perfectionists, and yet I know that in may callow youth I tried to make mine conform. I used to wish for the time when it would be finished, when it would reach the perfection I envisioned. Now I know it's going to be different every year, and I will have had less to do with how it looks than I'd hoped, beyond setting out the basic plan and guiding and maintaining the plants."

Liz Primeau

With the temperature outside dipping below -20º C, venturing outdoors results in nipped fingers and toes. So I opted for staying indoors and cozying up to the fireplace with a hot cup of tea and a good book. I do like winter for the opportunity it affords to get caught up on my garden reading. And so I settled down to read “My Natural History, The Evolution of a Gardener” by Liz Primeau, a fellow garden writer.

I enjoyed this chronology of Liz’s life and the role gardening has played in helping her to deal with the challenges life serves each one of us. The way in which digging in the soil, nuturing plants can act to nurture the soul and create a sanctuary of peaceful feelings. I can certainly relate to many of the gardening experiences Liz recounted such as the tomatillos that reseeded wantonly (who hasn’t planted something they later wished they hadn’t although it seemed like a good idea at the time). Liz’s tales of her battles with squirrels and raccoons had me chuckling as I too have a yard full of black squirrels who’s presence have me alternating between loving their antics and hating them digging my bulbs and last fall we too waged war to eradicate five raccoons from their happy home in our eaves.

Finally, as Liz and I are of the same vintage her “Six Stages of Gardening” hit home with me, and I’m sure others. When you’ve been gardening for a while, your concept of the garden matures and develops over time but is something that you must learn and experience. As Liz said, “…these stages echo the stages in our lives, from the desire for immediate gratification in our youth to the deeper and mellower pleasures of maturity.”

I found Liz’s memoir to be entertaining recap of her life’s connection to the garden and gardening sprinkled with garden history and floral references. Perfect reading for a wintry afternoon.

Liz Primeau’s book is available through Greystonebooks at www.greystonebooks.com

The Tranquility of the Chinese Garden

"So I will build my altar in the fields,

And the blue sky my fretted dome shall be,

And the sweet fragrance that the wild flower yields

Shall be the incense I will yeild to Thee."

S.T. Coleridge

It's one of those 'cloudy bright' days as my husband would say, the sun just barely shining through a film of gauzy clouds. The snow returned overnight, the gusty winds creating dramatic drifts of architectural sculptures and as I look out the window, our squirrels scamper in and out, over and under the drifts. It's been a long, cold winter and for some reason today I just began to dream about warmth and the return of the green landscape full of blooms and wildlife.

I was thinking about the garden and the cycles of life, remembering my trip last fall to the Chinese Garden in the heart of Portland, Oregon. Amid the hustle and bustle of downtown, shrouded by stone walls was an oasis of beauty and tranquility. I have now visited several Chinese gardens around the world and in each I find a special beauty in the simplicity of the plantings and the emphasis on the natural beauty of rock and water. And in this simplicity there comes a calm, a peacefulness that transcends time. Perhaps because Chinese gardens even today model those of the ancient past, a symbol of longevity and stability in an ever changing world. And yet as my reflective photo above shows the juxtaposition with the modern world of today. Sometimes I feel like the renowned author and illustrator Tash Tudor, who passed away last year, rooted in the past, straddling the abyss and yet being called to the future. But life as the seasons of the garden moves on and so must we. So today I will just enjoy the beauty and rest that has presented itself and continue to dream patiently about what is to come, remembering the ancient wisdom of this old proverb:

"Patience is a flower that grows not in everyone's garden."