In the Garden

And Spring arose on the garden fair,

Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;

And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast

rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

~Percy Bysshe Shelley 

A sweet family blessed me with a garden center gift card when Kaye passed away.  I wanted to wait until I had time to walk around and think about how I wanted to use it.  I have a Pussy Willow someone had given me for Daddy, as well as a front garden bed overrun with vinca from a one of his baskets.  I like having things to watch grow and change, and to remember.

 When you have the behemoth yard I have here, you wouldn't think it be challenge finding a place to put another garden spot, but it causes me some stress.  It can't be in the path the wee folk take in their fleet of motorized vehicles, because careful drivers they ain't.  It can't be where additional parking is needed when we have 40 people for dinner. Can I keep a 5 gallon bucket of bubble solution from accidentally falling over in it? We do some serious bubble making here.  It has to be far enough that the chickie girls won't be dust bathing in it, or close enough for me to shoo them out.  Why would I put it somewhere out of my general line of vision if it's for remembering and smiling?  I am very careful, or try to be, about another spot that Handy Man has to mow around.  Oh fuss and bother. 
 Finally, I returned to the closest bed that was overrun with, well lots of things-vinca, daffodils, Lily of the Valley, peppermint and even though I kind of loved the crazy wildness of it, the truth dawned that really, it just looked bad, so out half of it came to make room for the "Kaye Patch."  I chose several perennials and annuals in coral (which she loved) and bright blues. This picture doesn't do it justice. I love it and it will make me smile a lot.

Have you ever bought these?

You know, just roll them out and in two months you have a beautiful Old English Garden. Right.  I know better, but I still love these.  I only buy them when they've been shipped to a place like Big Lots or Tuesday Mornings for way less than the price on TV.  That probably means they are old and perhaps seed viability is diminished. That's okay. I mean what would you do if all 2000 seeds came up anyway?  I love them because you never what you are going to get.  It does create a weed barrier for a time, so you can easily move some of the seedlings out.  Between the two of these there are 25 different kinds of seeds, Many I will recognize from the seeding stage, but I love discovering a new flower and having to figure out what it is.  My summer entertainment.

Do you know what this is?  Ahhh, my garlic.  We keep trying to grow garlic and haven't had much luck so far. I read an interesting thing about garlic. If you can just get enough to keep planting, it will, over time, adapt to it's environment and perform well. This year we have it in three different places and will mark it and plant it back in the same place in the fall. 

So, in addition to the above, I've planted corn, zinnias, dill, basil, cumin, okra for Mom and Aunt Lois, squash,beans and nasturtiums, cosmos, marigolds and love in a mist as well. I so love the hope dropped in the soil with each tiny seed.

Happy Birthday Aunt Bett. I hope you and Aunt Lois are having a big ol' time!