I'm starting to think I'm getting the hang of this gardening thing

The other morning as I left really early for work, I just couldn't help but be surprised at my garden, like huh, it looks pretty good!



Spring bulbs are weird because you plant them in the fall, and then after winter you can't really remember what you actually planted or know what will be coming out. I plant some new ones each year, and it never really looks exactly the same. The first year I planted all these mixed daffodils, tiny and large, simple and double, white and yellow... They all came out the following spring and it looked lovely... But then the next year, nothing, just tulips. Well this year, after several seasons, some are back, long after I stopped expecting them. Our tulips used to be mostly yellow, but these are pretty much gone, and now everything is red. There was also that one year when we had these really pretty purple ones with white edges... After a couple of years of not seeing them, several grew back again, but only in one specific area near the azalea. Go figure.


While the backyard garden is still not where I would want it to be, over the years we've successfully transformed the front one to a style we like better. Last fall, we took out a row of really ugly, seventies-looking spirea bushes. We got small round balls of boxwood instead, which evergreen look and more airy and modern aesthetic we love. It grows really slowly, so it will take years and years before it takes over like the other plants did. In the meantime, we surrounded them with river stones, and we appreciate the new feeling of space it created.

(The 'Jack Frost', currently covered with beautiful, dainty forget-me-not-like flowers...)

Near my office there's an alley bordered by two rows of crabapple trees, which dark pink blossoms are gorgeous and smell divine. Walking by late last week I was really surprised to see that they were beginning to blossom... Do you remember all the fuss created by these for my wedding last year? How we weren't sure they would be blossoming by May 17? Well, this puts us pretty much three weeks ahead this year. Same with my white lilac, the one which branches I used in my wedding bouquet; I can tell we're just a few days from blossoming. When I first came in to the house it was just a small shrub, barely producing flowers... Now it's gotten quite big, just towering below LP's window. Lucky him... Not sure if I ever told you how profoundly in love I am with the scent of lilac.

Nature always amazes me. We had an extremely unpleasant and unexpected snowfall last week. No, really! On Monday night LP played outside until sundown with "his girls" (our neighbors, 8 and 6 -this is what he calls them) while only wearing shorts and a t-shirt... I laid out my clothes for the next day as usual, choosing a very summery white cotton skirt, a cami and open-toe heels. The next morning as I got out of the house it occurred to me that it was a little chilly, and boy was that rain cold. Five minutes later while driving I was forced to face the harsh reality: it was actually turning to snow, and it continued all day. I had never been so inappropriately and ridiculously dressed in my whole life, I think. Seriously, I thought I might faint from the biting cold, and de-snowing your car with your bare hands? Not recommended! I was fearing for all of our spring plants and flowers, wondering if it could just kill them. But not to worry, year after year when this happens, they are always cut out for it. The next day all was back to normal, spring was in full bloom again, and the garden didn't suffer at all. Phew...