Just for the record, a very early spring.
12 March 2012
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And I have no clue what this little guy is. He showed up in a pot of clematis that was given to me recently.
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Happy Spring!
You know how you always want what you can't have? Mom always said, 'You can't eat all that chocolate, it isn't good for you.'
The more she said that, the more I wanted.
Same with poppies. For whatever reason they elude me. One year I planted oh, maybe a million or more seeds. Poppies, just any kind of poppies would do. I think I had 3 seedlings and one bloom that year. Then I was in Alaska and found the blue Himalayans. Oh, surely they'd bloom for me. Nope. I killed a whole bunch of those babies that year too.
So last year I thought I'd start them indoors early and I did and they looked great when I left for my trip to Iowa in mid May. I left them in a sheltered area on my back deck, with instructions for my neighbor to sprinkle water on them as she kept tabs on my cats. She had to come in that door anyway and walked past the poppies every time.
There wasn't a sign of them when I got home. Not even one wilted leaf, just a bunch of brown slightly moist soil in little plastic pots. I guess they already composted themselves so I gave up again and dumped the poppy composted soil into a big pot for other things.
I've thought about those poppies all winter long. Painted a blue one on the old wooden chair seat.
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It's too hot here in KY for the Himalayans, I tell myself. Must also be too hot for all the others too.
So I found an old garden bench at a yard sale. It was already yellow and sturdy, not too weathered, not weak at all. I gave it another thinned coat of yellow, just to sort of seal it one more time. It has nice solid end pieces, just right for painting.
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Heh!
It's sort of like hiding the chocolate and telling my mother that my little brother ate it.
There's more than one way to have poppies in my life.
But the bench isn't finished yet. There's still the seat with nothing at all on it.
It has been a rough week and there were many in my state who didn't survive. The tornadoes hit to the north and the east of me, leaving me with memories of the roar of the winds, the clash of thunder and the constant sound of sirens. It was an angry, noisy week.
The winds lasted through the weekend, though there were no more storm warnings since Friday when the skies were turbulant and challenging, daring me to take just one more picture.
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I didn't go out during the weekend, thinking for sure I might be blown away. Today I had to go to the post office. It isn't very far, only about a mile and I saw pear trees blooming and faint shades of mint green in the distance. Seems as if the storms brought spring to us.
When I got home I walked around my limb laden yard, leaves from everywhere, branches all over. I thought to myself that maybe it would be a good start for a raised bed for the vegetables I want to plant; if the wind would be still long enough for me to gather into one place all the leaves and limbs.
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The crocus didn't survive the hail, but the daffs seemed not to mind. Daffodils always remind me of sunshine. The lilies, naked ladies, popped up overnight. I'd forgotten just where they were. I'll forget again as soon as the foliage dies back because they won't make another appearance until August. I'll be surprised then, too.
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A really nice surprise is this tiny yellow face, peering up from a pot I planted last fall. Again I had forgotten about planting these little bulbs. But I remember they came to me late summer, straight from a friend in Ohio. Another bit of sunshine on this early March day.
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Seems that everything is about 3 weeks early, including all the storms that passed over me last week.
This gardening season might just turn into a surprising adventure.
One thing I do know:
Never Lose Hope
Spring needs to hurry.
I'm fast running out of furniture.
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I forgot to get pictures before I started the details.
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I do like the blue poppy against the apricot chair. I never can get them to live here.
Himalayan blue poppy - it’s original name is Meconopsis Betonicifolia. It is native from southeastern Tibet and was discovered in 1886. Although there are many blue poppies the Himalayan blue poppy is probably the best known of all because of its beautiful flowers and the fact that they are easier to grow than other blue poppies.
Except for me.
If I can't grow it, I might as well paint it.
I don't patiently wait for much of anything; certainly not spring and its blooms.
Sometimes I have to create blooms of my own wherever I can. In this case it was on an old barstool that somebody threw away.
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I sanded it down and greened it up.
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And then I added a little touch of spring.
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I just got a little tired of waiting for it to happen on its own.
