Does my garden say anything about me?

My kids are still sick.  It’s still February.  So I’m posting photos of what my garden looked like before snow, in case I can make this post profound.  My friend Annie managed profundity in What kind of Garden are you? – we’ll see what I come up with.

I like the garden’s “bones,” the shrubs were here when we moved in, and I laid out the island bed’s position by putting the wooden boarders down and shifting them over a week before digging, so I knew I’d like their spot.  The view of each bed is well framed from all the windows on that side of the house, and approaching the house, it looks good too.  My neighbors do want me to seriously trim or take out the budlea on the corner, I’m planning on buying a pruning saw this Spring, my rose bush is not blooming either, it needs to be seriously cut back too.

I do like to plan ahead, I like the big picture, I’ll take my time to get a plan ‘right’ before starting it.  Sometimes the details slip, sometimes the over-all effect covers for me, sometimes it doesn’t.  I don’t usually have to change curricula or meal plans later on, but having to unexpectedly improvise too many times in one day is really hard and no fun.  I schedule my improvs.

Occasionally the individual flowers really shine.  Some of these have died out, or not been replaced, I gathered these photos from 8 years of files.  I never have identified the little white weeds in the lawn, they have explosive seed heads – the boys think them great fun.

Over the years, the family has been in the garden, playing, NOT stepping on flower beds, drawing plants for nature study assignments, getting their picture taken.  I see a lot of weeds, especially grass in the peonies behind K, grass is so hard to pull out of the iris and day lilies, they look the same when young.

We’ve done some educational, experimental things here, B planted some potatoes and strawberries in ‘his’ bed. We never did identify that beetle.

It’s probably telling that I couldn’t find many photos of the community garden veggie patch – I don’t weed or water it enough to be proud of it.  If I ever do own a house, I hope the veggie/ herb garden is RIGHT outside my kitchen door – if I have to get everyone dressed, bug sprayed, sun blocked, and carrying gear to pull weeds, it isn’t happening.  Walking to the garden before it’s hot and after it’s buggy then going to Daddy’s work or the library only sort of works – though dirty hands don’t mix well with books.  At least the farmer’s market and CSA keep us in tomatoes, and my kids do have an inkling as to where food comes from.  And yeah, we’ll give it a try again this summer.  Maybe this time we’ll do us proud.

I play a bit of a trick by not defining all the land around the apartment building as garden, the side yard and back courtyard are kind of random.

I don’t pull everything off well.

But then, there are moments like this too.

And sweet smelling pass-along plants with darling glaucous foliage.

Sometimes it’s just in the background, like habits that roll along with out conscious thought or effort, sometimes it’s the main deal.

So, hmmm, my life?  A lot of fun things are dormant and invisible at them moment.  But hopefully the plans and roots are still there, and still strong.

And I need to get at those weeds.