Of scenes of nature, fields and mountains;
Of skies, so beauteous after a storm—and at night the moon so unearthly bright,
Shining sweetly, shining down, where we dig the trenches and gather the heaps,
I dream, I dream, I dream.
from In Midnight Sleep – Walt Whitman
Sundays are my favorite day to garden. Lately, I haven’t been able to do much, what with being out of town and it raining so much, and another storm coming on Tuesday. Today was a sunny day and I ventured out to assess the storm damage and see what dirt I could manage to get under my fingernails.
The entire lawn is a swamp with water standing in puddles thanks to our California clay deep down keeping the rain from soaking in any further. The rain bucket (huge trash can) was entirely full and I managed to fill up two more buckets after emptying out all the vessels that were sprinkled around the yard. Next year, or when the budget allows, I’d like to have the whole rain chain/barrel set up…but it’s expensive, and for now I’m making due using the passion fruit vine as a rain chain.
After I got my rainwater situation under control, I dumped the unused dirt out of the wine boxes I used last season for pumpkins. They need a good drying out and then I’ll oil them well with linseed oil and use them again this spring. When the boxes are finally unusable I take the ends off and nail them to the outside of the potting shed. I love wine boxes and can’t have enough of them scattered around being used for one thing or another…mostly books and plants.
Also needing attention was a sorely neglected Malabar Chestnut that I had set outside and forgotten. By the time I got back out there most of it was dead and the dirt had washed out of the pot. Poor Baby!
She got a good trimming off of the dead stuff, which left only one small stem with roots
After a gentle re-potting, she sits quietly in the infirmary window.
The broom corn has completely taken over the pot that held the juncus effusus spiralis which I bought on one of the many nursery visits with my friend Andrea, a fellow green thumb. It reminded me of my own hair…anyways, it needed help immediately
I took the entire clump out of the pot and cut the grass away and divided the juncus into smaller pieces. This is a great way to propagate perennials. I use an old bread knife if I just cannot divide things with my hands or pull them apart with a garden fork. It seems aggressive but most plants will bounce back with a little love.
Now, where there was one, I have five – fabulous!
Other exciting news from the garden today:
The first jasmine bloom of the season – right outside my bedroom window 🙂
The rosemary is blooming – one of my favorite shades of lavender:
The swiss chard seems to be thriving in the stormy weather:
The lemons are squeaky clean. I never pass by my lemon tree without singing the Peter, Paul and Mary song…lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet…
There wasn’t much in the way of storm damage, only a flooded potting shed, soggy broom, and a few decorations blown off the fence. Even the hail didn’t do a lot of damage. Color me thankful and impatient to plant in the soil while it’s still wet.
Hey there, Pam, what a lovely, refreshing, and uplifting entry this. I’ll never be the gardner you appear to be but your passion shines through and inspires me even so. I’ve bookmarked your lovely blog to visit again when I get a moment.
Hey Dottie! Fancy meeting you here.
Pam, I love to read your garden blog. I used to love gardening. I still love it in spirit, but in my old age the ground has mysteriously gotten too far away. Keep the aspidistra flying.
I was just thinking about the two of you, and the other friends who have visited my little blog here…how we all met and ended up in this place together…of circles and connections, branches and roots. Having you two ‘here’ with me talking of gardens would please Ginnie to no end since I’m sure we three are connected because of her and goodreads. It makes me happy and many thanks to all of you for the encouragement!
The internet is a miraculous world, isn’t it? I never saw Ginnie in person, but I miss her in my life.
Oh, wow, I just came back to read these comments — I agree that Ginnie is missed and we are likely connected through her.