Dreaming of Spring

After a couple of bright, sunny days I find myself daydreaming about my garden or rather lack thereof. The land behind us is all wooded and there is a scrub lot on one side that affords us some privacy. Five pine trees in the yard, a few unidentified evergreen shrubs out front and an overgrown split rail fence on the other side were all we had to start with. F ripped the evergreens out and I’m still not sure who owns the fence. We also have a huge willow stump out front and an area in the side yard where another willow had been cut down and has gotten overgrown with willow shoots and weeds.

We did start some planting last year. ED and a woman at work were generous with some plants. I rescued a hosta, a couple of rhododendrons and some black eyed susans from S’s that she didn’t want. I picked up some lilies and an astilbe on sale. S gave me some azaleas and a rhododendron for mother’s day. I also found some foxglove, ferns and a couple of tall grassy things out in the woods that I moved.

The gardening catalogs are starting to arrive and I’m starting to wish. I haven’t had good luck with bare root plants so I’ll be using the catalogs mostly to dream. The reality will be what divisions I can get from other garden club members and family and what ever plants the nurseries mark down. The front of the house is in the shade almost all day so there the choices are limited.

We’d like to build some type of fence or other privacy enclosure out back for sunbathing and relaxing. Maybe in a year or two add a portable hot tub for three season use. We’ll probably try a grassy area first and if that becomes too much trouble we’ll add concrete or brick next year. The kero and propane tanks will make for an interesting challenge as far as screening them off but still keeping them accessible for filling. I think I’ll try just painting them the color of the house first to see how much I can get them to blend in.

Three months left to dream. Hopefully with the mild winter that we’ve had so far all the snow will be gone by mid May.