Heirloombulbgirl

Tag: Daffodil

  • The Unglamorous Dig

    There is not a lot of glamour in a spontaneous dig such as this. Actually, there is no glamour. It’s gross and dirty. Like my Mother, I worry about random snakes and spiders. When I unknowingly spot tear-downs, I am typically on my way somewhere important…dressed up for a concert, rehearsal or a wedding. Obviously without a shovel.

    This week, on my way to a Palm Sunday rehearsal, I noticed the bulldozer. The beautiful daffodil bed had already been flattened. After rehearsal (around 10 pm), I pulled up the loose bulbs out of the rubble. I was tired, but simply couldn’t imagine letting the bulbs dry up and die on the ground. I went by the old house the very next morning with a shovel, gloves and a few bags. I loaded up three bags full of very old daffodil bulbs, got them watered and placed them in a barn to rest.

    House tear-downs always make me sad. No matter how delapitated a house is, there is something inside my heart that wants to save it. I want things to stay exactly the way they always were. I want old picket fences, my Grandparents’ way of life and pass-along plants. I suppose I inherited my Dad’s love of old architecture and all the nostalgia that goes along with it.

    The old daffodil house had been run down for a long time. I was fortunate enough to meet the original owner’s son many moons ago. I was given permission to salvage some of the daffodils, as the house itself had an unknown future. I was happy to oblige and later shared daffodils with friends.

    There was nothing monumental in this dig. The world wasn’t changed and cancer wasn’t cured. I didn’t even reinvent the wheel. I didn’t hop fences or rip my jeans on barbed-wire. There were no rattlesnakes, no exciting details or I didn’t even dig up cool, rare flower bulbs. This was just an average dig to save some very old (and common) daffodil bulbs.
    I chronicle digs (no matter how glam) with pictures. I like to have evidence that once upon a time, a gardener lived at an old house and loved her flowers. After all, we are all just caretakers of our gardens and stewards of the Lord’s creation.

    Happy Gardening, my friends.

  • The First Daffodil of Spring

    New life.
    New beginnings.

    I love Spring.

    Last year, Spring was engulfed by hard, late freezes that froze everything back, plunging the gardens into triple digit temperatures. The plants and bulbs had little time to recover from the stress of the freeze, and immediately were taxed by the extreme early heat of summer. The heat was enough to do the gardens in, but then came the drought. I think I complained daily…..just ask my husband.
    Every Single Day… “Why do we have to live in a desert where nothing grows?!” (Human nature is to play a blame game the minute life gets hard, and boy did I play it! Why is it so easy to forget about the wonderfully beautiful moments in life when we are in a drought?)

    But, as always, the rain did finally come, and the Oxblood Lilies bloomed. The promise of the cooler temperatures of Fall makes every gardener ecstatic….kind of like way we all feel when Spring finally arrives.

    I don’t know about you, but every day I’m out on my hands and knees looking for new life. Yesterday I spotted blooms of Golden Crocus, Grape Hyacinth, Oxalis and the first purple bloom of Spiderwort. Foliage of countless bulbs are hinting that this Spring will be spectacular. Three years is a long time to wait for anything, let alone Spring blooms!

    A wonderful part of this year’s Spring is the undergrowth of weeds. I know that sounds bizarre, and it probably is, but stay with me. Non-seeding weeds are actually a benefit to your soil. Pull them up and simply create piles of rotting goodness where the weeds used to be. The nutrient-rich piles will deter future weeds from taking over, while the rotting process will encourage microorganisms to find a nice habitat to live in. Worms in the soil will enjoy the incredible benefits of the entire process, while your soil is kept insulated and protected from the elements. Last year, there was no undergrowth due to the drought. My gardens started off the drought with bare soil. I was scraping together any organic material I could find to pile on the earth….Live Oak branches from neighbors’ brush piles, hay, newspaper and cardboard and leaves from empty lots. I even went as far as taking my little lawn mower to an open field with Live Oaks, and mowing to collect the fallen leaf debris. Like I’ve said many times, the soil at my studio is AWFUL….but this Spring, I have hope in all new beginnings. I have found earthworms for the first time in some places, and the mere fact that I have an undergrowth of healthy, non-thorny stickers is a huge step into the land of a healthy garden.
    They say it takes 13 years to establish a garden. In some parts of my garden, I am on year two. But then, combine that with the lack of good soil and mathematically, I am x=13-2ps+kw(5th). That is, 13 years-2 years, subtract the years of poor soil, but adding Keenan’s work to the 5th power. In other words, I have a lot to do.

    Spring.
    New Beginnings. New blooms. Every single new beautiful day is worthy of rejoicing.
    Happy Gardening, my garden friends!

    Love, Keenan at Heirloombulbgirl