“I guess I shouldn’t have picked this little tree…I guess I don’t know what Christmas is all about Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”
”Sure, Charlie Brown. I can tell you what Christmas is all about.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ he Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God , and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.
That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”
May you and yours find real joy of this Christmas Season. Happy Gardening, my friends. Merry Christmas! Love, Keenan at Heirloombulbgirl
Yes….that’s me. A small, little version of “Scout” from To Kill a Mockingbird.
My parents recognized my early desire to be in the dirt, and never squelched my imagination. I was given my own little garden to tend in our backyard. I spent hours dreaming, planting, eating lilacs and wild mushrooms, or simply digging to China. My Dad once told me that the day I stopped gardening with him on Saturday mornings was the day he lost his little girl. Childhood is fleeting. Children do grow up and the time to walk among the wild things becomes more limited. Realism takes over, and imagination becomes squelched. As children become adults, many see less wonder in a butterfly or the random bloom of a field lily, and more necessity in the competitive rush to keep up. A walk among the wild things is like a reboot for the human condition, young and old.
Studies show the importance of nature, and how it affects the overall well-being of a child. Mental health issues like the “nature deficit syndrome” are rising at alarming rates. Too much time plugged in can radically affect your mood. There are now schools that provide children with simple outdoor play, which used to be a childhood norm. One of my favorite books, “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv, gives a startling look at the issues children face with too much screen time. Mr. Louv also gives simple, realistic ideas to provide children unrushed time in nature. In an ever-anxious, fast-paced society, finding time in the garden becomes more important than ever.
Another great book is “Sunflower Houses” by Sharon Lovejoy. In fact, all of Ms. Lovejoy’s books are wonderful resources to help children fall in love with gardening. Her books are full of old-fashioned projects to do with children. There were many years I grew Poppies just so my girls could make Poppyhead Dolls. I honestly can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a garden, but I also can’t remember ever having that one moment of pintrist-perfection within the garden either. Gardens are messy and so are children. Our goals need to shift from a momentary gardening photo shoot to a lifetime of digging. Instill a life-long love of being among the wild things.
Happy Gardening, my friends. Enjoy your precious, unplugged moments with your children. Dig a garden plot just for them. Set free the imagination to explore the incredible wonders of nature. Love, Keenan at Heirloombulbgirl
Spiderwort. Perhaps, the ugliest name in all the garden. I love to hear people pronounce it for the first time….
“Spider-what? Spider-WART??”
For such an incredibly beautiful flower, the name truly leaves something to be desired.
Spiderwort is a member of the Dayflower family. The flowers bloom in the morning and diminish in the afternoon. The plant can actually produce new flowers up to 8 weeks. I typically cut the stalks with spent flowers down, to encourage new flower growth. Spiderwort has fleshy roots that resemble that of a Day Lily. When the stalks are cut, a web-like sap is secreted…hence the name Spiderwort.
Spiderwort are one of the earliest of flowers to bloom in the Spring, mimicking a bulb. In fact, it’s one of my favorite non-bulb bulbs. Spiderwort is not a bulb, but behaves just like a bulb so I give it an honorary mention in my garden. Spiderwort come in all sizes, with colors of pastel Easter Eggs. I’ve been collecting Spiderwort for years from various fields. One particular field where Spiderwort grew wild was behind our old house. I collected just about every color in the rainbow.
Yesterday, I started relocating these lovely clumps to the barren landscapes of yuk. The greatest part of Spiderwort is that they grow anywhere and everywhere. I’ve seen them grow in asphalt and cracks of cement. Spiderwort will go dormant in the heat of the summer, to give way for flowering annuals like Zinnia or Cosmos. The foliage just started to appear a few weeks ago, and I’m moving a bunch around a young Mesquite Tree that my violin student gave me.
Division of Spiderwort is unnecessary, unless you just more things to do in the garden. Simply pull the roots apart. Bingo….A new plant. But be advised that Spiderwort drops many seeds and you will have unwanted lovely flowers all through your garden. Simply dig and give away to friends. Every garden needs a plant with a name that children laugh at. I have some to share if you are interested.
I spent my Thanksgiving weekend digging up Crinum. That wasn’t my original plan, but digging is typically a common pastime when I am at my in-laws’ farm. There are a lot of run down, falling down and flattened homes in the area. Many of the homes, I have been given free rein to dig….a few I have not. I have had to jump over “no trespassing” signs, rip jeans on barb-wire fences and get into poison ivy, just to rescue a few heirloom bulbs. There are many gardeners in the area that know the secret locations of these abandoned sites, and have all taken matters into their own hands. We have no shame or apologies for our bad behavior. When a bulb lover sees a bulldozer, it’s time to hop the fence and dig.
On this particular digging day, my family and I were simply out on a walk, minding our own business. We came to the property where a dilapidated, old hunting cabin had been hidden within the brush. I had dug at this location before, and I was shocked to find the cabin completely gone and the house grounds bulldozed and flattened. Gardeners in the area had been salvaging bulbs for years. The sheer amount of Milk and Wine and Alba Crinum is hard to put into words. The old bulbs were the size of small watermelons. I’ve broken many shovels trying to retrieve those old gals. It was sad to see the cabin and all the Crinum completely gone. I noticed a few remnants remained, so my daughter and I decided to stay behind to dig. It actually was my weed-complaining Father-in-Law who offered to bring shovels and bags. I can’t believe my dear ol Dad-in-Law offered to be an accomplice to such a gardening crime, but miracles do happen.
My daughter, Hollie, and I dug for hours. My husband stood guard as he sat in the mule and just scrolled through golf videos. We dug every square inch of what used to be the Crinum patch. Some bulbs were chewed up and spit out by the bulldozer. Some bulbs were so deep beneath the ground, I couldn’t retrieve them. As I crawled around on my hands and knees, locating bulb remnants, my daughter laughed at me and yelled “Hunt ‘em up!” Hollie was mocking me with her Dad’s hunting voice. “Hunt ‘em up” is a command to bird dogs to sniff out birds. In the brush. We spent a lot of time that day laughing as we dug. Hollie even made me pull out bulbs shoved into a brush pile under trees. She was surprised that I am not afraid of man-handling bulbs out a bunch of brush, yet I refuse to walk on wet grass with bare feet. I didn’t even have to mind-wrestle a rattlesnake, which actually happened the last time I dug at the old cabin.
This Crinum dig will go down in the history of the world’s greatest Crinum bulb dig., for no other reason than my entire sweet family participated in saving the bulldozed remnants of century old Heirloom Bulbs. My heart is full.
Happy Gardening, my friends! Love, Keenan at Heirloombulbgirl
There are few flowers that have such an emotional attachment to them as the Oxblood Lily. These flowers bloom after the long, drought-stricken summer. Oxbloods are a beautiful symbol for the promise of cooler weather. Total redemption in the garden happens in a few short weeks after the first rainfall in early Fall. The gardens turn from a crisp brown to a luxurious crimson red. It’s incredible! But, after the flowers fade, the gardener is left with long, scrappy green foliage that seems to sprawl over everything trying to grow. Lily foliage can commonly look unkept and weed-like. My Father-in-Law says it best….. “When are you gonna pull those weeds?!”
I’ve realized that the common eye cannot appreciate the beautiful growth of the dark green foliage. The foliage is the energy for the next years’s flower. Never ever cut it back, no matter how times your Father-in-Law says so. I have begun to arrange my lilies purposefully throughout the garden. There can be little mistake that the lilies are part of the whole garden plan.
Yesterday, I stole a few moments of quiet in the gardens before traveling to my In-Laws’ farm for Thanksgiving. I spent my time weeding and moving Oxbloods. Last year, I had decided to line all the garden paths with Oxblood Lilies. The intentional placement of the lilies really showcases the foliage. I’ve been told that I move flower bulbs like other people move furniture. Boredom sets in, and I grab a shovel. There are a lot of bulbs to line a lot of pathway, so I’m never bored for long.
I think that lilies look best in clumps. Lilies are like people, they need each other to thrive. I keep my lilies in groups of about 5-10 bulbs. I give the bulbs in each clump room to grow. Oxblood Lilies grow in all kinds of conditions, but they really enjoy water during their growing season (aka…the green, strappy foliage). Let the foliage grow wild and carefree, but contained in the overall landscape plan. Remember, the foliage is the energy for next year’s flower. Foliage actually is the most important part of the bulb cycle. The flower is simply a gift to the gardener…a bulb’s way of saying “thank-you” for all the nutrients and love provided the past year.
There is a very high probability that I will be digging today at the farm. The family Thanksgiving dinner will happen around 3 pm, so I have plenty of time to get my hands in the dirt.
Happy Gardening, my friends! Love, Keenan at Heirloombulbgirl
Last night I went to the studio to “survey” the gardens. Surveying is a normal gardening activity in my world. My husband came up with the term many moons ago…
”Where’s Mom?” “She’s surveying her plants.”
“Surveying the gardens” also became a good excuse for all the things I *should* be doing, but I’m not…
Diner dishes? I think I need to go survey. Packing for a vacation tomorrow? I definitely need to go survey. Grocery shopping? Survey….
You get the drift. Surveying became my out. My time to be in the calm of nature. My rest. To survey is the walk slowly, intentionally looking at each flower or treasured bulb, in order to see what the gardens’ needs are. When one surveys, it is not time to work. It is simply a time to *see*. Seeing beyond the average hurried walk-through, and deeply studying each and every little plant on your path. Sometimes I have hours to survey, and other times, just a few moments. I feel connected and grounded. Surveying is good for the soul.
One of my favorite parts about surveying is the calm. My garden can be full of weeds that literally grew overnight, and I just quietly make a mental note to myself to pull them later. Human nature is to get in the middle of a mess and frantically start trying to fix whatever is wrong. “Surveying the gardens” is synonymous with listening to someone speak, without butting in with your own thought or opinion. I think that we have lost the ability to simply be quiet and listen, whether it is a restful survey in the garden, or listening to a dear friend express their thoughts.
So, back to last night’s survey.
I walked through the little garden gate and took a few steps and my left foot sank into a hole. Not just any hole, a 4 foot deep hole. The level of being totally freaked out with my imagination was at an all time high. Was the badger back? Was it a secret cavern that my entire studio would sink into? Is it an underground sink hole full of snakes, spiders and who knows what else? I put some large sticks to mark the hole so I wouldn’t fall in, and continued my survey.
Peaceful Survey? Nope. Not a chance. Freaked out? You bet.
I got home and told my husband all about the enormous hole that almost swallowed me alive. He just laughed. “It’s just an old septic tank”
How disappointing. secretly I was hoping for a secret cave with buried treasure, like the lost San Saba gold, or more heirloom bulbs. Now, the work begins to fill the darn thing up. But why do today what I can do tomorrow? It’s a beautiful day to survey!
Happy Gardening, my friends! Love, Keenan at Heirloombulbgirl
“The LORD guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones. You shall be like a watered garden. And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” -Isaiah 58:11
What can be better than a well watered garden? For most gardens, water is essential to life. Not just floral life, but all life. Without good, healthy water, gardens suffer. In many regions, water restrictions have become the norm. Watching gardens dry up before your eyes is brutal. Even the soul of the gardener feels the drought.
For many years, I enjoyed the luxury of a well. Rumor has it, our old well was one of the few water sources for our town during the severe drought in the 1950’s. The well ran deep, the gardens flourished and my soul was continually satisfied. In 2018, after a catastrophic flood, our family relocated to higher ground. The gardens were one of the only things to survive the flood. I poured myself into salvaging heirloom bulbs.
The new gardens at the studio seem to limp along. Nothing was flourishing. The soil was poor, the water was harsh and my soul became increasingly dissatisfied. I missed my well watered garden. Although flowers still bloomed, there was a difference I couldn’t put my finger on. Then the drought came, and the roses died. Everything seemed to die overnight. I couldn’t figure it out, so I did a little experiment. I dug up a distressed, heat-loving native and watered it with some rain water I had collected. The very next day, I had new growth. Unbelievable. I tried everything in my power to provide small amounts of rain water for my gardens, but it simply wasn’t enough. Hauling small buckets of dechlorinated water was time consuming, and the gardens still struggled. The drought took its toll.
Fast forward a few years….
”Keenan, you really need a well.” Fast forward a few more months….”Keenan, I’m getting you a well.”
The Lord definitely moves in mysterious ways. My friend’s heart became obedient to a random prompting from the Lord. Through the Lord’s sheer graciousness, I now have a “spring of water, whose waters never fail.” Through the Lord’s guidance, the gardens can now be a place of abundance in the Agape Haus Community Garden. Children can enjoy cut flowers and peaceful walks through the studio grounds. I get to watch, before my eyes, God’s restoration of a barren land.
Happy Gardening, my friends!
May the Lord satisfy your soul in times of drought. May He strengthen your bones. May you be like a watered garden. Like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Love, Keenan at Heirloombulbgirl
Heirloombulbgirl 