Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Let the season begin!

Stargazer
It was cold, it was dark, my husband was home from work, he opened up the kitchen window to hand me the phone. My sister is on the line. I have eight holes dug and I must get these lilies in the ground tonight :)  I am a bit of an insane woman you see when it comes to the garden.  Yes I did clip on a few roses where I was planting on my north side yard.  You see earlier in the day my plan was to paint in the morning with a friend, run into Home Depot and look at some paint chips for my sis, then get home in the afternoon for some gardening.  I get stuck in the entrance of Home Depot with two greeters standing there trying to greet me.  I give them a shallow wave with out eye contact. I feel my body turning left as my eyes are drawn like a homing device to the early spring bulb display.  Hmmm dahlias, yes!  Do they have that dark fuschia pink I am wanting to complement the light pink/orange dahlias I bought yesterday at Lowe's?

This week it has officially begun.  Any excuse on the planet to drop by any nursury department for my spring fling, garden orgy, what ever you want to call it. The call to mecca for me.  I also...confession is good for the soul, bought two bags of lilies ,Stargazer and Acapulco. I can remember when these bulbs (years ago) cost me 3-5 dollars a piece.  Today I purchased bags of eight for nine dollars. For that price I can chuck them in garden anywhere just to use for cutting flowers.  I am a happy girl tonight :)
Acapulco
Of coarse it didn't help that I had just finished reading  this charming book called Elizabeth and her German Garden.  A story about another lady a little captivated by her garden. All serious gardeners will love the tales of her mad planting and wild dreaming about her glorious garden.

Here is an on line version if you can stand to read it that way.

Come to find out this author has written quite a few books...and this one is a bit on the autobiographical vein.

Writing was the refuge for Arnim in her, what turned out to be, incompatible marriage. They were now living on the vast and somewhat neglected von Arnim estate, Nassenheide, in Pomerania. Their children's tutors included Hugh Walpole and friend of Arnim's nephew, E.M. Forster. Arnim’s husband had increasing debts and was eventually sent to prison for fraud. This was when she created her pen name `Elizabeth' and launched her career as a writer by anonymously publishing her semi-autobiographical, brooding yet satirical Elizabeth and her German Garden.

You may actually know this author by the movie made from one of her books, Enchanted April.

The Enchanted April (1922) again contains themes of feminine protest and male tyranny. Four women leave gloomy London to embark on a rejuvenating trip to sunny southern Italy. There was also a movie based on it. 


Hmmm trying to figure out how I can stuff more dahlias into my garden.  They are such a worthy flower in the late summer garden.  Let's see, I haven't checked out Fred Meyer's offerings yet :)

Update:  Here is what I found at Fred's :)
Muscadet
To all my friends in the middle of all these horrific winter storms...I am so sorry...I hope the sun will come out soon, and spring be on its way!!!

This is truly the first time our weather has been spring like.  Today it is back to rain and wind, but I am ordering new roses to keep my thoughts on spring and to give my aching muscles a break ;)

11 comments:

melissa said...

So jealous of your ability to garden already. :) Our present temp. is 25 degrees, so it'll be awhile yet before I can dig some holes. But will enjoy living vicariously through you!

Btw, good reading. Read that a couple of years ago, and like you, it got into my blood as well.

Have lots of fun!

Kathleen said...

Amazing. Talk about "beauty". I love flowers, and so admire anyone with a talent for creating garden havens.

I also scanned your entire page to view the photos. Someone else has a good deal of talent, too. The shots are fabulous, and those grandbabies ought to be on Hallmark cards!

Blessings,
Kathleen

Kathleen said...

P.S. My daughter, Molly, spends a good deal of time in Richland. She lives near Tacoma, but her special beau lives in your city. I wouldn't be surprised were she to move there one day.

Hubby & I lived all our lives in the Tacoma, Federal Way, Puyallup areas of Western WA, moving here to Phoenix in 2000. We call this home now, but we sure enjoy visiting often (adult children, their spouses, and six+ grandchildren are huge summons).

:)

Judy said...

I'm smiling at your gardening enthusiasm! Dahlias are a worthy flower...for sure.

Von said...

Hmmm, lilies . . . I haven't considered them much, but Kirsten loves them. Perhaps I should go shopping with her. :)

Just a little something from Judy said...

I am sitting here listening to the 35 mile per hour winds outside and seeing the tempetature is 30 degrees. I am trying to picture you outside planting bulbs. It is fun to picture. I bet your flower beds will be exceptional this summer. Dahlias are such a beautiful flower. Did you ever hear of "dinner plate dahlias"? I used to grow them and they were huge and mine were bright yellow.

Maggie said...

How I wish I could be in my garden now. It's still too cold here with lots of snow. I have one area in my garden dedicated to lilies, the beautiful stargazer is one of them. I am not familiar with Acapulco lily but will look it up.
Thanks for book recommendation. On my next trip to the book store (this weekend) I will be looking for it.
Have a wonderful weekend. : )

Anonymous said...

I have heard SO much about Elizabeth and Her German Garden that I'm off to scan eBay for a good used copy right now. Thank you for the recommendation.

My next garden task will be pruning all the broadleaf evergreens that split during the last blizzard. Oh, dear! Well, they were getting leggy, but I *liked* them that way! :-)

Love the lilies!!!

Vee said...

Oh I think I'd love that book. "Enchanted April" is one of my favorite movies. Garden on, my friend, garden on!

Charm and Grace said...

"The sun'll come out tomorrow... bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun. Just thinkin' about tomorrow clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow, 'til there's none." Well if you can't see the sun, at least you can sing about it. He he. Loved this post.

:) Christi

Barbara said...

Beautiful I know b ut I cannot have those lillies, especially the Stargazer anywhere near me. If I do I am coughing and sneezing and my eyes are running!
They seem to add them to any bouquet of flowers here to so that if I receive them as a gift I have to remove them immediately.

I did grow some in the garden for a while some years ago as a compromise.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Playlist