Stepping Away from the Edge

Pilgrim's Progress

Each spring, my best garden pal Sandie and I hop in her Prius and head to one of our favorite greenhouses in West Michigan.

An annual pilgrimmage to . . .

WW Greenhouse is located in Hudsonville -- a little town tucked halfway between Grand Rapids and Holland in West Michigan.  I first discovered this greenhouse in 1988 . . . when Tom and I bought our first house . . . about a mile from this very spot.  Of course, the greenhouse was quite small then.  Really, just a little flower stand.  My kids remember my pulling them through the little  greenhouse in a wagon while I shopped for plants!

Now. . . it's HUGE!

Flowers stretched for acres and acres!

The aisles are looooong!  (That's Sandie, way back there!)  And there are no wagons anymore.  Now, there are double and triple tiered carts!  (Sandie's cart actually looked more like a hospital gurney.)  All the better for selecting a garden of plants.

WW has most everything . . . annuals, perennials, native plants, wildflowers, herbs, vegetables, water gardening.  (No trees and shrubs, though.)  And they provide loads of inspiration.  (They do a great job of mixing unusual plant combinations; maybe the best I've ever seen.)

We have a great time every year at WW.  We load up our gurneys carts . . . and we laugh a lot!

And, in the end, we cram plants into every nook and cranny of Sandie's Prius (I am totally impressed at how many plants a Prius can hold!!!). . .

and head back home.

Where we spend the next several days planting.  (And planting.  And planting!)

Taking Advantage

I know you're not supposed to.

But I do it anyway.

I covet . . .

my neighbor's lilac!

There it is.  Tucked in along the fence we share.  (Where they can't even see it!)

They probably don't even notice how it blooms.

Because, really, it's not located in a prime spot for them -- there on the side of the house they never use.  There on the side with hardly any windows. 

Besides, the lilac, on their side, is crowded out with no place to shine.

But on my side?

It is just spills over the fence!  Hanging there.  Packed with blooms and smelling incredible.

I can see it from my kitchen.  And my living room.  And my patio.  It looks like . . . part of MY garden.

So I pretend it's mine.

I even planned for it when I put together the design for my garden bed along the fence there.  Just planned for it to be blooming in May, and worked to make sure I'd be able to take advantage of it's wonderfulness.

So, yeah. 

I covet my neighbor's lilac.

(I wonder if they'd notice if I cut some blooms to bring inside for a bouquet?)

Winning Combination

Last Friday night, my pal Sandie and I visited one of our local nurseries for a special event -- a Wine Tasting and New Plant Introductions event*. 

Yep.  Michigan wines.  New plants. 

It's hard to go wrong with that combination!  (Tom joked that if the event also included yarn, I might never come home. . . )

It was a fun adventure, even though the wines were . . . meh.

And there really weren't that many "new" plants.  (Most were "new" to this particular nursery, but not really "new" to obsessive plant-followers.  Like Sandie and I.)

But we had fun sipping and strolling. . .

through the nursery selections.

We also found the most hideous collection of garden gnomes ever.  They had biker-gnomes (an entire collection) and Marliyn Monroe gnomes and this guy. . .

I mean.  Really?  Can you imagine this Elvis gnome in among your dahlias?  Nightmare-fodder!  (And $45 to boot!)

Fun night!  Wine, plants, laughter.  And plenty of inspiration!

==========

* This is the same nursery that sponsors the cart sale I blog about every summer!

Right Now . . . April 2013

I don't know about you, but April flew past so quickly that I really never got used to it being April.  And now, it's almost over!

Here's what's happening in my life  . . . RIGHT NOW.

Watching . . . The changing scenes outside.  Rain.  Sunshine.  Buds.  But nothing on television.  (I am recording some things to watch eventually.  But . . . I seem to have no time for tv these days.)

Reading . . . Oh.  The books!  There are so many fabulous books.  My to-read queue grows longer every day.  Right now, I'm reading The Interestings (which just isn't really living up to its title, unfortunately) and Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald (not far enough into it to gauge, at this point).  I do need to recommend a recent read, though:  A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.  Very good!

Knitting . . . Just finished ChicKnit's Elisbeth cardigan (short sleeve version).  It's blocking as I type, so watch for photos soon.  I'm working on a spring-color version of this shawl.  But, mostly, I'm not doing a whole lot of knitting these days.

Listening to . . . Weezer.  Soundgarden.  Train.  And some Beatles - just for balance.

 

Thinking about . . . Gardening.  Pretty much full-on gardening.

Dreading . . . Ugh.  The dentist.  By the time you read this post, I'll be finished with Appointment #1 of my two-part Crown Experience.  (I dread.  But it will be nice to be able to chew on the left side again!)

Humming . . . A song from my Turbo Kick class last Friday.  I don't know the name of the song, nor do I know who sings it -- which is lucky for you all.  Because if I knew either of those things, I'd look it up and insert it here.  And then you'd all hate me forever.  Because it's very, very catchy.

Planning . . . Gardens.  Designing them.  Planting them.  Sitting in them. 

 

Celebrating . . . Spring.  Finally.

Drinking . . . A spring tea blend mixed just for me at Teavana.

Itching to . . .Go barefoot.  (Also . . . tell a jerk what I really think.  I probably won't actually do this.  But it's therapeutic to think about anyway!)

Needing to . . .Weed, clean, and prepare my garden beds for the season ahead.  (And so happy about that.)

 

Organizing . . .  It's time - finally - to put away the wool and the heavy and the warm.  Time to break out the breezy and the light and the fun.  Need to get my closet in order!

Inspired by . . . Alabama Chanin. 

Delighted by. . . blooms and buds . . . breaking out all over!

How about YOU?  What's going on for YOU . . . right now?

In Search of Spring

Spring is slow in coming this year. 
(Like, really slow.) 
But yesterday was sunny, so I put on my scarf.  And my hat.  And my gloves. 
(Really.  So Sick. Of. It.)

And went in search of spring.

Garden Buddha was basking in the sun. 
(Which had melted off his coat of frost by this time.)

And a few of my daffodils survived last weeks deluge of rain, followed by freeze and snow. 
(But, overall, they took a substantial hit.)

I found this lovely, singleton tulip in the middle of one of my newer garden beds. 
(I have no idea where it came from.  It's a welcome "volunteer" -- I know I didn't plant it.  Surprise!)

I found large swaths of wild violets in my grass. 
(Lawn purists would be horrified, I know.  But they make me smile.  As they slowly take over my lawn.  And creep into my garden beds.)

My hellebores are blooming like crazy! 
(Such dependable, sturdy harbingers of Spring.)

And I even found a little bee, hard at work, in one of them!
(Spotting this little bee was such a delight!)

I found birds trying to break through the thin coat of ice on my birdbath,
buds on most of my trees, and new growth emerging in the perennial beds.
(Even some of my hostas!)

I also discovered that I have lost my ongoing battle with invasive grass in one of my garden beds.  I'm going to have to dig it all up . . . or nuke it with Round Up. 
(But that's a story for another day.)

Spring.  It's out there.
(You just gotta know where to look.)

 

Soul Food

Earlier this week, I read dear Jane's post about having flowers at her desk. . . and how she buys them with her groceries at the store.  Because flowers are food, says Jane.  Food for the eyes and the spirit.

Jane's words have been hanging with me all week.

Because she is absolutely right.

Flowers are food for my soul.

So yesterday, when I stopped in at the grocery for my dinner ingredients, I paused first at the flower stand and grabbed a lovely little bouquet of pink tulips.

I grabbed a few of my small vases and my snippers . . . and went to work.

In moments, I had 3 small vases of fresh, happy tulips.  I stuck 'em here and there, in my most-frequented areas of the house.  Today - and through the weekend - wherever I look. . .

I'll have access to my lovely tulips . . .

and I'll feel nourished.

Soul food!

(Thanks, Jane.)

The Evidence

Now that the snow is melting, I like to get out in my garden and check things out.  Usually I just walk around a bit . . . remembering; doing a little dreaming; a little scheming.

Yesterday, though, I decided to take it a step further.  I decided to Garden.

Sure.  It's barely above freezing here, and snow is still lingering in some parts of the yard.  But, well. . .  I'm itchy . . . and a little bit twitchy . . . to get to gardening.  Besides, NOW is a great time to start in with some pruning (except on those spring-blooming shrubs; don't prune those yet) and some of the clean-up chores.

As long as you can stand the cold, that is!

So I put on my winter jacket. 
And a wool hat. 
And a pair of fingerless mitts OVER my gardening gloves. 
Then I grabbed my pruners, and headed out for some time in the garden.

Yikes.  My fingers were frozen solid within 30 minutes!  But I did get some pruning and cleaning up done . . . at least in one corner of my backyard bed . . . before frostbite set in.

And guess what?

Evidence!

Even though snow is in the forecast this week (yeah; I know), it looks like spring IS coming.

I have proof!

Garden Buddha: Harbinger of Spring

As the snow continues to fall, Garden Buddha whispers to me.

It is coming.

Be patient.

(And I believe him.)

Just What I Needed

It's always tough to be a gardener in Michigan . . . come March. 

It's the time of year when you're itchin' to get out there.  In the dirt.  Digging.  You just can't wait to have dirt under your nails again.  To drag hoses around.   To pull some weeds.

But, alas.  Spring is a tease.  It's still freezing cold here.  With snow in the forecast.

What's a gardener to do?

Get thee to a flower show!

The Chicago Flower & Garden Show never disappoints.

Even though it's inside a cavernous exhibition hall deep within Navy Pier, it smells like . . . SPRING . . . as soon as you step inside.

Flowers and trees and streams . . . everywhere you look.  (And, sure.  Don't you want to have waterfalls streaming from horns in YOUR garden?  Yeah.  Some of the ideas are WAY Over the Top.  But it's a show.  Anything goes!)

There is whimsy . . .

(I'm pretty sure this little sod-dog was the Most Photographed Display at the whole show.)

There is fun . . .

(This pelican water "fountain" was in a tiny little water feature in a bowl that could fit on any patio or deck.)

There are new plant offerings. . .

(This one is a Dwarf Japanese White Pine.)

There are OVER the TOP "tablescapes". . .

(Perfect if you never want to actually see or converse with your dinner companions!)

There is "plant-art". . .

(My photos cannot do justice to the moss gardens on display.  They were truly beautiful.)

There are things to buy. . .

(Like these earrings . . . made of real boxwood leaves and dipped in copper . . . that made it home with me!  That's the jewelry artist there, in the background.)

And there are things to learn. . .

(I went to a workshop on building patios with pavers.  Lucky Tom.)

Mostly, though, there is Inspiration. . .

From the Very Practical . . .

To the Wouldn't This Be Cool?. . .

To color combinations and plant groupings that excite . . .

A day at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show ... was Just What I Needed!

 

 

Just a Glimpse

I spent the day yesterday here . . .

I had a glimpse of spring.

Everywhere I looked.

It was wonderful.  Inspiring.  And refreshing.

But, Spring?  Ahhhhh.  Such a tease!

Me, too, I guess.  I'll share more sights from the Flower Show next week.  For now . . . just a glimpse. . . will have to suffice!

Enjoy the weekend!