Tonight as I walked through the yard I saw a spider weaving a web. If you thought a spider carefully crafted a web over the course of days you’re wrong. I would guess it took the spider an hour or two to weave the web below.
This post isn’t about spider webs but it’s related to that moment. As I watched the spider weaving it reminded me of one of the reasons I enjoy gardening.
I enjoy watching the changes in the garden season by the season, month by month and day by day.
A neighbor often comments how he always sees me walking around the yard. I stroll through the yard in the morning, after work or in the evening and admire the plantings and enjoying the changes.
A new addition to the garden this year is my square foot garden. When I was a kid back in the 80’s I read Mel Bartholomew’s book Square Foot Gardening. I loved the concept and planted many squares back in the day.
This spring I read All New Square Foot Gardening and tried it again. My square foot garden has received the most attention of any part of the yard this year.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes growing my square foot garden. We’ll share those lessons another time.
This spring I visited the White Flower Farm and bought a Dinner Plate Dahlia. I’ve always wanted to try one of those giant flowers and figured, “Why not?”
The extent of my soil preparation was digging a hole 10 inches deep, placing the tuber in the hole and filling it half way with dirt. All I’ve done since is water the plant and give it some liquid fertilizer. A couple of weeks ago I filled the hole in the rest of the way and today I staked it.
About 2 1/2 months later my Kelvin Floodlight Dahlia is three feet tall with a yellow flower ready to pop (see image at top of post). I’m in shock at how easy dahlias are to grow and how much fun it was to watch.
You can see the yellow bloom of the dahlia just to the left of the purple coneflower.
Why do you garden?
Comments
2 responses to “Why I love Gardening”
Always good to hear your reflections, John. I wonder how many of us enjoy that early morning discovery stroll around our landscapes. Kindred spirits around the earth, I wonder at another day with you. The fertile fronds of the sensitive ferns have appeared, so I know the end of summer is not so far away now in the North American Midwest. But there are still many early mornings to explore wonder just outside my door.
Summer can’t be over yet! Nooooo. I’m glad there are at least two of us that enjoy our strolls around the garden. The catch word of the day is being in the moment and garden strolls put me most in the moment.