A Seed to Sow

Christmas, for me, arrives a mere week after December 25th. Christmas for me is when my spring gardening catalogs begin blossoming from my mail box. The first to arrive is always from Burpee, followed closely by White Flower Farm, Thompson & Morgan, Territorial, and all the rest. It is one of the most anticipated times of the year for me. I am a sucker for flowers. Despite the fact that I know the garden's "bones" should be the first priority on any landscape designer's list, I find myself year after year spending significant cash on blooms that will only last a season or two. I can't help myself. I am addicted to the bright, full colors, the rapid growth, the burst of size and sunshine that seems to appear miraculously in a matter of months. Below are some pictures of my garden's first year - the year of annuals. I had to get as much bang for my buck as I could manage. We spent our money on a few perennials, a few shrubs, one gorgeous wisteria being trained into a tree, and piles of annuals.

My orange, red and yellow nasturtiums got away from me (I personally LOVE them that way - but they drive Sean crazy - he worries about the integrity of the fence - blah, blah, blah. I say why should a broken fence get in the way of such beauty? Besides, Monet would be proud.).

The garden has matured considerably over the past five years, but I have been a poor gardener the past year or two. I have let things grow willy-nilly and left the bare spots bare for another year. My vegetable garden was beautiful this last fall (due to a very friendly Mother Nature - not me), but poorly harvested - mostly because I rarely went outside to see what was ready for picking.

The first half of our marriage I grew almost everything by seed. Live plants were a luxury we simply could not afford. We went to great lengths to coax a blossom from its embryo in those days. Now it has become too easy, and so I have become complacent.

The above picture is of the same corner of the yard in 2008. Lots of substance, but not much sparkle (and a lot of bare spots screaming for color!).

The bottom line is that I am vowing to do better this year. Creating an amazing garden is high on my New Year's Resolution list. I derive a tremendous amount of pleasure from the entire process of gardening, not to mention all the stretching and muscle toning and cardiac strengthening that happens. So this year, unlike last year, I am getting back to basics. I am sowing seeds with my children. We will nurture them and watch them grow together. We will pot them up and plant some and give some away to friends and neighbors to make their days a little more colorful. (Saying all of this I imagine myself standing on my bistro table in the middle of the garden holding a posey of flowers and yelling all of this out in a big, booming voice; looking like a great, gardening warrior.)

I encourage you all to find something that you love, something relaxing and fun and that makes you happy. Take that thing, whatever it is, and commit to making it a part of your life this year. Dive into it, explore it, embrace it and share what you gain from it with others. Make the world a better place by being who you are and loving what you love.

Now, I've got some seeds to order.