Me likey the dirt. Even though I own more than a dozen gardening gloves, I almost always just stick my little digits in the ground without protection. It's like hugging your child in a snowsuit, you just can't feel them the same. My first garden memory was as a 6 year old child and weeding a very large backyard with my brother. Back in the day, our parents would kick us out of the house at the crack o dawn to weed. This is when Kip got his first set of stitches because evidently, footsy pajamas cannot grip mossy, wet, deck wood. Yes, they kicked him out too at the ripe old age of 1. Now as a parent myself, I know exactly what they were doing on Saturday mornings, but still, I think it was a little over the top. Anyway...so began my love affair with the green stuff that grows in Oregon.
We had Rhodedendron trees, not bushes. And in the corner of the yard was an old shed that was completely covered in ivy. There was also an old church pew and at least 15 tall evergreen trees. It was my own enchanted forest. Many a day was spent singing and frolicking in that backyard while filling up a bucket with weeds. In many ways, all my daydream fairytales take place in that house and that backyard. I even remember hiding from my mother because I went to a friends house and didn't tell her. I knew she was going to be mad so I hid, and then pretended that I was there the whole time. So that backyard was also my protector. It's magic to me.
Today I put on my sweater and ventured outside. Trying to say this as politely as I can...the yard is a mess. We inherited a yard that was not fussed over and I refuse to let the first impression of my home be a 90% mossed covered lawn or overgrown bushes. So today, armed with the clippers and rake, I went to work. Found cute bushes underneath overgrown St. Johns Wort and raked away wet slimy leaves, all the while, watching Anderson and his friend ride bikes on the sidewalk. As I was cleaning out a flower bed, I uncovered a little treasure. Right before my big blue eyes was a whole bunch of tulips. My heart leapt out of my throat and I might have did a happy dance right then and there ( plus I was listening to Justin Timberlake so I was in a dancing mood). Earthworms and tulips, can a girl expect anything better?
Why was I so excited, well every home I have ever lived in long enough, I've planted bulbs. I don't like winter...February and March suck the life right out of me. So I plant bulbs because they are a reminder that Winter is ending and Spring is just around the bend. Gone is the feeling of endless brown yucky death and hello to green, pink and yellow. As I filled up the yard debris can to overflowing, I was left with a deep sense of satisfaction. I can make this ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. My plans include heather, shrub roses, holly hocks, a flagstone path, a birdbath, and some lavender for starters. We are going to tear out the moss/grass and go for the cottage garden front yard. And maybe, just maybe, my children will look back 30 years from now and remember this yard as their enchanted garden, filled with magic too.
