For a gardener, patience is a two way street.
Speaking solely from a perennial gardening perspective, I have to say I'm not minding the cooler, wet weather. Unlike last year, the perennials are coming along nicely at a slow and steady pace, allowing me to do other necessary annual cutting garden work and that's a whole other story around here this year!
Generally, the perennial gardens get a very basic tidying up early in the spring and are then left patiently, no picking, raking or fluffing. Many of the perennials in my gardens are left to go to seed in the autumn with the promise of seedlings the following spring. This year, in order to prepare for 'DIG IN', the outdoor learning event which took place on May 25th, I cleaned up the perennial gardens a little more than I would have, even doing some "fluffing".
Following the most recent rain and slightly warmer temperatures, lovely little plants began to poke their heads up, a gentle reminder of what's to come. This included a precious little Hepatica 'americana' that I moved to its new location late last fall while re-doing the perennial gardens. I was so happy to see her little face and horrified at the same time for it was then that I recalled having also set in 6 tiny little Hepatica seedlings at her side of which I could now distinguish but one. My early fluffing had no doubt damaged the remainder beyond reclaim. Hmm, huge bummer.
Most gardener's I know are patient. We patiently await the arrival of spring. Patiently await the bursting forth of our precious perennials. Patiently and joyfully water and weed and dig. Perhaps not so patient enough to await the spring garden's true arrival in a year when our patient nature is challenged beyond its 'normal' level.
The honeybee's are very patiently awaiting the arrival of dandelions - one of the first flowering sources of nectar. While most of us curse this "weed", and many of the lawns in the city are ablaze in a sea of yellow, I'm patiently awaiting its full-blown arrival in my yard so that the bees will have a fighting chance at survival in a year when there have been huge hive losses in this region.
So, while we wait, the bees and I, in between the digging and the preparing, I'm hoping to take a seat, enjoy a cup of tea and allow the gardens to show themselves, all in good time, at their pace. The reward is always worth the wait.
And remember, no fluffing!
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