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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy mother's Day

What did you do for your mother today?


I don't have a mother yes I am one of those strange pod people ... ok ok no I am not a pod person my mother died a long time ago so I have no one I am obligated to call to wish a begrudging happy mothers day to.

instead AS a mom I get to live in the glow of love and affection heaped on me by my darling brood

A long time ago Dear Dave and I started a tradition of going to a local greenhouse to buy some plants and things for the yard. Since moving up here (from Milwaukee) we have not been able to find a local greenhouse better than the local Walmart (eeekkk!!)

This year Dave found one a nice little place that sells plants and seeds that grow well in our area

WOOOHOOO

and did I ever score! ..ummm I mean my dear family gave me a wonderful collection of some lovely flowers for our garden

I spent Saturday cleaning up a rock wall out the back door which has been neglected for a couple years and I cleaned it up really nice it looks lovely but needs plants
we still need more plants and some things to fill in the holes but I got some neat perennials that will grow and thrive in that area and come back full force and fill in some ferns some hostas and a few other lovely woodland type things

One thing that made me feel great was helping a lady select some tomatoes I was not impressed with the quality or size of their tomatoes most of the plants are too small in my opinion to do much up here our growing season is so short you really have to have big mature plants that are almost ready to flower before even thinking of putting them in the garden

I looked up bunches of information and I actually found HOW to construct the walls of the plastic bottle greenhouse that Maisie showed me from the Earth ship in Scotland A very cool very unique idea that I just adore I must try it and test it out here in the north woods to see if it would work well here. It probably would not be able to sustain plants in the winter time but I know it would extend the growing season for some choice potted plants!

My family not only lavished me with plants they also worked hard in the yard cleaning up

and did more work on the compost heap they collected sticks in the woods(Alex found a missing garden trowel that vanished mysteriously a few years ago) Zach found that the trillium are coming up and starting to bloom and Tim was happy that it was too cold to get any wood ticks!

Dave while grilling our dinner also tilled in front of the deck to get things ready for some of the seeds that I have

For my mother I found some seeds at the greenhouse that will remind me of her my mom had a garden like no other she took great pride and joy in working in the dirt many of her plants were "rescued" "salvaged" picked up ...ok ok some she downright stole! but she also loved having things started from seeds every corner of her garden was a treat to the eyes the ears and the nose it was a vision that only a loving childs memory can honor. I picked up those seeds packets and I was taken back to that garden with those strange looking exotic plants.

I can't wait to show them to my boys

I wish I could get some honeysuckle vines ..Down south they are an invasive weed that is often burned to get rid of it. it will grow up trees and choke them out it grows very vigorously
Here in the north it does not do that well it grows but nowhere near what it does where my mom was from. she "snagged" some once on a trip to visit her family and brought it home to Wisconsin. She planted it in her yard and it grew in a lovely shape and was pruned by mom every year in the spring so it did not DARE step out of line mom would have allowed it. I remember many summers the yard just filled with that smell. I need to find some of that just to grow on a little arbor just so I can have that scent here in my garden.

Good thing about Wisconsin's short growing season most invasive weeds don't do so well.

2 comments:

Laura said...

Very nice sentiment about your mother... I too purchase flowers in honor of mine. We went to the gravesite and planted a lovely little garden of pansies and pinks. There is an adorable greenhouse nearby that she loved, so I always get my plants there.

Sue said...

Thanks Mom had a truly splendid garden she could get a dead twig to sprout and grow into flowers she was a wonder in the garden

Sadly the honeysuckle vine I want is considered an invasive species but I have other plants that will be reminiscent of her garden It will still be lovely

I live 3 hours from where my parents are burried so I have no flowers on thier grave I get too creeped out by going there so I prefer to set up little areas to remind me of good times with them something fun the kids can enjoy. For my Dad it all things baseball and fishing and baked goods and for thier grandma(who they never met) it will be this garden