WATERING YOUR GARDEN

 

The joy of having a garden is the daily walk of anticipation to check and see what's new and what's happening in your lovely oasis. Finding new growth, little flower buds ready to burst open and the beginnings of little fruits and vegetables.   It is all so satisfying. 

 I feel like all of my plants appreciate my presence, attention and care.  

I always feel positive vibrations. 

 Especially when I am watering. 

When watering one can feel the air surrounding you and the plants, cleaning and humidifying.  I think of the roots taking a big satisfying drink of water.  I always like to flip the sprinkler nozzle around to just watch the droplets dance everywhere, like it's raining - giving them and me, a cool shower and a bit of relief from the heat. Also, the beautiful reflection rainbow that appears as the light is reflected inside the droplet and finally reflected out again into the air.  Feels like magic...

I know that they advise you to water early in the morning so that the foliage will have a chance to dry before nightfall.  Because if the leaves are wet when it cools down at night the plant may have problems with fungus and disease.  

But, I have to say that I have watered - on more than one occasion, during the day - during the hottest time of the day because I felt sorry for the plants - sometimes they look stressed under really hot conditions.   I do however get down low and try and water under the plants - but I also do like to sprinkle the whole plant - thinking that I am cooling it off.  No fungal problems yet - fingers crossed.

While I'm sprinkling, I wash out and refill several containers that I have set out for the birds, squirrels and anyone passing through that needs a drink.  I have seen squirrels lying on their tummy's and drinking quite a bit.  Good to know that I'm providing water for them in hot weather.  I also enjoy birds taking baths in the containers I have set about.  They are not deep, and I put a brick in the middle so that no one will have a problem in the water.  

I even think of all of the bees, butterflies and bugs drinking off of the droplets on the leaves.  

There might also be Fairie folk in my gardens - loving a cool shower and filling their little buckets with fresh, cool water.  

I don't know if the watering does more for my garden plants or more for me - it always leaves me with a satisfying, full feeling. 

  

When I water in the morning - I tell everyone "Good Morning, it's going to be a beautiful day." And, if I water in the evening, I tell my plants "Good Night, sleep well, see you in the morning." 

We have had quite a bit of rain this spring/summer - and even though it appears that it has rained enough - sometimes it just hasn't.  It might rain hard and just kind of run off - or the 10-minute rain might only just touch the surface....so, I always scratch back the soil to see how much rain actually got down into the soil.  We have rather sandy soil...live near Lake Michigan/Bay...so, the water does tend to run off when the beds are mounded higher....so, I make sure that I take a lot of the compost from our chickens/leaves/and vegetable peelings and mix that into this sandy soil.  Hopefully building it up each year.  Apparently, it works...my gardens are always beautiful.  

I keep a big rain barrel and water my plants with the collected water when the barrel is getting too full...has to be the best for them.  I keep several goldfish in the barrel, and they seem to love living there in the warmer weather and then they go into a tank in the greenhouse in the colder months.  

Watering my gardens reminds me of the way I feel when I hang bed sheets on my clothesline.  Some people may think of it as a chore.  I think of it as a reason to slow down, enjoy my beautiful surroundings, feel blessed and be grateful.  While moving in this rhymical type movement - my mind and body float into a deep, relaxing state of mind.  

And that is a very good thing for my soul and spirit.

  

SPRING/SUMMER - A TIME OF BEAUTIFUL BEGINNINGS AND A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF POLLEN

 

We live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  The UP, as it is called.  It is surrounded by three of the Great Lakes - Superior, Huron and Lake Michigan. 

 Living up north, we do have longer winters.  We moved here from Wisconsin a few years ago and initially thought that the further north you went, the colder it was, and the more it snowed.  We are always amazed at how mild winters really are here in the UP.  We live close to the Bay - Green Bay/Lake Michigan and it seems that most approaching storms either go north or south of us. We only have a few inches of accumulation each winter and the temps rarely go below zero.  Winter type weather and sudden dips in temperature does come and go on until May.  So, that basically makes the growing season from June/July until Oct/Nov.  Which is pretty much we are used to as Midwesterners.  

So, when the tulips, daffodils, grape hyacinths and all of the other bulbs you planted pop up, color begins to fill the ground where snow laid not long ago. Even when the temps still drop down at night, I'm always amazed and happy that these beautiful bulbs survive and thrive. 

Slowly but surely the daytime and nighttime temps start leveling out and all kinds of other plants start making their way out of the soil.  Reaching out for the warm sun.  

Not due to any expertise on my part - but it seems like when one blooming plant has lived out it's blossom life, another one kicks in...first tulips, then lilacs and fruit tree blossoms.  Then the big orange happy faces of the Poppies and the beautiful delicate purple Trillium.  The sturdy but short lived (little flowers) of the Lily of the Valley are up and smelling wonderful alongside the Iris.  All of the buds on the rose bushes are plumping up and starting to open revealing so many beautiful variations of color and size.  The Stella D'Oro's are getting ready and opening everywhere.  Next the Asian Lilies and fragrant Stargazer Lilies. And this year we were treated, for the first time, with Columbine flowers that made it through the winter and also a first, Fox Glove, and their beautiful purple and apricot bells.  I have quite a few Rudbeckias and they are all growing tall from under the Hosta and soon there will be their most amazing flowers.  Rudbeckias are pretty sturdy and last for weeks...in all kinds of orange, yellow and brown combinations. 

 I always plant a lot of seeds - how could you not?  When there is still snow on the ground all of these beautiful little packets of joy start appearing at all of the stores.  They give us all the joyful anticipation that spring and summer months will bring.   Lastly, all of the seeds that I planted are starting to make an appearance, Zinnias, Cosmos, Moon Flowers and beautiful, tall Hollyhocks.   Mixed into the seed plants are the sunflowers that the birds plant.  We have many bird feeders hanging from hooks above our perennial gardens - so, there are going to be sunflowers...I don't care, they are cheery little faces of sun.  

 Well, there are blooms popping out every day - but day by day there is a feeling that we're getting closer to the end of so many beautiful flowers and closer to fall.  

That's why I plant marigolds, mums, zinnias and decorative grasses - so that fall won't be all green and that there will still be color and flowers...

I have learned that it is okay to cut flowers and bring them inside to admire.  I do go outside each morning to see what is new - and I take a lot of pictures.  But, I wasn't the person that was cutting flowers at the peak of their beauty - until now.

We've had quite a rainy spring/summer this year and one day the blossoms would be beautiful and after the rain - they were so beat up...so, I started bringing in some of my beautiful flowers so that I could admire them every time I walked past them in the dining room.  

I love my gardens and all that they bring - bugs, butterflies, birds and the opportunity to take beautiful pictures to capture some of summer's color....