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Friday, March 5, 2010

Yesterday The Sun Stopped By To Play



"Hello my friend!" it called to me! Nothing was going to stop me from enjoying the morning....not even the 36F temperature. It felt so much warmer to my sun starved spirit. So, I headed out there to do what gardeners do on warm days...
Get their hands good and dirty.


Visiting the shed, I noticed a box of bulbs that didn't get planted last fall when my hand couldn't lift anything. Crocus, tulips and alliums~and not your inexpensive big box ones, either! Some of the bulbs had developed sprouts and wonderful roots. The alliums were smelling very oniony~but, into the garden they went; planted at the feet of the monarda. A former gardenblogger told me that they produce sulphur that keep monardas from mildewing~it's worth the try!


Chances are the newly planted bulbs won't bloom this spring and there's an even bigger chance they won't ever bloom! It doesn't matter, digging in the garden soil, more then makes up for any lack of flower.


I did take the camera, but managed just a few shots...I couldn't make myself leave digging and expanding the Susans' bed to run to The Garden of Benign Neglect where I left it sitting on the patio table. The smell and feel of the earth was wonderful, a tonic for any gardener. I was careful to dig with my left hand and gently planted the tulips, creating a little stream along the edge. In my imagination, they are in full bloom. If they don't flower, that's exactly where I'll plant them next fall.



It was delicious out there.


The birds serenaded me as I went about my day.

They are always in the garden, but they begin to sing louder as the days get longer and warmer. Yesterday, they were celebrating in every corner and what a joyous symphony of sounds.



My spirits were lifted.



Then the sun set in that marvelous way it has in the winter, lighting the trees to a golden reddish hue, as it sank behind the hills that surround my little part of the garden.

Did I mention that it was delicious out there?

I hope it was for you, too!

Gail

38 comments:

  1. This post was just the most uplifting thing, ever, Gail, thanks so much for that. The sun is a dear friend, pulling us outside not matter the temps. We are hoping for another few days just like you describe. Good luck on the late planted bulbs. If they were mushy, they should be fine. :-)
    Frances

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  2. Just reading this made my sun shine. Thank you Gail. It is supposed to be beautiful here today BTW. ~~Dee

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  3. Hello Gail,

    Your words and pictures perfectly captured the beauty and joy you experienced yesterday. I hope continued warm temperatures have come to stay for you :^)

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  4. Hooray for sunshine! It makes everything better, doesn't it? So glad you got to go out and "play." (although only a gardener would describe digging in the dirt as play!!)
    I hope your bulbs bloom for you too. I don't see why they wouldn't either? They've been thoroughly chilled and as Frances said, if they aren't mushy then I think they're ready to go. Keep us posted.
    Look at your beautiful hellebore and crocus. That first photo is just stunning Gail. Congrats on the good day. Hope it's the first of many!

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  5. Rays of sunshine are shining through your words! We are experiencing some very nice weather today and more to come this weekend....nice dirty hand..(s)

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  6. I am so glad you stopped by~~Did I mention it was delicious out there?

    There were a few mushy bulbs~ interestingly enough among the alliums! They made me think of the ones that sprout and mush up in the kitchen~when I've taken too long a break from cooking.

    I hope your weekends are wonderful.

    gail

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  7. Ah, my sweet, sweet pumpkin pie... It was sunny and 37 here yesterday, but in Michigan, it's way to earlt to play in the garden (other than pruning). Our ground is still frozen solid and we still have snow cover--not even the tips of any bulbs yet. But, no, I'm not envious at all. No sireebob.

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  8. We're expecting that elusive sun up here in Connecticut any time now - thanks for the preview of joys to come!

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  9. Those first spring days, those tentative moments when it looks like the weather might just turn, and you can garden forever....

    Those are the days we gardeners live for. So glad that you got this day.

    Jen

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  10. What a great attitude you have out there, despite barely above freezing temps! Enjoy your sunshine!

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  11. Hi Gail. I've noticed the cardinals are singing their spring songs.

    I can understand how primitive peoples felt when the days began to get longer and things began to turn green. I want to go out and pick up some blow down sticks and move some leaf mulch... Unfortunately, I'm more than a month behind you gardeners farther south. We still have snow cover over the gardens. Still, the sun is warmer and it stays in the sky longer. A very good thing.
    Marnie

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  12. delicious in deed, we finaly got a bit of sunsine over here in Ireland too, it sure dose meke veerything seem and look beter. Nice post.

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  13. I've never heard of the Allium-Monarda pairing idea. I might have to try that, depending on how my new Monarda does. I'm so happy for you that you finally got to dig again.

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  14. What a great day out in the garden. Love the photos.

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  15. Woohoo for you getting to dig in the dirt! Your photos ARE delicious. Your sunshiney flowers and happy birds lifted my spirits too.
    Spring's a comin!

    PS. Thanks for putting me over on your side-bar. I feel honored and grateful.

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  16. It has been sunny here too, and you're right that it is uplifting! The birds are returning and we wake up to hear them singing, and even though there's nothing coming up in my garden yet, I know it's not far away! Just having more hours of daylight is making a huge difference!

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  17. Dearest Gail,
    Did I mention I could feel how delicious it was for you to be out there? Oh, that marvelous sunshine... it can make all the difference in the world on a cold blustery day. We are barely reaching 60 today but the sun is streaming brightly while I plant and dig again today. It is glorious. I am SO happy for you to have gotten your hands in the dirt again. Your exuberance might just help those bulbs to sprout out THIS year. I wouldn't doubt it for a minute.
    hugs** Meems

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  18. Gail, I know what you mean--delicious, indeed! It has been that way here all week--up until today. I have spent every moment possible, out in the garden getting dirty. It has been so blissful listening to the birds chorus as I work, that sometimes I just sat with my eyes closed, soaking it all in.

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  19. I am green with envy that you got to play in the garden while the sun was shining. I had to work UGH. I was craning my neck at the windows every chance I got. That first picture is so good it looks like you took a photo of an artificial bloom. Marvelous. I hope that my Lady in Red hellebore blooms this year. It likely won't since i planted it just last year. Aaahhhhhh isn't spring wonderful.

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  20. A beautiful description of a much-needed day out in the garden.

    The beauty of the late afternoon is a miracle on every clear day isn't it? It's wonderful.

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  21. Gail - you sound like you are in good spirits from time in the garden! Isn't it such a healthy, spiritual feeling to connect with the earth, flowers and little creatures?

    A lovely post.

    Cameron
    I managed to spend a lot of time outside yesterday and more time this morning, too.

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  22. Gail, I am so happy for you! The joy of light and blossom in your photos is so inspiring. Many happy returns!! ;>)

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  23. It did feel good, didn't it. It was the medicine that we needed.

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  24. Your pictures are just beautiful. I'm so glad you were able to get out in the dirt. After the long winter you've had I know it's especially "delicious".

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  25. Sounds like a wonderful day outside, Gail! The sun was shining here, too, and if it weren't for a few patches of snow here and there I would have thought it was spring. Still too early here to do much of anything in the garden, but I might just have to spend a little time in there anyway:)

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  26. Sometimes no matter how cold it is, you just have to get outside in the garden. I have noticed that this miserable winter has made me less picky about when I work in the garden. Any day with sun will work for me now.

    That last shot of the tree makes it look like a giant red twig dogwood with all that color.

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  27. Delicious post, Gail! I've just come inside for a bit of a rest (stamina not what it was at the end of last season ;)... it's so glorious out there, and you described its joys perfectly.

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  28. Gail: Frances is right in saying that this post is uplifting! No sign of sprouting in my garden as yet..ground still frozen however I feel Spring is in the air.. I have Spring fever and you have satisfied my craving for color!
    Thank you..
    still waiting here..aNNa

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  29. Isn't it amazing what a little sun will do? Thanks for sharing, I love that last picture with the sunset-tree.

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  30. Beautiful, Gail! My heart thumped when the reddish tree picture appeared. The way life glowed in the complex of branches against the soft blue sky.

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  31. My garden and woods are waking up. I spent most of the day yesterday outdoors and plan to do so again today. Your post is inspiring me to get on out there.

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  32. Hi Gail,
    I enjoyed your day vicariously. We got up to 57 yesterday, but I am working on getting things out of my kitchen for the remodel. We also had Grandson, and did enjoy some time outside with him and Heidi. Grandson and I went around the block.

    I hope your hand is healing. I love your hellebores!

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  33. Gail, I'm reGALing with you. Good luck with the bulbs but if I get the impression it really doesn't matter if they bloom or not. Just being outdoors is reward enough. I agree.

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  34. I had a day like that too! And after all the recent rain, it was wonderful. I hope all your bulbs do well. If not this year, they will surely bloom next year. Spring is coming like a locomotive!

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  35. As much as I love to dig in the garden, sunshine alone isn't enough to get me outdoors. I'm afraid that 36 degrees wouldn't do it! But I'm so glad you found it delicious. Hope your bulbs bloom for you. I planted hundreds this fall, so I'm anxiously awaiting for their arrivale from under the snow melt.

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  36. Gail - how wonderful that you had a good spring day in the sunshine and playing in the dirt - some sunshine just makes the heart feel glad
    K

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  37. The sun provides a heady rush for the gardener as well as the garden. Glad you enjoyed your pottering - let there be more such days very soon!

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  38. Isn't it amazing how Nature has a bounty of therapeutic measures to share with us when we need it and are willing to look for it? The sun is not shining here, but I found it in this post, thanks!
    Cheryl

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson