Spring has sprung

[siamese3]

I never used to be such a fan of spring, but the older I get, the more I seem to marvel at it. I walk every morning and this time of year, in upstate NY, I love how the cold morning dew just glistens on the amazingly green grass. How noisy all the birds are. The daffodils and hyacinths popping their beautiful heads out of the ground. How all the trees seem to come alive overnight. The kids playing outside before the bus comes. I actually kind of burst into tears this morning watching a girl say goodbye to her dog before getting on the bus. She gave her dog a pet on the head and started off for the bus and then turned around, ran back to her dog and gave her a big hug and then ran to the bus. So beautifully sweet. It really made me think about all the love and joy in the world if you stop to see it.

 

[monarch64]

Our environment certainly is beautiful, and watching things awaken every Spring is marvelous!
Yesterday my daughter and I planted seeds in our garden--an entire bed of different varieties of zinnias, and then we sowed the entire perimeter with marigold seeds she helped me harvest and save last summer. I just got back from a photoshoot at a lake...it's a gorgeous morning here and a great day to be alive!

 

[siamese3]

Our environment certainly is beautiful, and watching things awaken every Spring is marvelous!
Yesterday my daughter and I planted seeds in our garden--an entire bed of different varieties of zinnias, and then we sowed the entire perimeter with marigold seeds she helped me harvest and save last summer. I just got back from a photoshoot at a lake...it's a gorgeous morning here and a great day to be alive!

All that planting sounds wonderful. I always want to be someone who enjoys gardening and I am so envious of all of you over in the gardening thread. It doesn't really relax me, and in the summer the humidity and heat bother me. Then, a few years ago, I developed some odd weird allergic reaction to something in my yard that makes my eyelid swell up, and then I get a terrible itchy, scaly rash on my eyelid. It's awful! I do enjoy the fruits of others labor though! Figuratively and literally. I spend a lot of time at farmers markets and feel like I am helping the local economy I spent my afternoon fighting with some dandelions yesterday and amused myself by telling my DH that they grow like weeds! Poor dandelions. Don't be afraid to post any photos!

 

[monarch64]

Siamese, spending time and $ at your local farmers market is great! You're doing what you can, and that is enough. I always tell people who are interested in gardening but have no idea where to begin to start with one thing, learn that particular thing, become an expert, and then if you feel like expanding, do. For example, if you love orchids, get a book, attend a class, visit a greenhouse. THEN buy the plant and care for it. Otherwise it becomes too overwhelming and people just never get started at all.

I don't fight dandelions anymore. They are the first food for pollinators, and we need to be concerned about our bee situation! Without bees, humans wouldn't have food unless we spent a lot of money hand-pollinating our plants. My kiddo loves to pick them for me and her father, along with the little violas/johnny-jump-ups that carpet the lawns here.

I bought her a Hello Kitty wheelbarrow and tried to put it together yesterday. The instructions called for a competent adult. I am apparently incompetent because I couldn't get it together with a 4 year old staring me down telling me how to do it... LOL

 

[siamese3]

Okay, good point about the dandelions! The bees! I know all about the bees. I want my DH to be a beekeeper as a hobby. Too much time listening to NPR. I do have lots of flowering shrubs, at least. I always get excited when I see a bazillion buds on my dwarf Korean lilac. I have lots of hydrangeas and viburnum and a bottlebrush buckeye. I guess I get stymied when it comes to the flowers part. We have a very large yard with many large beds and I think you are right that I am overwhelmed. I love your advice to start with one thing. Too many choices! My father in law is a master gardener and grows orchids. So lovely. He greenhouse is such a funny, messy place that has some amazing plants in it. My grandfather had a huge garden when I was growing up and he grew everything. He also had amazing flower beds. I wish I had been more interested when I was young. It's never too late.
Your story about the wheel barrow made me laugh. Yesterday, I was trying to change the battery in my bike computer and reset it and the directions have no words, just pictures, with symbols and letters and numbers and for the life of me, I can never understand directions without words. Very frustrating. And I had no child to help me!

 

[monarch64]

There is such a thing as listening to too much NPR? Oh, dear.