Well, another holiday has sneaked up on me. I was never much for celebrating Memorial Day. Having lived in Michigan for 34 years, Memorial
Day weekend was a time traditionally to start planting flowers in the yard. I learned the hard way that it was best to
wait until Memorial Day to plant the always fragile annuals. On a few occasions, I became overly anxious
and optimistic of early warm weather, and started planting around a Mother’s Day. Michigan weather is very predictable in its
unpredictability. The temperature can
drop into near freezing or below freezing as late as the month of May. Just recently, I observed a low of 36° there. So, imagine my great disappointment when my
flowers died because of frostbite. Thus,
I learned to wait patiently until the end of the month of May to start planting
in earnest.
That did not stop me from preparing the soil, putting in
new top soil, fertilizer, and a gardener’s best friend, Preen. The flowering bulbs had done their annual
show and spring display, and were ready to be lovingly cut back for another
year of hibernation and rejuvenation.
The Memorial Day weekend would start off with trips to
my favorite nurseries. Often I would
begin shopping for flowers the week before and would have a garage full of flats. It was not uncommon for me to plant up to 20
flats of flowers each year. Oh, what fun! After deciding what my color schemes would be,
I would diligently search for annuals that would complement each other. Container gardening was also a part of this
annual and pleasurable project. When I
left Michigan in 2011, I had accumulated over 20 pots that each year were filled
with lovely flowers. These ceramic pots
provided color and atmosphere to my front porch and to the deck.
I miss gardening, and I pray that I will one day be able
to plant flowers once again. The Florida
planting season is very different from the Michigan planting season, but I am
learning about planting and growing things in Florida. I look forward to moving into new space in a
few months that will allow me to do some modest gardening. Heaven knows, I need it! Gardening is wonderful and relaxing therapy
for me.
