An absolutely beautiful morning here in the Carondelet Garden in sunny South Saint Louis. The skies are blue with a slight breeze. A great walk early in the morning with the Garden Doodle. Had to get a bit of exercise in so that I could get a bit of work done.
The first of the garlic is in. I went with an old favorite last Fall: Inchellium Red. This was a fantastic producer. I have another bed in the back garden that isn't quite as far along. It should be ready in a couple of weeks. As so many of us have said, everything is so early this year. I normally do not get to harvest my first garlic until after the fourth of July holiday. A wonderful problem to be sure. We are beginning to come out of the fog of the Spring. We have accepted the health issues and are dealing with them head on without dwelling on the negative. Faith and hope are our constant mantra these past few months add to that the support and love of friends and neighbors and we are doing pretty darned good. The little Doodle Dog was an added benefit. She certainly will cheer your heart when you need it the most. We need to come up with a recipe that needs garlic this weekend. I am absolutely positive that Dr. B is up to the task. She is always up to the task. The Garden Doodle and I are the luckiest in the world to be a part of her life. It's hard to believe it will be 42 years this year. Where does the time go? It's a good morning for a bit of gardening. There is always something to do. I've heard rumors of a possible visit to the garden center this afternoon. Anything is possible for a couple of #supercoololdpeople and their little Doodle Dog. We wish you a bit of faith, a lot of hope and heaping helping of love this weekend. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.
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A bit of color to brighten up this dreary Wednesday morning. Rain this morning will turn to partly cloudy skies by this afternoon. To be honest, we could use a nice, gentle, soaking rain.
This strange year has finally, almost against all odds, reached the month of June. The calendar may disagree, but it is summer, and my Carondelet Garden is well aware. Everything has been incredible early this year. We are relishing the blooming of flowers and perennials throughout the garden in every conceivable way as the borders burst with color. The days are long with light and color breaks through offering us hope and grace when we need it the most! We are just about finished with planting. I say that every year, but it is never quite true. We wouldn't be gardeners if we ever really stopped at this time of year. Now is also the perfect time to begin cutting back. It's the season to deadhead spent flowers to encourage more blooms. It is also time to cut back tulips and daffodils now spent and ready for a nice long nap until next Spring. We can also move any Spring bulbs that may need a new home. Hard to believe we are dreaming of next Spring already. The work continues. Digging in, weeding, planting, getting a bit dirty and allowing those microbiomes to enter the old body and encourage my own physical vigor. The old knees and hips are complaining this morning, but we continue on. It's what we do. Keep the faith. Hold on to hope. Live in love. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. It is a beautiful Monday morning here in the Carondelet Garden. The skies are clear and the sun is shining. The birds are once again singing their song as the fly in and out of the birdfeeders. A wonderful morning for a walkie with the Garden Doodle and now a cup of coffee.
April showers bring May flowers they say. Well, we had our share of May showers as well. The good news is the flowers are looking pretty amazing right now around the garden. The hailstorm of the end of May hit us pretty hard in the vegetable department. Runner beans and snap peas didn't make it. Many tomato plants were damaged but salvageable. The squash and cucumbers are looking pretty poorly right now but we are hopeful they will bounce back. The surprise of all was that flowers, perennials, bushes, etc. came out pretty much unscathed. The hostas were the only one to suffer but we know they will come back! Things are slowly improving and getting back to some assemblance of normal. June is here and a new month begins. The little Garden Doodle is headed down the street for her grooming this afternoon. We see the vet for a quick check up tomorrow. She is learning a lot but still has a way to go. I am a lot older than I was the last time I had a puppy. My knees and old hip are reminding me of that fact every day now. Worth it! Here's to a great Monday. A wonderful week ahead. Summer is just about here. A little faith, a bit of hope and a whole lot of love from the #supercoololdpeople and the garden Doodle in the Carondelet Garden. A little fog with clouds this morning here in the Carondelet Garden. Even with the rain yesterday, we had a moment or two of sunshine sneaking in giving us the opportunity to enjoy our lovely Foxglove. Today's clouds should dissipate by this afternoon with highs in the upper 70s. A beautiful day for a big of gardening.
This is the time of year where it feels like the garden has an almost irrepressible urge to grow. With the growing light, which is so noticeable right now, the beauty of the garden begins to burgeon and blossom with a sense of hope. The past month or so has been a bit of a roller coaster with a new puppy and some other unexpected challenges for us. The sense of hope is needed now more than ever. We will be taking a break for the rest of the month and into June to get some things sorted out and welcome your good thoughts and especially prayers right now. A bit of faith, hope, and love mixed with prayers is a good way to move forward. That's all the news for now from the Carondelet Garden. A cloudy morning here in the Carondelet Garden with showers expected to arrive later. We could use a nice soft, gentle rain. It's amazing to think we need moisture after the rains of last week, but it is true! We should have rain tonight and into tomorrow as well.
Hard to believe but the tulips are gone, the daffodils are finished, and the lilac is pruned for next season already. It is only mid-May and so many things are already finished for the season. Time is flying by so quickly right now. Keeping up with the weeding has become almost a full-time job! The old saying is that one person's weed is another person's wildflower and, as any wise gardener will tell you, the true definition of a weed is "any plant growing where it is not wanted." My weeding is simply to keep the plants I want to live protected from encroachment by the plants I do not. Emerson said, “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” Thank you @littlegardeninthebigwoods for sharing that quote a while ago. A cloudy, rainy day is the perfect excuse to relax a bit and read a good book with a cup of tea and some lovely music playing in the background. Quiet the mind and the soul will rejoice. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. Happy Mother's Day to every person who has ever made a difference in a child's life. To all of the moms, the influential aunts, the friends, the chosen family, and the Dog Moms who change lives every day. Thank you all for the love you give every day to those who need it most.
It is a sunny, mild Thursday here in the Carondelet Garden. The weather folks say some clouds will be about this morning, but this afternoon should see all sunshine. A well-deserved break after the rains and storms of the past few days. A beautiful day to mark the 40th day after Easter and Ascension Day.
It has been a challenging few weeks for Dr. B and this old gardener to say the very least. I have been asking God often recently, "What do you want from me?" Sometimes I ask thoughtfully, sometimes in sheer frustration. Yet, the answer always seems to be stop, rest, abide in me and I will provide what you need. Trust in me. Trust. Easy to say, hard to do. Why do I resist contemplation? Why do I find this journey so difficult? What exactly to I believe right now? And what can I do to bring my spirit back to balance? Struggles are constant in this life but then again, so is beauty and love. I believe we seek God, not necessarily in one church or one denomination but in our own way. I believe we are looking for the simple wholeness that dwells deep within us yet so often overlooked until that well runs dry. Although the Garden may be saturated my soul thirsts right now. I'm tired, anxious, and worried while struggling to hold on to faith and hope. Time will tell and time will heal. For now, we wait and pray. The good news is the sun is shining. The birds are singing. The music coming from the SmartSpeaker is beautiful. Coffee is brewing and a warm puppy is sleeping at my feet. Hope. Faith. Love. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. It's a cloudy, wet Monday morning here in the Carondelet Garden. We should see a bit of clearing by this afternoon, but a stray shower or thunderstorm is not out of the question. Highs should be in the upper 70s. Welcome to Spring in Saint Louis.
Walking through the Garden this morning I was struck by how early everything bloomed this season. Daffodils and tulips are all finished now but with the wet, mild weather the weeds have come on in abundance. Weeding the Garden is a wondrous activity. It is an opportunity to be fully present. Weeding is something that requires my focus and attention allowing me to escape thinking about what's next and focus on what's happening right now. What a gift! As an old gardener I sometimes can get stuck worrying about tomorrow and the "what ifs" of life. I can get caught up in the infinite loop of worry and anxiety. Gardening takes me out of that place and puts the focus back on the now. The discipline of radical simple attentiveness gives me a bit of grace in the most mundane of circumstances. The moments when I need grace the most. It's the first Monday morning in May. A good time to count my blessings and remember I am loved, just the way I am, right now. A good reminder for all of us! That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. It's a cloudy, wet morning here in the Carondelet Garden in lovely South Saint Louis. The clouds will be sticking around all day with light and variable winds. A bit of a drowsy Friday to be sure.
The garden is in pretty good shape for the beginning of May. The peppers were planted this week so we should be seeing a nice flush coming soon. The wonder of this week was the blooming of my Oriental Poppy! Oriental Poppies (Papaver Orientale) are herbaceous perennial flowers (dies back to the ground then reemerges) with large, brightly colored papery petals. The foliage is furry, and thistle-like which adds a lovely textural element. We fell in love with these plants after seeing them at @mobogarden on a visit last year. This is our second year but our first bloom. Such a lovely addition to the Parterre Garden and a good diversion from the onslaught of bad news. There is so much upset and anger around right now. I am striving to discover what spiritual sanity means to me right now. Whatever changes around us should not change our best intentions and must not corrupt our best selves. We are not expected to leave society but to live it in a new way that can survive and thrive. I am seeking the simple wholeness of my true self. The self that dwells deep within in me already and sometimes overlooked until the well runs almost completely dry. I'm working on that self that works under pressure. That is what my heart is seeking right now. There is so much going on and so many anxieties and worries but there is always the call of the garden to come away, rest a bit, enjoy a cup of tea and let your worries rest awhile. Now is the time of faith, a time for hope, and the ever-growing need to share a bit of love. Share some love with yourself, your neighbor, the person checking your groceries at the supermarket, even that grumbly guy who never seems to smile. It's a good day for a good day. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. Another beautiful day here in the Carondelet Garden. The sun is shining but the clouds may move in this afternoon with a few periods of showers possible. Just another Spring Day in South Saint Louis.
My ITOH peony is looking amazing right now. One of my favorite plants of all time but the poor plant has been moved three times. You know the old saying "right plant, right place?" Well, I have the right plant but planted in the wrong place several times. I think I finally have it right! I did worry that it wouldn't make it when I moved it last fall. It looked terrible and I feared it was actually a goner. With the horrible freeze we had in January I truly left little hope for its survival. I want to give a shoutout to Revive fertilizer from @ggointernational for the help. I don't usually recommend products, but this stuff is pretty awesome! I give it so much credit for saving my lovely peony bush. A busy day on tap for Dr. B and the old gardener. Be good to yourself and others as you travel about on the Wednesday in May. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. |
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