I often say that I love indoor and outdoor gardening. I have come to fully realize that is a bit of a stretch. I love indoor gardening. I love to buy cute pots and exotic plants. I will water and fertilize and give them light until they bloom or bear fruit. I will propagate cuttings, repot and transplant all manner of indoor plants. My enthusiasm has no bounds and you can find lovely bits of nature in every room of my home.
And then there is the outdoor gardening. I love planning the gardens. I love buying the plants and flowers for the gardens. I love the little decorative things. I love the birdhouses and birdbaths and birdfeeders. I love the trellises and hanging planters. I love the raised vegetable gardens and patio pots filled with herbs.
And then it rains, and everything grows and then come the WEEDS. They typically arrive just before a holiday and when company is coming. The first WEED BONANZA is just before Memorial Day. I want the spring gardens to look good, so I need to clear the brown stuff from last fall and the straw cover from winter. It takes time and effort and sometimes it is cold and rainy. I don’t love this.
The second WEED EXTRAVAGANZA typically arrives just as it gets over 90 degrees and the humidity is 80%; just before the 4th of July as the corn is knee high. The bugs are hungry and every thing in the garden scratches bare legs and arms as you try to manage the heat. You have to carefully navigate around blossoms yet to open so you don’t break off the lilies you have been waiting for all year. I don’t love this.
The final WEED COMPETITION comes as the winds of fall arrive to mark Labor Day. This will be a sad and tired kind of a battle. Harvest is over. You still have a month or more of color before the snow flies. But, you have to pull THE WEEDS. I don’t love this.
Did I mention mowing the lawn and trimming the bushes and picking the beans, and dead heading the petunias and watering everything? I don’t love this.
And yet, I love the flowers and the pretty colors. So, I guess I love indoor gardening and I DO outdoor gardening so I can love the gardens.
