The Winter Garden

By Carol Woolum Roberts

One of my favorite ways to expand my creativity is in our “Grow Me A Story Garden”.  I love planning what I am going to plant, planting seeds, buying flowers, starting seeds inside, and putting out all the things in our various themed gardens.

This year, I am just not feeling it.  I haven’t been out and done any garden prep work yet this spring.  I walk around and say to myself, “I should take the leaves out of that flower bed.  I should cut back on the branches and flower heads I left all winter.  I should plant some seeds inside.  I should go buy some plants.”

But. alas, none of these plans have come to fruition.

So, I made a few decisions.

I am not going to start any seeds early in the house this year.  My upcoming schedule just doesn’t work to do it this year.  I will plant all the seeds in the ground once the snow is off the Alhambra slide (a local rock slide on the hillside up above Kellogg that is the indicator many use to determine when post-frost seeds can go into the ground.)

Today was “Geranium Day”, and I thought maybe that would get me inspired.  This is the day my P.E.O.  chapter sets up to have all the geraniums we sold as our main fund-raiser picked up and delivered.  I picked them up.  I delivered most of them.  I hung my hanging basket up outside on this beautiful sunny day.  But nothing. No inspiration yet.

A wise friend of mine shared with me something her wise mother shared with her.  She said sometimes we get to spring, but we feel like it is winter, and we aren’t ready to connect with our spring garden yet.  Maybe it won’t happen this year.  I will still plant and plan and love the fruits of my labor.  I hope my heart will turn warmer, as the weather turns warmer, and I hope to embrace all the loveliness of my spring garden.

Until then, I will plod along, one day at a time, and eventually the seeds with push forth from the soil, the flowers will bloom, and this winterness inside me will hopefully melt.

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Are you a gardener?  What is it about gardening that you enjoy the most?

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