Homespun Philosopher

April 29, 2004 11:59 P.M.

I want to share with you�

�some blossoms from my Spring garden.

I don�t feel like writing. My �muse� has been asleep, of late. (Like I have a muse!)

But every time I water my plants, I think of sharing them with you. I know my little garden doesn�t amount to much, and its parameters are limited. I have lived my whole life without even taking an interest in gardening. When I realized that I might be going to spend a lot of hours in solitude in my patio swing, I decided that I had better make the surrounding area as attractive as I could.

It isn�t an easy task. We have had three days of temperatures over 100 degrees already this week. Today is much cooler, and more normal, but the hot winds from off the desert are supposed to begin blowing again this weekend.

I have seen those winds kill potted plants on the patio in one day of blowing. I suppose the practical thing to grow would be succulents and desert plants.

But my roots are in the Ohio River Valley of Kentucky. I have yet to appreciate the beauty of cactus. I recall once, when a friend and I decided we would explore the possibilities of preparing the delicacy of fried cactus. After all, it is a Mexican specialty.

Well, I have no idea how they manage to prepare it. We were picking invisible cactus needles out of our fingers for days, and could not dispose of the whole thing quickly enough.

I have learned that there are many cold weather favorites which one does not even consider growing here�such as tulips. Hydrangeas are very tricky here, but I have managed to keep two potted bushes alive and growing for a couple of years now. They will be blooming in a month or so. Hopefully. But here is a sampling of what is currently in bloom.

It seems awfully early for the wild hollyhocks above, to be in full bloom against my back fence. But they sprang up quickly this year. The roses are bursting out all over the place; in the planter and on the patio. I even have one of those little rose buses that started in a pot as a gift package at the market. It is a floribunda rose and is abounding in blossoms.