Ah, Spring.....but, wait....it's still February! Surely this is not some kind of a joke, these 70+ temperatures we've had for the past week. I cleaned out a flower bed and saw tiny green plants actually peeping up out of the dirt. It's so exciting to think warm weather may be here to stay. We live in the deep South. You just never can tell about the seasons. Sometimes we start out with ice on our car windows and by the time school ends in the afternoon short sleeves are required. Seasons, we have them, sometimes we have ALL of them in a twenty-four hour period.
My Daddy used to say, "Never plant your vegetable garden before Good Friday"...He was right! I have tried it before and have been sad when my little tender plants got nipped by a late frost, but Daddy! This year it falls the end of April! That is so late! I won't have tomatoes until AUGUST! I suppose I will need to go ahead a plant some things in indoor containers and wait it out.
This warm spell sure does make me want to get out and do some stuff though. Our play yard is in desperate need of attention. I really want it to be pretty with lots of little areas of flowers and shrubs.
I want to be a good gardener, but I am not really very skilled. And I am forever hunting my tools, thanks to my three little girls and the constant temptation of the creek. When I can find a shovel or rake it's usually covered in mud or hiding in the butterfly bushes.
The winters are not so harsh here in Alabama but the sun is. I have had little wooden plaques and cutouts on trees and they fade and fall apart after a few months in the weather, metal is the best choice to hold up especially if you don't mind rust. I am collecting metal flowers to paint (and repaint) so that I'm guaranteed color and "blooms" all Spring and Summer.
I bought a trellis and attached it between two trees, I was hoping to make Smilax grow on it and hold it in place. So far it's holding up okay but the actual trellis is formed from vine and it's starting to look dry and weak. I might have to resort to rounded iron rebar. Smilax is tough stuff, like Kudzu...but thankfully not quite as agressive.
We have fought the Kudzu enough. When the play yard was first built it was the predominate plant on the property. It still wants to be, some of it's roots are about the size of my wrist. We dig and cut and poison and dig again. I have heard and believe it's true that Kudzu grows a foot a day. It is that fearce. If I could grow roses or even Confederate Jasmine like I can grow Kudzu I'd have something to see. Unfortunately my Jasmine died last year and the only roses that have survived my pitiful soil have been the wild variety. They have taken over everywhere. Good thing I like them.
I suppose I could go on out and take a look at my little water feature. I would really like a waterfall running the width of my yard but I've settled for a foot tub size "pond" with my little gardian angel fountain. She stands guard over the play yard, and the girls, and the cats....and my missing tools, welcoming gardening season!
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