I've teased you all by telling about a project that I am working on. I've only ordered one thing for that project and now I wonder if I should proceed with it. I keep going back a couple of years and remembering at the end of the season how I was so tired of dragging the hose and fighting the never ending fight against the Japanese Beetles. I really, to tell the truth, wasn't enjoying my garden as I had in years past. Last year was the first year that I simplified....not planting many annuals and really enjoying the plants that I had. There were things to divide...and instead of giving these divisions away...I found a new place for them in my own garden. I found myself relaxing and enjoying it all more. I came to question how is it possible to achieve a feeling of peace and relaxation....if I'm always weeding, watering, fussing. I felt like I was a slave to my garden a few years ago. I came to the conclusion that I had come to terms with my own physical self....knowing that I couldn't or didn't want to continue on with the struggle to keep it all up. It's a never ending battle with me....I have gardened so long and developed certain habits and ways of doing things.....like starting flowers from seed and by now would be hauling the growing plants in and out of the garage at night. By getting to the nursery and picking out the best tomato plants early....before they were picked over. By waiting until Memorial Day weekend to plant tender things. Then the frosty night would come and I'd be out covering everything. Just the thoughts buzzing around in my head about what to plant and where to plant it. Last year, with not much in the way of annuals...there was a peace that came over me. I was finally able to relax more and enjoy it all. This brings us to this year....and here I am again planning a new project. I love the look of tipsy pots. I was introduced to them by Lynn Usuary who used to blog about gardening.She had the most beautiful Tipsy Pots...all over flowing with trailing things. This kept going through my mind...first thing upon waking. I contacted her on FaceBook and she sent me a detailed description of how to make a "tower of flowers." I ordered a metal post to slip the pots on and just about then...started to wonder if this was going to be a lot of work. I read the comments about them online and found that people were having to water them a lot. The watering was difficult for some. The plants didn't do as well as some had hoped. I kept coming back to the computer and researching these things. This was to be the focal point in my front garden...what if it didn't do well, what if we went away and no one could water it, what if the Japanese Beetles destroyed it, what if the wind blew it over? So, too many ifs for me to go ahead with this. Here I go.....if I were younger, I would do it without question, but I have vowed to simplify my life and this is something that would take quite a bit of work and care. I really don't want that...so I am going to forget it and plant a big pot of flowers where I was going to put the Tipsy Pots. I just felt my shoulders drop....my shoulders are always the signal that I am getting tense about something. They go up to my ears, it seems, when I'm tense.... Do you have a body signal... that tells you when to relax?
Now, on to today.....it's sunny out. Joe said first thing this morning, "What's that bright light outside, Balisha?" I plan to get things done in the house and then go out and take a little walk around...to see what is coming up. I just love this time of year. I find little things that I forgot I planted last year, see how all the clematis vines are starting out, check out the lilies, are there violets in the woods? So, many things in a simplified garden.
Balisha
I have no idea why this looks the way it does....just something I don't get with blogger.
