Brian and Libby's Blog

Digging in the dirt

So yesterday was my first attempt at "gardening." Let me caution you, I use that term very, very loosely, because I don't know if what I did yesterday can really be considered gardening. But anyways, a very good friend of mine has spent years on her gardens, and she was pruning them back this summer, and very graciously offered to give me some. The idea of having something to grow in my backyard other than giant squirrel was very appealing and I accepted her offer.

This decision was followed by much trepidation, since I don't have any clue of what to do when I have gardening gloves on (yes, gloves. They have special gloves for gardening. I learned that). But the more people I talked to, the more the process of planting things sounded simple. Dig a hole, put in the plant, cover with dirt. Repeat. So Saturday night I brought home 2 huge hosta plants, black eyed susans, daisies, daylilies and cone flowers. Little did I know that you trim all of these back in the summer, so they all looked the same in their little pots....just roots and dirt with chopped stems sticking out. Luckily my friend is not only a gardener, but a compulsive organizer. So each plant was labeled and corresponded to a little guide on how to plant it, what it needs, etc.

So Sunday afternoon I bought a shovel and a rake, brought the plants out back, and started digging. I even pretended I was one of those outdoor designers on HGTV and put the pots in several locations to see which arrangement was most Zen like. It was actually kind of fun, and a lesson in patience...I have to wait 8 or 9 months to see these babies bloom! Oh well. It will all be worth it in the spring! Hopefully I didn't mess up and I will actually have flowers blooming in the spring..

posted by Libby @ 8:11 AM