I mentioned this to friend, colleague, and avid gardener, Kim. He said he'd let me borrow a tool that would help planting, since the bulbs needed to be deep in the ground. Well, I sort of forgot about this offer and when this twisted, metal rod showed up on our back porch one day, I wondered what it was. Then it clicked. Well, not completely....
Okay, so this is the tool (I now know it's called a garden auger). Louis and I struggled with it. It hurt our hands and we couldn't figure out how to use it to dig into the ground. So we gave up and used a garden trowel.
Here's where I felt like an idiot (for the first time): Kim explained that the auger is meant to be attached to a drill. Ohhhh. Well, that certainly would have made things much easier.
And about a week ago, spring finally showed her face in Minnesota. The snow all finally melted away (leaving a moldy ground beneath), and plenty of sprigs of green began popping up. Kim talked about his tulips coming up. But...mine weren't up. I started to have self-doubt. I was feeling a little embarrassed, you see. Did I really screw up planting tulips? Sorry, Mom, I didn't inherit your green thumb.
I checked the side of the fence every day after work last week. Nothing. I was out of town all last weekend. DC has its fair share of flowers and greenery. But not my backyard.
But today, today was beautiful. Temperatures soared into the sixties, and as usual, I checked the fence. In the morning I saw some green, but it was mostly weeds. But alas! My eye was struck by this when I arrived home after work:
And there were more, though they were masked by dead leaves and weeds (how come the weeds can grow so quickly?).
You don't do yardwork in boots and a skirt?
Look at all those happy tulips in a row. I mean, if I'm this excited for the leaves, imagine my delight when the flowers pop out. (Did I mention it was a long winter?)
More budding beauties!
The rhubarb has shot up in the garden!
I see a lot of yardwork in the very near future. Mom, feel free to head on up to lend a hand. ;)
Ah, spring. You have officially become my new favorite season. Even with your fickle-ness, I know warmer days are ahead. And I can't bring myself to believe Friday will be 40 degrees with rain/snow. Not possible. Please don't hurt my tulips, Mother Nature!
I am in love with spring too. I think it is very under-appreciated. I will have to send you pics of the tulips on MSU's campus - they're incredible. A few more weeks and I think they'll be a'bloom!
ReplyDeleteYay for Spring! I have always loved Spring. 40's and a little snow will not harm your tulips. They are so hardy.
ReplyDeleteummm, am i reading this right? kim snuck over to your house to leave random garden tools there? was this during a workday?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE tulips...my fav flower!
ReplyDeletedat is strange..... cba 2 read it bt nice images fanx...!!!
ReplyDelete