Down the rabbit hole
If you think plant names are challenging – try coming up with unique and memorable names for thousands of rescued dogs. Lately, we have resorted to “months” – artist month, musician month, etc. This is writer month. Which is how this sweet little girl acquired the name Beatrix Potter.
She is a breeder surrender with only one functioning kidney. That makes her imperfect in a breeder’s eyes – but certainly not in ours, or in the adoring eyes of the family that adopted her today.
It is fitting that Beatrix Potter’s namesake should be represented in the garden today. The author of the Tale of Peter Rabbit must have inspired the return of our bunnies who have tunneled two burrows under our prized blueberry bushes. You might remember that this was the former site of the dreaded blackberry bramble. As fate would have it – the bramble served as the bunnies’ previous home. They have apparently returned to take their revenge!
Beatrix Potter wrote, “There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.”
The Memorial Garden is like that. Begun with a desire to contribute to the rescue’s mission, it has taken us down the most wonderful rabbit hole of friendship and extended Homeward Bound family.
Today we met to re-work Randy and Vonnie’s butterfly bed. All but the roses were lost in last December’s deluge.
So we regrouped; raised the bed; and planted a host of perennials for attracting butterflies: Bee Balm, Milkweed, Sage, Yarrow, Coreopsis, Penstemon, Lantana, and more. The bed will be quite a showpiece in a month or so – befitting its position in the center of the garden.
Then, it was time for a doggie parade.
Dressed to impress with colorful collars and leashes donated by the generous folks at Lupine, we took photos to create an appropriate “thank you”.
Some of us were more into hamming it up and cuddles than modeling, but everyone knows that looking good is important to a dog’s self-esteem!
When you look good, you feel good…and you never know where that will lead a rescue dog. Maybe even to a forever home!
Wordless Wednesday: Puppy Love
Remaking our corner
“It is far easier to start something than it is to finish it.” ~ Amelia Earhart
I asked my painter friend recently: “how do you know when it is done?” She had many answers, but the bottom line was that it rarely was. She confessed to reworking a canvas as much as a year after she put it down. The Homeward Bound Memorial Garden is like that for me – much to my fellow gardener’s chagrin. They laugh at my long list of projects and inability to leave things alone.
Sunday, we re-worked the Butterfly garden which has been conspicuously absent of Butterflies. We pulled up the large, heavy bark –
and started loading in piles of soil to raise the new transplants so they won’t sit in the winter water that floods the garden in December and January. Butterfly Bush, Monarda, Yarrow, Milkweed, Coneflower, Sage, Verbena, Lantana, and more will provide a welcome home.
While they mock me, I see them making plans of their own. With the ground work begun in the Butterfly bed, Maria had us turn attention to the herb garden. We love our pups; but not the way they relieve themselves on the herbs. So we have devised a scheme to put flowers in front and raised herbs in the rear.
Ina, meanwhile sneaks off to “contemplate” – which is almost always followed by a burst of fresh perspiration inspiration. This time, she has designs on the leftover stone. We’ll see what masterpiece she cooks up next.
The dogs? They just laugh. Unsure why anyone would want to work so hard when there are walks to be had –
apples to be retrieved…
and little boys to be played with.
“Gardeners are – let’s face it – control freaks. Who else would willingly spend his leisure hours wresting weeds out of the ground, blithely making life or death decisions about living beings, moving earth from here to there, changing the course of waterways? The more one thinks about it, the odder it seems; this compulsion to remake a little corner of the planet according to some plan or vision.” ~ Abby Adams, What is a Garden Anyway
Compulsion or not, this little corner of the planet seems a little better for the effort.
let it rain
After a long, dry winter, the garden bows and say ‘thank you’ for the rain.
Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
~ Langston Hughes
To know the garden
“I knew in my heart that I wanted to know the garden intimately, to know all the flowers
in each season, to be there from spring through autumn, digging, pruning, planting,
feeding, rejoicing. In short, I had fallen in love.”
~ Elizabeth Murray
Wordless Wednesday: Lilly’s Bliss
The gardener as instrument
“All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.” ~ Helen Hayes
My friend Tanner is still dreaming…while I am working.
But what a wonderful feeling to weed and mow and trim as the Memorial Garden bursts forth around me.
Two different visitors confessed today that they never believed this garden would be realized.
I guess there is no telling what a few devoted gardeners can accomplish.
All of last season’s hard work is evident again.
Even those we thought were lost, like this butterfly twig bush is now making a comeback.
“Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer.” ~ Geoffrey B. Charlesworth
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” ~ Margaret Atwood
Dirt, and dogs, I say. And I so happily do.
This has to stop
I am angry.
Let me preface this with the understanding that this is a personal blog. When I speak here, I speak as an individual, not as a representative of the organization I volunteer with and love. With that out of the way…
There is a tremendous sense of fulfillment that comes with rescue. Blessings surround us daily. I heard a saying recently – “hard is hard”. There are certainly many hard things in rescue. Some of these are just strenuous physical challenges – some are difficult emotional challenges. I try to accept what comes our way with as much grace as possible: good people who surrender their dog through no fault of their own; others who surrender their dog for a myriad of reasons that, to me, are unfathomable (he got big; he got sick; my boyfriend doesn’t like him). I try to keep my judgement in check and focus on the best interest of the dog. There are dogs we could not help because they were simply dangerous; and there are those we said ‘goodbye’ to because it was unfair to let them suffer. These are the hard realities that sometimes accompany rescue. But there are some realities where grace escapes me altogether.
All across this country, rescue organizations are faced with an impossible moral dilemma as a result of irresponsible breeders who regard dogs solely as cash crops – puppy mills. Dogs that have been bred until they have outlived their usefulness; sick and broken puppies. If we take the dogs, we are enabling their operations. If we do not, the dogs are “disposed” of – often cruelly.
I am angry.
I am angry that good people with kind hearts are put in the impossible situation of having to make such a horrible choice.
I am angry that our weak laws, over-burdened law enforcement and under-funded courts make it possible for these operators to operate with impunity.
I am angry that I cannot be even more specific for fear of jeopardizing the lives of dogs we can save.
I am angry that intelligent people continue to create a market that supports this when there is a mountain of information available to put an end to it.
I am angry that dogs give us unconditional love and trust, while we allow this situation to continue.
This has to stop. If you must purchase a puppy instead of adopting, there are such obvious, simple, best practices to follow that would put an end to puppy mills. Like anything harmful to our earth and its inhabitants, if you want to stop a bad behavior – you have to stop the demand. We have the power to do that. Almost instantly. Please use it.
Here is a link to the Humane Society’s tips to avoid inadvertently supporting puppy mills. Please share them with everyone you know. http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/puppy_mills/tips/buying_puppy.html
Wordless Wednesday: Anastasia
We go to school
At Homeward Bound we rescue Golden Retrievers, golden mixes and the occasional gold dog masquerading as one or the other. But we serve dogs of all shapes, sizes and spots through our Golden Rule Training program which is available to adopters, fosters and the public. The garden has always been a welcome place to visit on the way to training classes. Thor and Locke –
and Bear and Cooper regularly make their way through the garden before class. It puts them in their happy place.
Lately, the garden has become a destination for training in its own right. Since so many gather here, it is a perfect spot for people socialization training. Sadie visited with us last weekend. She is great around other dogs and gets a lot of hiking and outdoor time,
but people make her a little nervous. When I first walked by, her posture immediately let me know that I was too close and she was uncomfortable.
Our trainers have taught us – avoid eye contact and do not attempt to approach or pet a dog that is afraid. Instead, wait quietly for the dog to approach you – then reward with treats.
It took a little while, but pretty soon Sadie was saddled up to me and turning to mush while my friend Rob took pictures.
Claire is undergoing similar training. Sick as a puppy, she didn’t get a lot of people time – something that is key to a well-adjusted dog.
One by one, visitors approached her in the garden. She is making steady progress. Who says a dog can’t change its spots?
Training, like gardening, is a commitment. It requires patience, consistent effort, and a little bit of faith.
“Properly trained, a man can be dog’s best friend.” ~ Corey Ford
A flower for every smile
For the first time since I began volunteering at Homeward Bound, the kennels are only half full (a temporary situation, I’m sure.) Despite the reduced workload, the volunteers were out in abundance. I overheard one of them explaining to someone about what draws her here: the joy she feels when she pulls through the gates; the serenity of the country surroundings; the garden; the people – like Michele and Chip who visited with their failed foster, Murphy, to pick out a new foster pup (they have fostered more than 20);
and of course, the dogs.
These are the loved dogs of Homeward Bound…
the ones that have been with us a long while because their special needs make them hardest to place.
We have faith that someday their perfect match will come along. But until that time, we are very happy to love on them.
“If I had a flower for every time you made me smile,
I’d be walking in an endless garden.” ~ Author Unknown
The garden is smiling back at us;
every visit this time of year brings new spring delights in the waking of perennials, trees and grasses from their winter slumber. I was thrilled to find the Mexican Sage finally popping out from its wood sticks, and Campanula making its way skyward.
I am under orders not to make any significant changes until Ina and Maria return. Does editing the Hummingbird bed count as a significant change?
I don’t think so. Wanting some greater structure during the winter, I added a smoke tree bush, dwarf blue spruce, blue fescue, some boxwood and others.
What do they expect, leaving me alone in our endless garden?
Gardens For Goldens 