Tag: Photography
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.
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?
The Garden as teacher
After a year of working in the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden, I have – to my amazement – become a more patient gardener. I walk right past the impulse buy tables in the garden store.
Tempting as they are, I now favor these young divides –
trusting that they will grow into stronger, healthier plants that will shoot forth year after year.
This season, I will even experiment with seeds – something I never had the patience for before.
The gardeners and I have watched and learned what works and what doesn’t. Plant in mounds to avoid drowning in the winter rains…
Don’t cut back until after all frosts; it is colder in the country and our little friends need their cover…
And tulips belong in pots, well out of bunny reach!
Last year was all about planning and planting; this season is about waiting.
Including sitting out this Killdeer’s brood; 3-4 weeks incubation time after the last egg is laid. Her nest is so well-known to us that we leave it marked with a little statue for her return each year. No digging here for at least three more weeks, yet she allows us to walk within a couple of feet of her without too much fuss.
“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.”~ Gertrude Jekyll
A return visit
The fertile soils (former wetlands) and Mediterranean climate of the Sacramento Valley provide an ideal environment for growing. The winters are temperate, the summers warm – cooled by Delta breezes. Old trees in established neighborhoods provide frost protection and shade from the blazing late July and August sun. Buildings create closed spaces blocking cold winds that can otherwise quickly freeze fragile plants. As a result, microclimates can be a full zone apart from an area just a few minutes away.
The Memorial Garden is in the country not far from Sacramento – surrounded by flat rice fields. It soaks up sun, but cools off quickly with nothing to block the wind. That’s a wonderful air conditioning system in the summer when breezes come off the wet fields, but it delays our spring, keeping nights and early morning temperatures cool cold.
So, while we wait for our full spring to burst forth at the garden (and while some of you still wait out winter) I made a return trip to the Sacramento City Cemetery, which sits not far from the river, but in the middle of town. Sheltered, and blanketed with old trees, it boasts a much milder growing environment. You might remember my last, late summer visit captured in the post From Whence They Came. I was anxious to see what it looked like in spring. It did not disappoint. Enjoy.
Wordless Wednesday
Gardens For Goldens 