Here's to Martha!

Martha's Garden

Each year, I take vacation from work for the week of Good Friday.  I call it my “Gardening Galore” vacation.  This is the first “Gardening Galore” week without Martha, my gardening buddy, so I thought a post in her honor would be fitting.  I don't intend this to be a sad post, but a post to remember someone dear who I had great gardening times with, and who taught me a lot about gardening.  Aside from being my gardening buddy, she was also my mother-in-law and fellow daylily addict.  Martha was the only person I’ve known who was more obsessed with daylilies than I am.  Actually, SHE started my addiction (to her delight)!  One of the first daylilies I remember Martha giving me was one named Orange Crush.  I still have it.    In her last days, Martha told me I’d have to carry on in the gardening world without her.  She knew I would.  The most treasured items I have from her are some precious daylilies from her collection (she had hundreds).  When her daylilies were in bloom, I’d always go straight to Martha’s after work to take the daylily tour.  The great thing about daylilies aside from their beauty is that each day is a surprise!  Each bloom only lasts a day, so you have a whole new show each morning.  She was particularly fond of the daylilies with a spider form as am I.  Yesterday, I stood on the deck and looked at Martha’s garden in bloom across the fence.  She had lots of amaryllis planted, and they’re all in bloom now (daylilies should bloom in about a week).  Red was Martha’s favorite color, and it definitely shows in her garden.  For some reason, her flowers (even of the same type) always bloomed before mine.  There must be some special micro-climate over there.  We both loved hummingbirds too.  Martha accused me of mixing “special” nectar when the hummers hung around over here more than at her feeders.  The truth is, hummingbirds can just be fickle, and will fly right by with their beaks “up in the air” for no good reason sometimes.  As I begin this week of “Gardening Galore,” it will be a big adjustment not hearing the sprinkler next door, Martha’s hoe or shovel in the dirt, the squeaky wheels of her gardening cart, or not having her just pop over to see how my gardening is going.  As I told her, I will carry on in the garden ...

Martha's Garden

From Martha's Garden

Another from Martha's garden (think it's "Aztec Fire Bird)


Not sure of this one's name, but it's a beauty ...

Martha

Three special gardening tips I learned from Martha:

1. When planting the same type of plant/flower in groups, always plant three, five or seven (never an even number).
2. When combining plants, have something spiky, something ferny (cascading) and something mounding … “Spiky, Ferny, Mounded.”
3. Always taper your flower beds off on the edges, so the heights of the plants get lower as they get toward the edges/sides.  Personally, this has worked for me.  It is especially noticeable with smaller flower beds.

Martha's "Daylily Farm"

:-)