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| 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 ...
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| Martha's Garden |
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| From Martha's Garden |
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Another from Martha's garden (think it's "Aztec Fire Bird)
Not sure of this one's name, but it's a beauty ... |
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| Martha |
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Three special gardening tips I learned from Martha:
- When
planting the same type of plant/flower in groups, always plant three, five or
seven (never an even number).
- When combining plants, have something spiky,
something ferny (cascading) and something mounding … “Spiky, Ferny, Mounded.”
- 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.
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| Martha's "Daylily Farm" |
:-)
