Thoughts on a Garden

No matter the time of year, I find my garden to be a parable for the triumph of hope. The prep work of gardening in the spring is an investment of hard work and imagination; the payoff is not immediate. As I work, I picture the plants that will eventually flourish. In spring, my garden is a reminder that patience is a very good thing. The soil is dark, wet, and cold. There is plenty of waste that still needs removing, and it is sometimes hard to believe that things will not just grow, but will thrive in just a few short months.

I got a big start on my summer garden on the last weekend of spring break. In the sun, it was almost warm. I dug holes and then planted my dwarf fruit trees (it doesn't look like much now, but I'm hoping for some apples and pears next year), I turned over the soil in the patch reserved for vegetables and flowers, and I cleaned out my side flowerbed and planted bulbs for lots of summer day lilies, iris, acidanthera, freesia, anemone, and caladium blooms (75 bulbs are now in the ground, getting ready for summer).
Once I start digging in the soil, I recall the ironic dilemma of gardening: I spent hours devoted to getting some things to grow (the flowers and plants that I want, some more grass seed) and just as much time devoted to getting other things not to grow (weeds! crabgrass! dandelions!).

But the process has begun and though there is plenty of work yet ahead, there is also the contemplation of plenty to enjoy as well.