A Springtime Tale Of Flowers & Poetry

I do not remember if I have ever wanted for the season to change this badly in my life. Okay, every mid-summer I feel horrible about sweating under the layers of clothing and I silently beg for Fall to begin, but we shall keep this dramatically romantic. I wanted Spring to overshadow everything that had ruined the festive goodness of Winter this time. And when it came I was ready with a pot of hydrangeas to welcome it. It was my first ever trip to a nursery - because I have somewhat overcome the fear of flying bugs (small ones) - and could summon up enough courage to visit an actual nursery.

The gardener picked a spot for them and dug deep enough for their fibrous roots to grow. The potted plant was transferred to the ground. Hydrangea is a unique kind of flowering plant, really. I picked the lavender color while other varieties are pink, white, green, and yellow. And, depending upon the soil alkalinity they change color. Mine have changed to green and this means the acidity of the soil is pretty low and there's less aluminum. Now where do we get more aluminum from? I have heard about the notorious nature of these flowers. Nurseries breed them on some special magic potion. The minute they reach you, they go back to being neutral!

Gardening is not easy and is most definitely not my cup of tea (Chai to be exact). Not only are there so many types of plant and flowering plant species, there are also so many types of rocks to choose from for landscaping. Our semicircular flower bed was previously a bed of gravel and we had that dug up and prepped up for planting the Snapdragons and the Dusty Millers. There was a buffet of gourmet rocks at the nursery and we still have not made our decision whether or not we want to have them filled up in the flower bed for beautification. 

Maryland has a river system fed by a couple main water bodies and that is the reason there are so many different kinds of decorative rocks. Each river basin yields a different texture and shade palette of rocks and stones. Some rivers give hardened boulders while others have very rich and colorful pebbles and moonstones. Some of these have a functional use such as filling the base of flower pots so that water can seep through them and drain out through holes at the base of the pot without taking fine soil with it. So we got a couple bags for planting my brother's vegetable garden. The decorative ones are yet to be decided. 

I had been underestimating Spring all this time. I am more a Fall person - being a November-born - and I only step out of my zone of comfort when ambers and reds begin to appear. But this Spring I realized that Maryland's Spring is just as beautiful. Okay, I have a Fall bias, but yes Spring needs its special place too.