rain and mud and shopping

The threat of frost is finally over and it's planting time!  I have been driving all over Northeast Pennsylvania and New Jersey looking for the best product I can find for my gardens.   It's tedious but worth it.  Although I confess I do buy from Home Depot now and then, I buy 90% of my plants and flowers from local green houses.  I find the people who own them are wonderful to work with.  They know and stand behind their product, are eager to share their information with you and have a vested interest in your progress.  Because they are local, your success is their success.

(Tammy Clucas, owner of Clucas Farms on Rt 521 in Harmony, NJ has been a terrific source for me.  Not only does she know a lot, her product is wonderful; I have never purchased something from her that did not completely satisfy me.  I often ask for plants or flowers she doesn't have or doesn't have a lot of.  Each time I do this ((she probably groans when she sees me pull in)), she does all she can to find it for me somewhere else.  You won't get that kind of service at Home Depot.)

Today I woke up all fresh and eager for my day in the garden.  Even though it was raining (a soft rain), I was undaunted in my fervor to dig, plant and prune.  It wasn't so bad in the beginning, but the soft rain became a steady rain and the steady rain became a hard rain and the hard rain broke me.  My pants were so wet they were sticking to my legs, my gloves were soaked through and it was so cold I could see my breath!!!  That was where I drew the line!  I packed up my stuff, called Bentley to follow and headed home where a hot bath was awaiting me.

Now I am warm, dry and ready to go at it again tomorrow.

(Get ready Tammy.  I need a few more baskets of bacopa)

ps  the lady in the picture isn't me, but isn't she hilarious? That was my expression at the end of the day too.

master gardener

Try as I may, I can never outdo the Master Gardener.  Where I live, Northeast Pennsylvania, I am surrounded by hills and forests. It's just beautiful. The Delaware Water Gap and Appalachian Trail are only minutes away and I hike there as often as I can. In the spring, the streams are bulging and run into creeks that are rushing into waterfalls and are gorgeous.  It seems to surprise me every year.

In my own little corner of it all, there is a lovely woods that surrounds my neighborhood.  Every morning, I take my puppy out for his morning potty into this woods.  Today I was feeling a bit more sluggish than usual and grumpily trudged out to the woods with Bentley when I was assaulted by the most glorious fragrance (not emanating from him, I assure you)! Everywhere I turned, the wild honeysuckle was beginning to bloom and the smell was incredible!!  What a treat!!   In a few weeks from now, just as the honeysuckle dies off, the wild roses will take over.

There is a Master Gardener, and it's not me.