Painting My World Brightly

[ladysprite]

I love flowers. I love their colors, and their shapes, and the sheer enthusiasm that they seem to embody, and I love the tiny delicate detail and the texture of the petals, and in a way I love the fact that they're so transitory - the way you have to enjoy them while they're there, because they won't last forever. I have a tendency to try to save and horde things instead of using them, and flowers are a reminder to me that that strategy doesn't always work as the best way to make yourself and the world happy.

I've never taken on the challenge of flower gardening, though. It's always struck me as an aesthetic challenge that I wasn't sure I was up to - all of the books and guides I've read show these complicated beds laid out with the most exact, particular plants in the most exact, particular places, to make sure they grow properly together to look right and be healthy, and I could never find just what they recommended. So rather than do it wrong and have an aesthetically unpleasant garden, I just kept myself to safe, simple vegetables.

Except... they're flowers. How hard can they be? So over time I gradually dipped my toe in the scary world of ornamental gardens, mostly with help and cuttings from friends, and a handful of non-intimidating bulbs.

Today I have a vase full of daffodils and yellow tulips over my fireplace, cut from my own garden. I feel bad having cut them, but the reminder that I grew these, that I put something bright and joyous in the world, is worth more to me right now than having a perfect row in front of the house. I know it's not a huge accomplishment, but it's pretty spiffy to me. And my lilacs are blooming for the first time, and the lilies of the valley are slowly starting to emerge - I had worried that they wouldn't come back, but apparently they're just late this year.

I can see how this could become seriously habit-forming. I'm already imagining doubling the amount of bulbs in front of the house, and hunting down a few more lilacs, and wondering where I could put more color around the house....

Comments

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

Go you! That's awesome! (:

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

I miss lilacs. They don't thrive in our climate. Tom & I planted a lilac bush behind the shed at our condo in Nashville, but last week Russ & I drove past there on our way home and the new owners apparently dug it up -- there's nothing there any more. That makes me sad.

Unless you're (1) planting an English-style formal garden or (2) trying for snooty society awards, the only thing you really have to watch about planting flowers is to make sure they get the type of sun/shade mix they need, and any nursery (physical or online) can tell you that. Oh, and be careful about invasives. But most people are going to look at a riotous mix of different blooms and say, "Ooh, pretty!"

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I am currently sitting under an armful of beautiful flowers grown just as yours were, with love in a home garden. :D

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

Your flowers sound lovely.

Don't worry about the lilies of the valley. You can't kill them with a stick. Or a shovel, or a flame thrower. And if you want enthusiasm, those are the flowers for you. Mine are coming up through a cement block patio.

[gmkieran.livejournal.com]

my mom still has lillies of the valley that were grown from a clipping that was in her wedding bouquet (her first wedding bouquet, back in '40-something) they've come up every year through at least 4 different transplantings as she moved. :D Enjoy!

[surakofb5.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of low-maintenance flowers that are nearly impossible to kill. I have violets, daffodils, columbines, a few tulips, some coral bells, lily of the valley, and lots of irises in several colors. And some hostas that have inexplicably resisted being eaten by deer. Over time the plants spread and get overcrowded, especially plants with bulbs (daffodils) or rhizomes (irises), and then you need to dig them up, divide them, and replant them in several places around the yard and give some away to friends. Most of my plants came from friends and relatives and spread from there. I take a Darwinist approach to gardening and let it tend to itself.

Don't worry about cutting the flowers from the tulips and daffodils. You would have to dead-head them anyway after the flowers died to prevent them going to seed. So think of it as a preemptive maneuver. ;-)