The Secret Gardens

As all Ontarians know, the May 24th weekend for those who don’t own cottages is the beginning of gardening season. This year the weather was perfect – warm and sunny, although the temperature forecast for the rest of the week is a little disheartening. Tomorrow night there could be low single digits!

Undaunted, we rushed out to some nurseries and searched for the best prices. Then we grabbed up the freshest annuals in our favourite colours, and lugged some bags of potting soil into our trunk. I even picked up new gardening gloves to replace the ones the mice found in the garage during the long winter. Then we sat down to contemplate where to start.

This year, both Peter and I were feeling a bit hesitant to begin this gardening marathon. Peter had turned 80 during the winter and I had dealt with some health issues. Although our house in the city sits on a relatively small property, the previous owners were avid gardeners and planted a Lot of stuff! There are trees and shrubs and hedges and flower gardens all over the place. And they all grow magnificently.

I started off the season by buying a new tool. It’s a Lee Valley invention for old people. It can be a seat or, flipped over, a kneeling pad. Both ways it is something to hold onto while standing up. I already have some good gardening tools – diggers and clippers, and they are all stored in a handy plastic bag with handles. I figured I was all set as I headed to the front yard. I always do the front first, because that’s what people see when they arrive for a visit. It’s gardening vanity.

When I arrived at the garden which runs along beside the front steps and walkway to the front door, I realized a couple of things. First of all my stool would not work on the hilly part at the beginning – it was too wobbly. Second, I remembered that last year I had been dealing with a broken shoulder during May and June and the gardening had somehow been forgotten! Where was the garden anyway? Was it that pile of dead leaves and stumps?

I got down on my knees an began to dig and pull, dig and pull. Soon I came across some tulip stems with their tops bitten off, the remains of some dead annuals from 2 years ago, a travelling vine from a distant ivy plant, and a pot with a plant that is as ancient as the house and has withered old arms and legs, I mean branches.

Meanwhile Peter wasn’t doing much better in the back. Some tomato seeds he had planted inside in March had grown too tall and spindly as they looked for sun. By the time he was ready to plant them outside they were toast. He was devastated. “What about all the people who count on my cherry tomatoes? They are going to be so disappointed!” So he had to stop work and go shopping for small tomato plants.

After I finished the front garden, I headed to the back and found the same neglect. The area where I used to plant bright red annuals as a border had been overtaken by the bushes behind, and some alien plant that was invading my garden right through the chain link fence! I got on my knees again and began to dig. These aliens did not want to leave! And they were accompanied by another foreign species – some kind of mushroom. Were they at least good to eat? No, dear readers, despite being quite distraught, I didn’t poison myself.

Alien species slips through the fence

Then I moved to another area of the back yard where 2 sweet little flowering bushes I had never seen before had sprung up. And after we tidied up the side of the shed, Peter found a tall lilac tree in bloom. Despite all the work, I was really excited with the new discoveries and ready to end the day on this high note. Then Peter pointed out that the rhubarb was growing fast and really needed to be cooked.

This gardening weekend is going to last the entire summer.

Sue