I’m hand watering several one gallon containers of new plants for the garden and some for my back yard, that I intend to start planting with some natives. This all seems familiar to me, with the exception that at this time, the Santa Ana winds aren’t blowing.
The passage of time, just flows on and on even though we sometimes wish it wouldn’t especially when we are enjoying ourselves and at other times when we are suffering, it seems as though time has stopped and is most cruel.
It has been two years since I started my adventure in native plant gardening and somehow, Im surprised. I don’t know why. I understand that time is always moving, changing with the universe and our place in it. And that “time” really only exists in the moment.
Life is nothing more than a series of moments and so is everything in our environment. Including our gardens where we can see the passage from a plant’s fresh start, maturation and then dying. The seasons are markers and interestingly enough, Autumn is the marker for a new beginning when you have a garden made up of native plants.
People tend to thing of Spring as a time of fresh starts. All the annuals in the nurseries and people feeling inspired to get out into their yards and do some gardening, making everything look beautiful. But with native plants, Fall is the beginning. it’s the time to get excited about new plants and design possibilities and reap the benefits in the Spring.
Kind of backwards!
Looking over my garden at this time, makes me think about how hard Deena and I worked getting it completely done before Christmas. The howling Santa Ana’s then the hard rains…and boy do I remember how frantically we were shoveling mulch around the plants as darkness fell and in a steady rainfall to make it even more uncomfortable.
The two years have been enlightening and enjoyable for me as the garden as grown and matured. Now that summer has passed and with the little bit of recent rain, it looks revived and I’m noting that many of the plants are putting on new growth.
The passage of time is something that “all” experience and none of us are exempt from its effects. As for me, I’ve learned a great deal about natives but only slightly. I expect my education and experience to grow in the coming years.
Right along with my garden.
