Sweet Vitriol

Anyone who has ever tried to travel to Washington D.C. to see the cherry blossoms is well aware that they are fickle creatures, if you can call a flower a creature that is. Despite the amazing beauty of a cherry in full bloom, it is a brief moment indeed. Last year we had a full 5 days of blossoms before the branches were bare and the ground was strewn with petals. So far we’re on day three of this years bloom. I will miss the delicate perfume on the air, but it certainly gives something to look forward to every year. This is our second spring here with the Ether Garden and I have an awe and appreciation for this tree which I can’t quite express. There are ornamental weeping cherry trees all around town, but I have yet to see another of the same size and sheer blossom load that ours has.

Today the tree was a-buzz with honey bees, which made us smile. The whole tree was just covered in them busily flying from flower to flower, there was a decent hive’s worth of bees there today. Such a lovely thing to see, especially with everything going on these days with hive collapse.

I did notice, while going through photos, that either the tree is early this year, or the flowers are late, or something. I also noticed how very quickly this tree grows! This photo is from last year, taken on April 17th. There is definitely not nearly that much going in the garden around the tree right now! Then again- it’s only the first week of April right now, so maybe the tree is early? I’ll try to grab a good photo of the tree tomorrow which really shows how much this tree has grown. The longest branches are touching the ground, and even the short ones are a mere foot shy. Who knew they were such vigorous growers? I’ve started reading up on how to properly prune the tree, to keep it as healthy and pretty as I can.

Saturday eve we tucked in to have a relaxing time of starting seed and watching a movie. Or so we thought at least. There we were, flats and pots, starting mix, water, our movie, all ready to go. But wait a minute- where are the SEEDS?! So we start hunting. We looked into the big plastic tote of gardening stuff, not there. We looked in the basement where we’d last seen the bag of fall-planting materials, not there. We checked the pantry, not there. We checked the fridge, not there either!
And so it was that we started tearing apart the house from top to bottom and bottom to top. The seeds (along with a few other things including my garden gloves and our row-cover material) were nowhere to be found. All the seed saved from last year’s purchases as well as painstaking saved from our beloved garden- gone!
So now we’re poring over seed catalogues, gazing into our bank accounts, and looking over seed swaps trying to bounce back and not lose too much time in the process. Of course, seed-swaps are hard to do when you have no seed, but I am offering hand-painted watercolor post- or greeting-cards in botanical themes.
Just goes to show- always put things back where they belong when you’re done with them! Or something. We’re still not sure what happened to our lovely seeds exactly, but they’re definitely not here.

Bloom Day is here, and just on time! We had our first blossoms here in the Ether Garden about two days ago, in the form of our dwarf irises. They even beat out the crocus blossoms this year, which have yet to be seen even in bud! Of course, we’ve known spring was on it’s way for a while what with the temps popping up into the 70’s for a few days there and the robins being back in town.

The pussywillow is also in bud, which is always a treat. We actually have two in the Ether Garden, one standard and one of the weeping variety. I’ve always loved their little grey furry buds. All the trees seem to be in bud in fact- the weeping ornamental cherry and the maple are both brightly colored with scads of buds waiting for just the right moment. The cherry blossoms make such a brief appearance, but oh what a show!

This week also marked a good bit of garden clean up, namely pulling off the hay mulch wet with rain and melted snow and replacing it (where needed still) with some of the loftier bunches from on top. Trimming back the last of the dead tops from long since spent blossoms, and raking up of errant mulch and leaves is on the agenda for the next couple days. Soon- we plant peas!

Every year the Ether Garden starts off with all sorts of beautiful ideas and a pile of seed packets and plant starts. Then we remember that despite our deepest dreams, the Ether Garden is after-all a terrestrial thing made of soil and loam. Not everything intended is planted, and not all plants go as intended. Despite all of this, we still push on and dream our dreams each spring.

This years varieties, at least as planned, include a vast array of heirloom veggies as usual, some are stand-by old friends, and some are new and exciting. The list so far includes (most seed is heirloom, all seed is organic):

• Bean, bush: Bountiful (1897) [47-50 days]
• Bean, bush: Empress (re-named 1979) [55 days]
• Bean, bush: Pencil Pod Golden Wax (1900) [50-65 days]
• Beet: Carillion [58 days]
• Beet: Chioggia aka Candy Stripe (1840) [50 days]
• Beet: Detroit Dark Red (1892) [60-65 days]
• Read the rest of this entry »

Bad garden blogger, no seed-sharing for you!

I know, those of us here with the Ether Garden have been terrible and vanished into the mists just when the getting was good last year. We apologize from the depths of our hearts and hope you’ll forgive us. Such is the way of the ethereal though, is it not? We intend on being better this year. We also intend on including more than simply gardening this year! If all goes as planned, you dear readers can look forward to posts on all manner of old-fashioned knowledge and techniques for life which seem to have vanished. Home remedies, kitchen-witchery, preserving the bounty of your garden, and the like.

Those who are local to the Ether Garden have much to look forward to as well, in the form of information on local nurseries and garden related events, as well as seed- and bounty-sharing! What fun!