NOTE TO MYSELF FOR NEXT SPRING

An Arrangement for Ruby

My painting , above, is dedicated to an avid gardener, my dear Mother who died when I was four. It was purchased by a woman whose sister loved gardening and was dying of cancer. Flowers are much like humans. A seed is planted and it grows and flourishes. It brings joy and beauty and then one Spring it doesn't return.

Spring is a time of renewal and regrets for gardeners. The earth is still brown or white with snow and we begin to fret about what we didn't do last Fall.

I've written my list for next Spring :

Plant Forsythia along the fence in my front yard. I have one in back but it looks so nice to see that cheery warm yellow every Spring and walking up and down my street I see so many announcing Spring has arrived.

Plant more Spring bulbs. Species tulips , the small flowering ones for rock gardens and the lily-flowering May tulips with pointed petals are my favorites. Planting tulips is almost an annual thing in Chicago as so many seem to disappear or get eaten by rabbits. I havenoticed that the ones that make it year after year are the daffodils, Darwin hybrid and species tulips.

Plant more hellebores for the earliest Spring bloom. I want a "blue " grass lawn like the one I saw down the street - Scilla had colonized and it looked so soothing to see the clouds of blue. Seems if you like them they won't colonize and if you don't, they will. I love them and my neighbor considers them a nuisance.

Fight the war of the weeds : Dig out every Star of Bethlehem that keeps travelling to my garden from next door. For me, these are the biggest nuisance of all and if you ignore them they will take over your entire garden. My garden used to be plagued by Johnnie Jump-ups which I kept after until I finally conquered them. Oh, and don't forget the garlic chives that I foolishly planted and that are now travelling South.

So, just like the Chicago Cub fans , I say, " wait until next year ".

Meanwhile, Spring is due in Chicago this week. The long-range shows 60's and 70's. Yahoo !