Grumble, Grumble...

I drove down to my sister's today to help her plant her annuals. Her Irises are already blooming, which made me grumble about how nothing, NOTHING, is blooming up here in the mountains yet. Not even my Crocuses or Daffodils. But here we are, planting Impatiens, Pelargoniums, Lobelia, Ivy Leafed Geraniums, Begonias, Zinnas, Lisianthus and just too many others to list. She said that she would love to be able to grow what I have that blooms in the Spring: Tulips, Apple and Pear trees, Lilacs, Dogwoods, and Columbines.



My sister and I do this back and forth grumbling every Spring. But really we both love being able to have the best of both worlds. The soil is still too cold to work up here, so I really like being able to plunge my hands into the earth (ungloved, so my nails are always a mess in growing season, but if I wear gloves I can't tell if the plants' little roots are comfortably settled :D). My sister is always glad to escape the heat where she lives and come up a couple of times in the Autumn and help me plant bulbs and harvest apples and pears.



My sister is in her seventies and I'm in my fifties. For the past several years I've been very aware that my sister may not be able to do these things the next season, so I treasure these times even more.



But as of now, she's strong and healthy (knock on wood) and sent me home yesterday with some Pansies that were beginning to be unhappy with the warm weather.








I put them in a hanging basket so if it gets below freezing (as it most surely will several more times before the end of April) I can just bring them into my studio. When temperatures permit, they hang outside my kitchen window, on the sunniest side of the house, and I smile every time I look at them.