The Year Comes To A Close

The year 2022, with its ups and downs, is coming to a close. It started with our usual trip to the Connecticut shore. As we watched the waves come and go, we talked about our plans for the year – remember, we made plans not resolutions for 2022.

Plan Number 1 was to be present for every grandchild’s birthday. But, although we were done with COVID, COVID was not done with our family, and we had to miss Birthday #1. Spirits were down, but how can you stay down when the cacti and succulents are blooming? Besides, the madman discovered an unusual specimen endemic to Madagascar among the succulents he started from seed. Euphorbia hedyotoides was definitely going to the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show in February. As he was busily selecting other plants to enter, a diagnosis changed our plans, and we went back to isolation.

No Crowds For Us

If you are going to have cancer, Stage Zero is the best you can hope for thanks to early detection. Now I’m doing great, and all signs are positive. But we did miss a few months by staying away from crowds. The madman skipped the Flower Show, but our plants kept us busy just the same.

Mother Nature stepped up and did her best to keep our spirits up. On February 17, a Snow Drop was quickly followed by a couple of snowstorms that kept the madman from planting his peas in March. But there was no stopping the early spring bulbs from flowering.

And, the plants in the greenhouse needed constant care, especially the madman’s early peppers. Yes, we were away from crowds, but we were surrounded by life and we were busy.

April Got Better

In April, Birthday #2 arrived, and we got to celebrate in person. We weren’t the only ones traveling – the migrators started to show up. First, the Red Wing Blackbird, then the Grosbeak. By the madman’s reckoning, they were a bit early, but welcome. The bear, however, was not so welcome. He made himself scarce after the feeders came down for the summer. At first the madman was disappointed to follow the no-feeding regulations, but when he sighted the first Hummingbird on April 27, his spirits brightened. Then we saw migrators in the garden and heard them in the woods – I guess it was okay to take the birdfeeders down.

Better Yet

As the migrators arrived, native spring flowers began to bloom. Spicebush, Trillium and Dog Tooth Violets were among the first. When the onions arrived from Dixondale Farms, we knew spring was really here. We busied ourselves in the garden – as you know, spring is planting time. And, the spring flowers kept blooming.

By the end of May, the garden was looking good. Both the blueberries and brambles were loaded with blossoms and unripe fruit. The dill was crawling with Swallowtail larvae.

Road Trip

In early June, we took our first real roadtrip since 2019 to celebrate Birthday #3 in Maine. What a whirlwind trip it was! We bought a greenhouse from Maine Garden Products, visited dear friends in Belfast, celebrated the birthday and even got to hang out with the Trolls and Lady Slippers at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

Unpleasant Surprise

But, when we returned home, our garden took a bad turn. First the madman noticed that something had eaten the dill with all the larvae to the ground. Then that something had nibbled the peas and beans back by half, and the cucumbers were heading that way. When he found the massive excavation project next to the foundation, he realized we had a woodchuck. We set out traps, but it took a while to get rid of him and the garden suffered until we did.

The woodchuck wasn’t our only wildlife problem. Our friends the birds had turned on us. They were stealing all our blueberries, even taking the green ones. In the past, we had been able to share – we got some, they got some – it was a good relationship. But now even the Chickadees were stealing blueberries. The madman blames their bad behavior on two things: no birdfeeders and no rain. Connecticut was in a drought, and it was getting worse.

Stressful Summer

We spent the rest of the summer watering, fighting wildlife for our crops and harvesting what turned out to be a much lower yield. Rainfall was scarce, but the heat wasn’t. Temperatures over 90˚ were fairly common and the madman will be quick to tell you that peppers shut down production when the thermometer spends a lot of time over 90˚. Actually at that temperature, the madman and I shut down, too. So we found ourselves driving to the Lake as soon as we finished our gardening chores.

Projects

By the end of the summer we learned that our new greenhouse could arrive earlier than expected and we had plenty of site work to do since we planned to move the current greenhouse to the backyard. While we were at it, we decided to finally finish that path we’d been talking about for years. We moved a lot of dirt and a lot of stones. Then it was time for a rest and another road trip.

Road Trip #2

The Bruce Munro lights would be at Longwood Gardens until October 15, and we wanted to see them. Lights or not, that garden never disappoints. The madman always says that Longwood is a great example of what you can do with a vivid imagination and lots of money. As we’ve said in the past, we spend hours wandering through the various garden beds and 4.5-acre conservatory. Every time we visit this 1077-acre Pennsylvania garden, we come back with new ideas to try on a much smaller scale.

Back To Work

Our rest was short lived, October was busy. Greenhouse #2 arrived, and we moved Greenhouse #1. We finished the path, with minor modifications gleaned from Longwood. We moved plants to their winter quarters. And we lifted our summer bulbs. The madman planted his garlic. We cleaned up the vegetable beds and put them to rest. I planted native seeds for next spring.

By the time the first snow arrived on December 12, the madman happily returned the birdfeeder to its hook in the back. Of course, the madman is already nursing seedlings in the basement – thank goodness for his lights. We are already ordering plants and seeds for next spring. The cycle continues.

But first the holidays and Hot Chocolate for the New Year!