Springtime on my quirky little parcel of earth.
The air scented heavily by orange blossoms and wisteria.
Fruit trees in full bloom.
Vegetable gardens starting to be planted.
Bees doing their jobs madly.
Picking flowers for teacups begins.
Rose arbors come to life.
White petals burst open in layers of ruffles.
Buzzing songs swirl about.
All the winged creatures gather in a very special spot.
Where clusters of purple wisteria flowers droop romantically.
In that place where there once lived a green house decades ago.
Chipped paint and petals beckon.
I gather pretty tea things to take with me as I hide under the purple canopy and sip.
The air smells like a flower shop.
A gentle breeze helps petals slowly drop to the ground like feathers.
I try to absorb these beautiful days of firsts.
But sometimes, it's too hard.
I love the garden so much I almost can't absorb it at all.
So I do plenty of staring.
And when I go to sleep, I try to replay the moments in order to create memories.
Such luck to have blooming wisteria.
Apparently it's not that easy to get it to bloom.
I planted this one about 5-6 years ago and it bloomed the first year.
I recently read that sometimes you have to damage the roots to urge it into blooming.
Some don't even bloom for 10-20 years.
Here's a little twisty tale.
My garden has one downfall.
A gopher epidemic of the most grave kind.
Hundreds if not thousands.
You wake up to find full grown rose bushes and trees toppled over.
And little plants, forget about it, they get sucked down on a daily basis.
I only tell you this tale of woe because it has a grand irony twist.
This wisteria here grows right on top of a gopher cavern.
Soooooo, it could be that all those little teeth chomping on the roots are part of the reason that I have such a bloom happy wisteria.
Imagine that?
Who ever heard of a vine blooming because the roots were damaged??
But, I read it's a fact regarding wisteria.
My other wisteria has never bloomed and it is 5 or 6 or 7 years old.
So, who knows?
Maybe the pesky gophers did something good this time, haha!
Whatever the reason for these incredible clustered blooms -
I am happy and grateful and amazed and overjoyed.
Entirely and completely.
It seems the purples are doing quite well these days.
The delphiniums have bloomed into lovely beauties as well.
The peach trees and giant old apricot tree have bloomed and little baby fruit is growing.
Now begin the quince, then apples, then pecans.
Hello quince.
The weather is very very warm and pure sun.
We have not had rain in so long I forgot when the last time was.
But I LOVE the dry desert air and clear skies.
I enjoy roaming around my garden and looking at the mountains.
Apricot blossoms are nearly done.
Vegetable garden days have arrived.
Right behind that little picket fence.
I'm mowing and clearing and seeding and planting and turning soil.
The winter wild look is slowly fading.
I'll do some trough as well as in-ground vegetable gardening this year.
I have 4 troughs so I'll figure out a happy arrangement.
I have already planted lots of seeds and seedlings.
(after taking this pic)
We'll see how it all works out.
For now, we are on the last days of wisteria.
So, I hide in there with fairy lights.
Waiting for that glorious golden hour every afternoon.
Where sun is just about to set as fairy lights take over.
Golden bursts of light filled with colorful orbs pour through the garden.
The birds sing, the chimes clank, winged creatures glow in the light.
If I could hug my garden I would.
Almost 15 years of hardest work lead to dreams coming true.
I always wanted a secret garden of my own, I worked towards it madly.
But I don't think I ever thought it would truly happen.
Which is why I'm so grateful and amazed when I see hundreds of rose buds forming in all colors.
And climbing roses gobbling up buildings.
And wisteria dangling in endless gobs of goodness.
I am notoriously one of those people who has low expectations of things, in a good way.
I hope for the best but I don't expect it.
So, when good things happen I always skip around like a crazy person with genuine amazement and joy in my heart.
That is how I feel right now.
I'm in disbelief, now that the garden is looking more mature these recent years and things are happening in big ways.
It's not a fancy garden, not a proper garden, but it's my happy place garden and I love it so.
Never give up on your dreams.
I guess that's what the garden teaches me everyday.
Amongst many other endless things.
But somehow, someday, in some way...
Dreams do come true.
I better go hug my garden up somehow and prepare myself for golden hour.
I'm also obsessed with my trampoline right now.
I put it together and jumped for hours.
Boy was I sore!!! Haha!
It feels exactly like jumping did in the 80's and 90's at home.
I've been going out there morning noon and night.
Jumping in layers of nightgowns.
I jumped the other morning at 6 a.m. with hair that had been slept on wet.
If you have hair like me this means you woke up with a bird's nest head.
I have wavy fluffy hair naturally.
(straight by way of blow dryer and dry desert air)
So, a bird's nest of hair in layers of night gowns and long bloomers.
Jumping to Simple Minds on the 80's station.
Having a blast.
Then I noticed some workers way in the distance at another property, looking at me like I was nuts.
But boy oh boy, was I happy.
In that cool 6 a.m. weather, jumping my heart out to 80's music.
Crazy or not, I'm having some kind of fun, I tell ya.
And now with spring doing its magic?!
Ahh, life is grand.
How is your spring out there in your neck of the woods?
I'd love to hear.
I'm off to prepare for golden hour.
See you very soon!
Love, Vanessa
