Playing in the Dirt

By Marsha Seekins

Creeping Buttercup

There is probably somewhere in the world where people pay good money for Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens) as ground cover. It’s fast growing and has cute yellow flowers. I HATE Creeping Buttercup; it haunts my dreams. If we tried to eradicate it from the yard at this point, we would have mostly dirt with a few random blades of grass among the dandelions. My wrists and fingers ache from the several days it took to dig it out of my primary flower garden.  It feels like someone on the opposite side of the earth is pulling just as hard from the other side.  (Note: It would have to be Aquaman, since our antipodes location is somewhere in the Southern Indian Ocean. That said, if I thought it was really Aquaman, I would pull even harder!)

Planting the tulips

I’m not a very good, or consistent, gardener, but I do love to play in the dirt. I prefer perennials to annuals, though I am a sucker for a flat of colorful geraniums, begonias or impatiens. For the most part, I heed the advice on the plastic information tags that accompany each plant as to whether it prefers sun or shade. Beyond that, it is generally survival of the fittest. I’m not very diligent about fertilizing, and I leave most of the watering to our northwest Washington spring rains.

Blooms the first year

A few years ago, after a visit to the Skagit tulip fields, I got on a tulip kick. Then daffodils, crocus, and hyacinth. Over several seasons, I have planted more than a thousand bulbs in our yard. I would be surprised if more than half of them still flower in the spring.  Some I planted in the shade, intending to limb up the cedar limbs above them. Some I think the squirrels dug up. And maybe they really do need fertilizer…? Anyway, I do love the ones that I have left even if most of them fall over from the weight of the blooms!

Each spring, I crawl through the gardens and dig out the weeds as the tulips start to rise. Then I spread mulch to try to keep the weeds away for the rest of the summer (or at least hidden!). I start with the main garden by the road. What started as neatly aligned rows of daffodils and tulips now have the spacing and consistency of a carnival worker’s grin. So, each year I fill in with some annuals or perhaps an azalea, depending on the size of the gaps. There are a couple of cedar seedlings and one baby hemlock that came up earlier this year, and I have decided to leave them be. There is a pink dogwood just starting to bloom and a purple rhododendron that is a favorite of the slugs. (If only I could train slugs to eat that darned creeping buttercup!) Last week I added geraniums, begonias and marigolds to add color when the tulips are done. I have grown to love the randomness of this garden.

Pink dogwood just getting started

My neighbors seem to have differing opinions on the matter. Last spring, a neighbor who runs on our road (not an easy feat!), came and knocked on our door specifically to tell me how much he enjoyed seeing our garden each day.  Last summer, during the neighborhood picnic, I introduced myself to a neighbor who is a master gardener. When I told her which house was ours and that I enjoyed gardening, she gave me a piteous look that was the equivalent of a Southern “Bless Your Heart” and offered to loan me some gardening books!

Our first azalea to bloom each year has small, pale lavender flowers. It usually blooms around our anniversary in the beginning of April. This azalea was here when we moved in in 1998 and the bush is about six feet tall by eight feet in diameter. When we were first raking out the garden areas to mulch, I found a plastic tag at the base of this plant, slightly embedded in the trunk. It stated that this azalea would grow to a size of eighteen inches by eighteen inches. I’m super glad the azalea couldn’t read. It’s a good reminder not to accept limits or be constrained by averages!

The Yellow Azalea

My favorite azalea is the first plant that I bought when we moved in. I bought a bright yellow azalea at the local nursery at the bottom of the hill and put it in the back of the truck. I was so excited to get back and get it in the ground at our new home! Well, even though it was less than a five mile drive, the leaves and flowers did not survive the 35mph drive, and I arrived home with bare twigs. I planted it anyway. It is now almost eight feet tall and produces big, beautiful yellow blooms that bring a big smile to my face!

First rhody of the season!

Spring marches through our yard. The daffodils and crocuses are done. The hyacinth are waning. The tulips continue to pop open – yellow, then white, then red. The first rhodies are budded up and showing a little color, and the other azaleas are not far behind. The hydrangeas are leafing out nicely and will bloom in the early summer. This parade of growth and color brings me such joy during this very strange time. I hope each of you has something that brings you happiness, something to take your mind off the craziness of our new reality. Stay home. Stay safe. Stay sane.

Don't be a slug!