Blue Skies and Empty Space
It is amazing how much work you can get done when you are focused, when the operating thought in your head is "This is It. It is time to be ruthless." There actually is an organized and clean nursery full of healthy plants in there. What a difference a couple of days of work makes.
Growing potted landscape plants in the tropics really is a full time job. I am confronting the plant addict in me who thinks I can grow that, so I will. My denial is slipping. Root it, sprout it, divide it, pot it, add water and a dash of Osmocote and watch out!
Things have a way of creeping up on you and creeping away from you without focus.
Empty spaces are appearing and the result is that what is left stands out more. Less clutter equals a tidier look that can be pleasing to the eye. Blocks of plants now proclaim who they are. I have a long way to go before a simple garden reappears.
My stack of pots is growing. I am a recycling kind of guy and they may be worth a few pennies at a garage sale.
Lawn creep is well under way as the perennial flowers are dug up. I haven't had the heart to yank the wild Basil yet. Perhaps I should now while the bees are distracted by the Holly tree.
I see blue skies above and in front of me. The re-invention tour is packing up for the road.
A new garden that will have an unknown influence on me awaits. A wild piece of land that has a few rhododendrons I know, maybe some native azaleas I hope and escapees from the crazy gardeners just up above most likely. Time will tell.
8 comments:
Keep us updated on the progress. I like watching the transition.
Wild basil - that sounds wonderful. Since I am new to your tropical garden, I'm not sure of where you are going to - but native azaleas and other rhododendrons are a bit of a hint. It sounds like a new garden is taking shape in your mind already.
Right now I am going in circles it seems. I am scraping off the first layer of crud (stuff) of living in the same place for sixteen years and thinking about hosting a party on Cinco de Mayo and up coming garage sales. Wish me victory over the evil forces of accumulation.
It is a little odd to wake up with no preprogramed things to do, places to be, chores to get done. The key I think is not to to think. Just keep moving.
When I finally stop moving again I will be in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, 45 minutes west of Asheville on 3 acres of land in the low spot on the top of a mountain.
Christopher;
I recently went through Asheville on the way to Nashville, Tenn., and it's a beautiful area. I imagine it will be a trifle colder than Maui - do you know what zone you will be in? I am guessing maybe even 5, or 6?
bev
I looked at the National Arboretum zone map and I am going to be a zone 6a most likely because of my elevation, or 6b possibly.
My parents have been gardening on their mountain for thirty years. I will have a lot of live-in botanical memory of success and failure.
Yes it is gorgeous there. You can see some of it from last June here:
In North Carolina
Wow - now that will be a different three acres, and the rhododendrons and native azaleas make perfect sense. Us Charlestonians (not that I really consider myself one all that much) head up to that part of the world to escape the heat and to find cool shade. What a beautiful part of the world.
When my husband was in graduate school we'd drive up toward North Carolina, stopping at waterfalls and hiking trails. There was a touristy town called the Highlands where we took my parents when they came to visit. Quilts hung on clotheslines, handmade and for sale.
I remember fabulous wild rhododendrons and in late summer you'd see Dahlias planted in big square patches near the road, alongside rows of tomatoes. The Dahlias were six-feet tall with enormous leaves and flowers/
I wonder if any of it has stayed the same.
Annie
It has been a very long time since I was in Highlands NC. I have heard it has gone all fancy rich. I look forward to exploring the area once I am settled.
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