And still, more gardening...




Gladioli make me glad! More thoughts about more gardening...

I wasn't planning to do this.

But today when I was at the Rochester Public Market I came across a vendor selling sprouted gladioli bulbs. I bought three six-packs for a mere $4!

Now, I love gladioli. They are so aptly named! When you look at them in full bloom, you can't help but be glad.

When I had my house in the 19th ward (which I lost to foreclosure after I became too ill to work), I had a bed of gladioli one summer. Unfortunately, I didn't dig up the bulbs in the fall, the way you are supposed to because otherwise the bulbs rot over the winter. And bulbs can be expensive.

I've been hunting for glads. Over the last few weeks, I looked around at several home improvement and garden stores, and I could find very few summer bulbs. I don't know why that is. I did find a few gladioli bulbs at one store, but they wanted $4 for just three bulbs. No way. If I was going to plant them, I wanted at least a dozen, and $12 plus tax was just too much for me.

There's a small plot to the side of my apartment building, next to someone else's apartment, where I had thought I might plant gladioli if I found them. But it would take a lot of work to dig up the crab grass and other weeds. After searching for bulbs for a couple of weeks, I gave up.

And then, there they were today, right in front of the first aisle at the market. So of course, I had to have them.

I wasn't going to buy three six-packs. The vendor said they were $2 a pack, and a flat of four six-packs for $5. So I told the guy I had only $4 left of my cash (which was absolutely true). And he gave me the deal.

It did take a lot of work. Especially the digging. But it's just as well. I still had some white petunias along with a six-pack of nasturtiums left over from my earlier planting, and they were going to die soon if I didn't get them into the ground. As it turned out, it was a perfect day for gardening. Cool -- in the mid-60s, partly cloudy. And the soil was easy to till because of the soaking we'd gotten from the heavy rains during the week.

I still have a six-pack left. Guess I'm going to have to dig up grass from another area! More work.

But still, I am really enjoying doing this. Today I got into my hyperfocus stage for this project. Started around 2 p.m. and didn't let up until I was finished, a little after 7. I even forgot to eat all day. Remembered food around 9, when I was IM-ing a friend in St. Paul and she mentioned her rice cooking.

Gardening can be so meditative and peaceful. And since I am working on a plot right along the sidewalk, people walking by say hello and congratulate me on my work. A few will stop and chat.

I've noticed something very important about flowers. People smile when they see them. And, as I told a neighbor who stopped and chatted for a bit with me, this neighborhood can sure use something to smile about. So aside from the satisfaction I am getting from watching my garden grow (the impatiens and petunias I planted just a few weeks ago are starting to look really gorgeous), I am also getting satisfaction from knowing that my neighbors are enjoying my flowers, too.

Can't wait to see those gladioli standing tall. Those smiles will turn into huge grins.

Posted: Sat - June 18, 2005 at 11:59 PM          

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