Donald Trump is Coming to My Garden!

Donald Trump, aka "The Donald", is famous for the line, "You're fired!"

I have decided my garden needs Donald Trump.

Safrano is working hard.

There is a lot of my garden that I love.  But there are parts.  Oh, yes, there are some parts that need to be fired!  And I've decided to do it this year.

I've given these plants plenty of time.  I've tried everything I know to do to make them happy.  Maybe someone else could turn these plants around.  But I'm tired of being frustrated, disappointed, and embarrassed by their performance.

Mr. Lincoln won't be fired.

A couple of the plants that are going are roses.  :(  To be fair, it's not really their fault.  I tried to cut costs by buying these off Wal-Mart's parking lot.  Big mistake.  That's why Connie at Hartwood Roses tells us every year to purchase only quality roses. It really does make a difference!

Of course, I had to learn it the hard way.

So, I tried to save money, but in the end it cost me.  Maybe not so much financially, but in time.  I'm sad that it came to this.  I really don't have the heart to be ruthless.  But it was needed.  I'm not going to overlook a plant's performance any more.  The Donald wouldn't have an underperforming plant in his garden, I'm sure!  And if my garden is going to be beautiful - really beautiful - not just in my imagination, but in reality, I need to do this.

Tamora is looking good.

Underperforming plants - you're fired!

Wow, I feel powerful!  I just might fire some more plants next year!

Watch out, garden - I'm learning from The Donald!

I Dream in Color

I dreamed of a garden.

And after a bit of trial and error, I realized roses did well in the sunny soil here. 

So then I began to dream of a rose garden.

And after some work, a few years of waiting, some mistakes, and a few changes, my dream has begun to come true.

I'm still changing things, and still waiting.

But when I dream, I dream in color.

Start a garden.   

And you'll be dreaming in color, too. 

My Goal

I went outside to take a few pictures.  And as I looked around, I noticed some weeds.  Of course.

It's been a bad year for weeds in my garden.  Due in part to the mild weather.  Due also in part to my not finishing the mulching.  I never finish the mulching.

As I began to weed, joy filled my heart.  I worked, not with an 'I've-got-to-get-all-these-weeds-out-of-here" attitude, but with an "I-can-enjoy-letting-my-mind-wander" kind of attitude.  I wasn't really weeding to get rid of the weeds.  I was weeding just to be out in the garden.

And I remembered something I read a long time ago.  (Pay attention - this is important.)

It was a story written by a garden magazine photographer.  He (or was it she?) said that every garden she (or was it he?) had photographed had weeds.  Every one.  In fact, there had been one garden that was so weedy, it had been challenging to take a photograph!

I remember that story each time I weed, and I smile.  It's such a great lesson for any gardener, but especially for new gardeners.  Gardens are rarely, if ever, perfect.

Which is fine, because perfection is not my goal.  Don't get me wrong.  I would love to have the perfect garden.  I would love for visitors to see a weedless garden.  But I know that will never happen.  So, that is not my goal.

My goal is delight.  Delight in a bloom.  Delight in the life in my garden.  Delight in the changes, the seasons, the colors, the scents, the surprises.  The pictures in this post are from this spring, and I have delighted in every tiny bloom.

Donna of Gardens Eye View has started a meme called Seasonal Celebrations.  Beth at Plant Postings has a meme called Garden Lessons Learned.  As Beth wrote, "Lessons Learned looks backward to the recent past, while Seasonal Celebrations looks ahead".  I wondered how one could look forward and look back at the same time.

Then I remembered the lesson.

As I look forward to a new season, I will work toward my goal:

Not perfection, but delight.

And with those few words, I can look forward to Seasonal Celebrations and look back and remember the Lesson Learned.  Today I'm joining both Donna's and Beth's memes.

Summer 101

101:  Used by colleges to refer that this is the basic introduction of a subject.
101:  The temperature (in Fahrenheit degrees) we have already seen this year.

Heat Stroke is a very real concern to southern gardeners, and with this wave of heat coursing through the South, I felt it wise to review the signs and symptoms of a heat stroke.

Drink plenty of water!

At the risk of embarrassing my father, I will tell you a story.

My father suffered a heat stroke last year.  I thought he was having a heart attack.  When I found him - confused, and mumbling incoherently - I knew he needed medical attention.  The bad part?  I knew nothing about heat stroke.  The worst part?  I got so flustered I couldn't dial 911 correctly!

Take lots of breaks!

After we got him to the doctor, I learned the signs of a heat stroke:
     Fatigue/exhaustion
     Confusion/disorientation
     Agitation
     Rapid pulse
     Difficulty breathing
     Absence of sweating (dehydration)

He had all those signs.

Have a buddy to check on you!

Heat stroke is very serious, and can lead to seizures, coma and death.  Take it seriously, and if you feel that you, or someone else (or someone feels that you) are suffering from any type of heat exhaustion, including dizziness, nausea or vomiting, weakness, headache, or muscle cramps, get medical attention immediately.

Stop when you get tired!

People that have suffered heat stroke are more susceptible to having it again.

Be careful out there!  And remember, a little common sense goes a long way:
     Drink plenty of water
     Stay out of the heat/sun during the hottest part of the day
     Go inside and rest if you get tired

In other words, don't try to be Superman!

Take it easy!

I am thankful that my mother called me to run to their house for something.  For that reason only, I went to their house and found my father outside, working in the heat, confused and stumbling around.  He even fainted at one point.  (That's when I panicked.)

But, he did agree to go to the doctor, nothing more serious came of it, and hopefully he has learned to stop pushing himself.  Are you listening, Daddy?

Jeopardy!

The game of Jeopardy! takes knowledge, skill, and most of all - concentration.  I have learned the same could be said of gardening.

As I sit here with a swollen leg, bruised from the knee to the ankle, I have to warn you that gardening can be downright dangerous.  Here are just a few of the dangers in most gardens:

Stones -  The reason I'm hobbling around.  I was moving concrete blocks in a wheeled carrier, when one of the wheels got stuck in a hole and the carrier came down on my leg.   Luckily, I was only bruised. 

Spiders - In addition to my bruises, I also have two spider bites.  (It just hasn't been my week.)  Worried, I looked up the two most notorious spiders in my garden, the black widow and the brown recluse.  Luckily, it must have been a different spider that bit my arm (twice).

Sunburn - Wearing sunscreen and hats help.  If you get sunburned, there are a lot of home remedies you can use.  I like aloe vera gel the best.  Yes, I have sunburn this week, too!!!

Snakes - Always a threat to the gardener, snakes come out of hibernation about the same time we do!  I have seen several baby snakes this week.  I haven't run into the mom yet!  I hope I don't!

Sticks (Plants) - Before picking a flower, my granddaughter asks, "Will this one bite?".  She has learned that roses have thorns.  With the rise in MRSA, antibiotic ointment is popular in my household.  And it's not just scratches you have to worry about.  There are a lot of weeds (and some beautiful plants) that are poisonous or caustic.  Knowledge is important!

Scorpions - A threat here in the South, thankfully I've never been stung by a scorpion.

Sniffles - Allergies can wreak havoc on the budding gardener.  Many people take medication.  Thankfully, I don't have allergies!

Stings - Would you know what to do if you (or a visitor) got stung?  Remedies range from applying meat tenderizer to using an EpiPen.  Watching for life threatening symptoms is a must with every sting.

Saws and other electric/battery powered tools:  I love my little chain saw, and my electric hedge trimmers.  However, I know that severe bodily damage may occur in an instant from these machines.  I try to remember to always, always hold the tools with both hands, and watch where I'm swinging them!

Other 'Stuff' -

Sore muscles.
Garden ponds. (Can be deadly - watch the children!)
Statuary.  Mine once was in jeopardy of toppling over on me after leaning from a heavy rain.
Darkness.  I'm not afraid of the dark, but I like to see where I'm going! Outside lighting helps.
Ladders.  (Falling is dangerous.)
And a lot more, including lung diseases. (Feel like renting a haz-mat suit?)

I have noticed that I get hurt less when I concentrate on what I'm doing at the time.  Which is hard for me.  I have a tendency to daydream.  I need to remember to concentrate more on the task at hand.

In this gardening blog about joy, why would I mention these jeopardies?  Because a joyful gardener is a gardener that gardens without injury. (Try saying that three times fast!)

Have you ever been injured while gardening?

My First Time

Every year during weeding time I recall the memory of my first attempt to grow flowers.

I was living in a tiny place barely big enough for a small goldfish and me.  And I knew nothing about gardening.  Absolutely nothing.  But this place had a small patch of land between the house and the walk to the front door.  Just about 1 ft. wide, and about 4 ft. long.

It was spring and I thought it would be cheery to have some flowers instead of a barren patch of land.  But I didn't want to spend a lot of money.  I was renting.  I was poor.  And cheap.  And I wouldn't have known where to buy a flower for planting anyway.

So, I purchased seeds.  I don't remember what kind of flower seeds I bought, but I do remember I bought about 10 or 11 packages.  I wanted a lot of flowers.  And I read the back and planted them just the right depth.  But I didn't space them out.  I wanted a lot of flowers, so I planted every seed.

Flowers were certain to be in my future.

Except, I was dating some dud (no, that's not a typo for dude).  And one day he noticed that there were a lot of little sprouts coming up in my flower garden.  He said "You'd better get all those weeds out of there."

OH!!!!  I hadn't thought about weeds!  Weeds!  What a horrible word!  The thought of those weeds smothering out my precious flowers was disturbing to me.  So, the next Saturday I spent all day weeding each and every weed out of that patch of ground.

And I waited for my flowers to come up.

I was so ignorant about all things gardening that I didn't even realize that those little weeds I had pulled up were actually my flowers.  I wondered for months where my flowers were and why they didn't come up.  Not a one!  Very disappointed, I supposed perhaps the seeds were old.  Only until years later, when I had my next garden, did I realize what I had done.

If I were a new gardener, I would tell myself to plant shrubs.  And if I were renting and didn't want to leave the plants, I would advise container gardening.  And if I could only afford a few packs of seeds, I would say - weed first, plant your seeds, then don't weed anymore!!!!

What was your first big mistake?  And what advice would you give to new gardeners?