Garden Party

Thanks to Sargent's in Rochester, MN, www.sargentsgardens.com, for hosting their annual Garden Party this summer, and for inviting me to be there with my book, All the World in a Blade of Quack:  Reclaiming a Garden, Growing a Gardener.  I enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people and seeing lots of old friends--even helped a few people pick out annuals and succulents--what fun!  There are no strangers among people who love plants.  Sargent's have copies of Quack for sale, too, for anyone who needs a little inspiration--or who is already starting to shop for Christmas (and you know who you are--go for it!)

Return of the Long-Awaited

And so, at last, spring comes to the garden.  The fact that it's June 25 notwithstanding, the arrival of the sculptural, elegant Siberian irises brings me delight.  Overshadowing the purple is a white cedar branch still hanging low from the May 1 snowstorm.  The cedar will be cut down, soon, I hope, bringing sun once again to a section of the garden that really craves light.  Why did I let the cedar get so big?  Well, for a few years it grew slowly and looked just lovely.  Then it got way too wide:  I pruned the lower branches.  This made it sculptural and elegant, but also top heavy, so that when the 18" of heavy snow came on May 1, the tree tipped sideways and its branches sagged (many broke) under the weight.  Its fellow cedars suffered a similar fate, but remained upright.  These have been sheared and will have a second chance.  This one--not so much.  Does it make the Siberians nervous, all this talk of my cutting down something sculptural and elegant?  If so, they're not showing it.  They are the delight of the day, the perennial that requires so little and gives so much,the harbinger of summer.  Worth waiting for.