The Joy of Gardening in Southern Ontario

I love gardening in my Zone 5 garden. To many it would not seem like an exciting place to garden. The ground is frozen from December to April and four large Maple Trees shade the West facing back garden all Summer. Dispite this, much magic and joy happens in this small space every year.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

The Snow is Back



Inside the jungle of the greenhouse!





I'm happy that the snow is back; it covers the ground and acts as mulch.

Lots of the seeds that I have planted are germinating; I'm still waiting for some of the seeds that are more difficult to propagate (Phormium and Musa), I’ll be really excited when they break through the compost surface.

As the seedlings get bigger I move them into my mini-greenhouse where they get real sunshine (rather than the fluorescent tubes). When they get moved they perk up and become less spindly.

Today was a beautiful day, the sun was really bright and the snow looked so white. The air was crisp and quite cold and yet the sun had enough strength to suggest the warmth to come. The heat of the sun on the greenhouse made the air inside smell of damp soil, one of my favourite smells.

I noticed today that some of the Amaryllis bulbs have large red buds on them. I’ll include a photo in my next blog.

Thoughts on gardening and nature!

I love life; each moment is precious. Sometimes I catch myself rushing through as if I have somewhere to go but, all we have is our journey between birth and death. Where are we going, sometimes when wondering through the garden I catch that beautiful moment, I've slowed down enough to enjoy it. My family look out of the window and just see me pottering around. If there is a God or if I have a soul, I'm closer to it in those moments than at any other times. Nature carresses me and touches my heart. What would I do without that experience.