The Year in Retrospect

As gardeners, each season is met with hopeful enthusiasm, enjoyed in its fleeting passage as we await another garden phase. In winter the above-ground garden rests, however below ground it is busily preparing for the life-spring which will arrive as the days lengthen and the soil awakens. For this reason the winter season requires watering on occasional warm days for despite the sprinkling of snow last Saturday the garden is quite dry; snow simply does not supply the required moisture. Remember to turn off the water before the evening temperature drops; we once forgot and found a horrifying frozen waterfall covering the entire garden the next morning.


In retrospect the past year was most interesting, highlighted by the welcome break in our drought. The blessed rains which arrived in surprising intervals during the course of the entire year helped restore our countryside… native grasses which are usually spent in the dry heat of July, remained a vibrant green until frost. This year wildflowers were able to complete their life cycle, spilling rain-soaked seeds of future flowers on moist ground rather than dust… thus giving the promise of a lovely spring. The trees were washed clean, the streams were filled, and minnows once again appeared in the creeks. It was a restoration… the kind of year we will joyfully recall when more difficult years arrive.

The temperature fluctuations were unusual as well. It was hot/cold, hot/cold… as though Mother Nature was perhaps a bit menopausal. The spring-like conditions occurring weekly until mid-December, fooled many tree who began to prematurely bud only to be jolted into reality by the sudden freeze. With the deep-freeze which arrived last Monday, they will truly become dormant while waiting for spring. And the freeze is exactly what we needed to thoroughly kill many pests who were warmly relaxing in the debris left behind in the garden.

Dreary days may continue for several months, however the gardener may look forward to gardening catalogues which will begin arriving January first. They are porn for gardeners… tattered and dog eared, they are read over and over with longing and lust. As a surprise to yourself, plan on ordering something totally outrageous in the coming year then just enjoy the experience of watching it grow! Happy New Year!