He’s the muscle, and
as boring as it must be for him to dig, spread, cut, and divide he’s doing a great job. I’m sure he would love to be out running, or lifting weights but he has pitched in with enthusiasm and maybe just a touch of charming inexperience. My husband, the wonderful guy who wheeled without complaint the 5 yards of soil, built garden beds, and expertly placed it exactly where I directed him to. He keeps saying he’s not a gardener, as he pats the soil around a newly transplanted perennial.
No longer stamping it in with his shoes, or the spade to do it, but his hands, he’s a quick learner, a little heavy handed with the delicate roots, but I am not going to complain at all.
So when a large clump of daylilies needed to be divided and transplanted to the back garden, I left him to it. With their enormous burgundy blooms, on tall stems those babies are pretty tolerant of almost anything. After a while he called me over to see his handiwork… nicely planted in a group of 3, they were perfect for the sunny dry bed. Only problem, and I kept tilting my head sideways as I looked at them perplexed… instead of green short stems sticking out of the dirt there was a tidily planted clump of… ? Sweet potatoes? I looked hard, and realized that the day lilies were planted upside down, and it was the huge tubers and roots that were sticking out of the ground, instead of the small bit of stem we had left after trimming them down.
Best laugh, [and not at his expense] I’ve had gardening in a long time. He did a great job, it’s just that I will take mine green side up please.