It’s interesting how the most well intentioned comment can send you into a tailspin. A simple “oh everything is blooming down here at the coast, had upset this gardener’s apple cart for the last few weeks. I was thinking that we were so far behind up here, lamenting the lack of spring color, the grass that is still brown, apparently the grass is not always greener down there. We made a whirlwind trip down to the coast the other day to pick up my plants from friends places. It was a very early morning, getting up at 4:30, feeding the Boo, and sliding out the door at 5:00 am. He was rather pleased that his “can openers” got themselves up extra early in order to feed him.
Off in the dark, down the winding mountain roads, watching the sun come up in the rear view mirror. 5 hours later when we got to the coast, our old neighbourhood it was a odd feeling, it’s only been 4 months since we left, and every thing is still so familiar. The front lawn of the condo was green, but the trees didn’t have any more buds on them then the ones did up here. There is a little bit of green undergrowth, but the tall tree branches are all bare, the leaves have not appeared.
The only real difference is the daffodils, there are masses of them everywhere in the gardens, along with hyacinths, muscari, and the green leaves of the tulips. All this time I have been pining for green lawns, and flower filled gardens of the coast… and it’s not much difference. There are bulbs coming up here, it’s just that people don’t plant them in masses like they do down on the coast.
The flowering fruit trees are starting to bloom, most likely reaching their peak in a week or so. But for now, it’s not really any different then up here, we are only about two weeks behind, and I am told that we will catch up, and leap forward quickly.
The traffic down on the coast reminded us how badly we had wanted to move. We stayed a few hours, visited quickly, picked up plants, filled both the inside, and the bed of the truck, and hurried home. Arriving back just after 6:00 pm the same day. This although it is not greener, the Okanagan is now home. And it’s a good place to be.