Let’s start with a sort of confession shall we?
I blew my gardening budget this spring when I asked for 5 yards of soil as a birthday present.
Soil is very expensive up here in the Okanagan, it’s like gold and costs about as much money.
It was worth every penny.
But it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough.
Now here’s the second confession, gardening up here is nothing at all like the coast. I had to learn that lesson over, and over, the hard way. And I was stubborn.
I thought I was a accomplished gardener, seriously, I thought that 15 years experience in garden centers, and gardening from the time I could walk made me more then capable of tackling anything this climate could throw at us.
And it did throw it at me, hot, dry, wet, brrr cold, cats, hail, mice, bugs, birds, drought, disease.
I was so wrong.
I’ve learnt my lesson, I give in, Mother Nature you win.
I can’t garden like I could down there, do the happy dance why don’t you?
But can we make up now and be friends? Please.
There is a garden under the fir trees in the back, I know, nothing ever grows under the fir trees in the real world… no water, too much sun, cat’s that think it’s the litter box du jour, those are not pine cones I am digging up. But I was determined, I am determined, I will remain determined.
It’s in my line of sight, it’s the first thing I see from the back of the house each morning, and it beckons to me during the day, laughs at me at night when I close the curtains.
I need that garden, I want that garden, as much as the Boo wants a outdoor litter box, hey, I’m practical.
But Mother Nature please stop doing everything possible to make it not possible.
I’ve given it all the soil I had left over, I’ve dug up almost every plant under those trees, and repositioned them just so. Now there are layers of color to bloom all spring, and summer, and each plant has been chosen for it’s ability to survive thrive in this area.
This is the third time, granted each time it looks a bit better, finding dry soil loving plants that don’t mind being covered with snow for 6 months of the year isn’t easy, especially on a non existent budget, I’ve had to be creative, volunteers, seeds, gifts from other gardeners. This time, let it work, let it grow, and look nice all year round, not just the spring time?
Be a good winner Mother Nature, because I’m not a sore loser.
