I took the camera into the garden yesterday and spent quite a bit of time finding the right angle, distance and composition for the shots I took. Many plants are coming into flower or are spilling over with the vitality of spring growth. The air almost crackles with this life force, and most of the colors look like someone has run the entire landscape through Photoshop’s Image-Adjustment-Vibrance-Saturation tool. Among the perfectly showy flowers and electric green foliage, however, some quieter, common scenes draw my attention. Those utilitarian places like the garden shed and the bench outside my kitchen door attract my eye.

They are not the most colorful or tended parts of the yard. There are weeds in the bricks, dried leaves stuck in odd corners, and the mishmash of the growing season everywhere. There is something satisfying about these spaces. They are just as pleasing to me as the flowers and tended spaces.

Houseplants have been sent to summer camp, herbs and annuals await planting, and the tools clearly feel valued and important. Even the hose manages to look attractive...

I ordered Camassia from Brent and Becky’s Bulbs four years ago and planted it above in front of the veggie garden. I chose this location because, since it’s at the bottom of a slope, the location tends to be damp. Camassia is one of the few bulbs that does well in wet locations, so I figured that it was a natural.

These plants are growing in Annual Alley, the place for me to play with different combinations of annual plants each summer. Camassia is perfect because after it flowers in May, the plants very quickly disappear, foliage and all. By the time the annuals start to grow, the Camassia is sleeping again.

These plants are at their peak for about two weeks, and what a glorious fourteen days it is! Why would you want to purchase bulbs in the fall, plant them, and only have flowers for two weeks? Because in those two weeks you really see your garden.

There isn’t time to take these plants for granted or become accustomed to their presence. They are a holiday, shooting star, and the night of Obama’s election: an occasion to be savored because they are positive, happening quickly, and you are there to experience what can’t be repeated.

You don’t plant Camassia in spite of their short period of bloom…you plant this bulb because they are fleeting.

Two foot spires of beautiful blue flowers. Yum.

When I was at the garden center a friend who is a professional gardener called. She was wondering if we carried Echium and this led to a discussion of the reasons garden centers don’t usually stock biennials.

I love the Echium vulgare (viper’s bugloss) that my friend was asking about, as well as other biennial plants such as variegated Lunaria annua (money plant) and Verbasucm. Most of these I’ve initially grown from seed but now they seed and wander on their own. I edit and pull young plants when they are too enthusiastic or go astray. These are not instant coffee plants: some years they are magical, and other times they aren’t in evidence at all.

In a garden center, however, it’s hard to talk people into the concept of a plant that “grows one year, blooms the next, and then it dies.” The customer tends to tune out well before you get to “but usually it will continue to self-seed and travel around your beds, and you can pull out what you don’t want.”

Biennials are clearly well suited for gardeners but not for someone who wants total control over where and when their flowers grow. Just as we all need to put the right plant in the right place, we also need to choose plants according to our expectations and abilities. Right plant, right place and right plant, right person.

The variegated Lunaria are all in bloom right now and the purple flowers are the perfect spring color. I pull out seedlings, also present at this time, that are all green so that I get mostly variegated foliage.

The blue spires of Echium are in flower along with oxeye daisies. Both seed and grow well in gravel and other dry, well drained places.

The garden provides so many opportunities for wonder it prompts me to remind people that they can grow delight. A smile? You Can Grow That!

Later tonight I’ll post links to the other Garden Bloggers who are writing You Can Grow That! posts today.

On this second day of Gifts From The Garden Month I’m thinking about one of the biggest ways we benefit from gardens and gardening. Most of us don’t work the land in order to raise food for the winter. In fact, the majority of people are inside for more time than they are out of doors. More comfortable in cold or rainy weather, certainly, yet we all lose a great deal from this arrangement.

Gardens allow us to reconnect with nature. In fact, I suggest that in order to garden successfully, joining with the natural world is pretty much a necessity. It’s also extremely entertaining and informative.

Gardening asks us to keep our eyes and minds open. If that’s not a gift, I don’t know what is.

The Dog wants to be outside all day. He drags his paws when we call him in, suddenly finding spots that must be sniffed or itches that demand scratching...anything to avoid coming indoors. He's probably on to something.

It rained today and I rejoiced. An inch or water in the rain gauge! Thank you, thank you, thank you. It was my day off from work and I’m nevertheless celebrating that a constant rainfall delivered just over an inch of moisture to my gardens. It is spring, and the plants need this rain in order to grow. As I write this I look out over the trees, shrubs and perennials that grace my property and I can actually feel their gratitude join mine.

It’s also the first day of Gifts From The Garden Month. This is a month-of-May daily reminder of 31 ways we benefit from gardens and gardening. If you think it’s just about a pretty landscape, think again.

Today is May Day, a traditional time of celebration in many cultures. It’s a day to rejoice in the season of renewal. To my mind, the energy of rejuvenation extends from the garden into all aspects of our lives. For those living further south this occurs earlier in the calendar year, and for those further north, a bit later this month.

Rain and the season of regeneration are completely linked. We need several natural elements to come together in order for revitalization to occur. Sun, rain, and longer days combine to stimulate growth.

Some may complain when rain dampens their plans, literally and metaphorically. It’s important to remember that although it might occasionally be inconvenient, rainfall stimulates growth. Embracing this knowledge is a gift in itself.

Gifts From The Garden Month asks us to consider the myriad of ways we benefit from our surroundings, rain or shine.

Some of the cutting garden is waiting to be planted with annuals and zinnias...other perennials such as the peonies and tulips are heavy with water today. To me, they look wet and happy.

On Saturday I planted over 150 perennials. In the past two weeks I’ve gotten treasures from Digging Dog Nursery, Avant Gardens, Plant Delights Nursery, Skagit Gardens, Forest Farm, Bluestone Perennials and Munchkin Nursery delivered to my door…my cup runneth over. So Saturday was planting day, and with the help of my CobraHead Cultivator I got about half of the perennials in the ground.

I also did some writing and finished a few Photoshop pieces including the Deer post below. That graphic prompted one of my blog readers to notice that I’d done something similar on April 19^th, and he wondered if this was a new direction for Whole Life Gardening.

Not a new direction, I replied, but just another place to plant.

Life is like a garden: it’s never finished and always filled with opportunities for growth and change. Something new catches our eyes, or we notice a previously unseen space that could use a transformation, and we’re off and planting.

I believe that each and every individual has the ability to make positive contributions and such openings are constantly available to us. All we have to do is keep our eyes open and be available for the myriad of possibilities.

We can start each morning asking, “Where do I want to plant today?”

Each plant develops according to its nature, but no matter its size, form or speed, growth happens.

I worked out this morning in the best gym and spa in the Northeast. I lifted weights, got my heart rate up for extended periods, and did many squats over a three-hour period. Some of the time I was focused on my body, but there were periods of meditation and contemplation as well. This AM workout left me smiling all afternoon, even as my arms ached and felt fatigued. It’s true that physical exercise lifts your spirit while it works the body.

The time flew by because the air was fresh, I was visually entertained, and the relaxing music of bird songs played in the background.

Once I was done I headed toward the shower, pleased with my workout and what I’d accomplished in my surroundings. This morning’s gym was my garden, where I dug, weeded, planted and pruned.

No matter what’s happening in the economy, gardening is an investment that provides tremendous dividends. I spent three hours working in the landscape and came away with many of the benefits of a spa vacation.

Five years ago I planted Heuchera 'Pinot Gris' in three groups of three. This year I was left with three groups of two, so I dug up the middle pair and added them to the others so that I now have two groups of three. Part of this effort was digging weeds I encountered along the way, and editing out patches of Sedum alba.

Several plants came down from the test garden into the front garden, including Hypericum 'Olivia' and Achillea 'Pineapple Mango'. I planted them with handfuls of charcoal from the wood stove and alfalfa pellets.