One of the great things about fall at Iten's Acres is digging holes to plant some new stuff for next year, moving some plants to different places because they weren't doing so well where they were, and mulching some of the flowering trees and shrubs to help them keep warm this winter. The air is cool and crisp, visions of 2012 are dancing in my head, and Bonnie and Gus are faithful "helpers." I feel like a male "bag lady" hauling my "treasures" in bags of top soil, bags of bulbs, bags of dark mulch.
I walk Iten's Acres all afternoon, sun or drizzle, retracing my steps, putting down newspaper and mulch, digging holes and putting in the bulbs. If I was organized, I would walk a lot less, but what fun would that be? The bulbs--and a few actual plants--come in these little bags that tell you what they are, how deep to plant them, and what amount of sunlight they prefer. Crocus in one bag; daffodils in another bag; lilies in another bag; hyacinths in another bag--you get the picture. Now, some beds will get say, crocus and daffodils; some beds will get crocus and hyacinth; some will get tulips and daffodils, etc. If I was organized I would get my own little bags, sort out the bulbs, and put everything that's going into one bed in its own bag. That way I would only have to take one trip to each bed, plant the bulbs, and be finished much earlier. I would save much time and shoe mileage. No thanks. I love to be outside. Why would I want the time to go quickly?
Now, I confess, the mulching is more organized. I start out front, move to the area around the house next, and then mulch the stuff out back in the meadow. I don't mulch the beds yet. It inhibits some of the flowers from spreading through the dispersion of their seeds: the cosmos, larkspur, balloon flowers, phlox, for example. I'd rather have those flowers come back every year and come back in greater numbers than mulch the beds. Yes, that means I have more weeds and grass in my beds. Ahhh, well. That's just one of the hazards of going wild. (I wish some horticulturist genius would invent something that would kill weeds and grass and not harm the flowers.)
How do I decide what goes where? A couple beds are color coded. One is all blues and purples. One is all reds and whites. Another factor is sunlight. Some flowers need lots of sun, some like partial shade, some like all shade. (God covers all the bases. Beauty everywhere!) Another factor is the calendar. I want blooms in each bed from April to frost. The last factor, and I think I've reached it or am getting tragically close, is saturation. How many flowers can one bed hold? Sadly, not nearly enough for a flower addict like myself. No, I'm not looking for a cure. New beds anyone?
My helpers, Bonnie and Gus, are indispensable. They think ricocheting from place to place and back again is great fun. They "hound " me, chase each other, and, on rare occasions, just sit and watch me work. Sometimes, naturally, they sit right in the middle of the bed I'm trying to plant. And, naturally, they think that my trying to get them to move is just another game worth playing. Gus likes to "dance" on his hind legs like the pigs in Animal Farm, but he's as close to brain dead as an animal can be. Great fun, gentle, cute as can be, brain dead. Bonnie is brilliant except that she has one eccentric behavior. When I'm not giving her enough attention, and she wants to be petted, she growls at me. Hey, it works. Gus, by the way, specializes in fertilizing. On top of the new mulch is his favorite doggy "litter box."
So, the fall walking of Iten's Acres is for the beauty of 2012, the extra time outdoors for the old man, and for "going to the dogs." Got a small spade? Don't be afraid to dig in.
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