Oh good lord, there's just too much going on! I've been posting event after event to encourage people to come and attend, but I'm at a point where I just need a break so I can focus on things I really need to be on top of. The events taking place are all great; the people, the plants, the knowledge, everything, but I should know by now that I can't do everything I want to and as much as people like you and support all your endeavors and you feel like you're in debt to them, I have to force myself to just say NO!

Gardening in spring is like a drug, I tell you! You get just a little bit of it and then you're enabled by all those around you and you're constantly being tempted by all the delightful things that begin to wake up from winter's long and cold slumber with each and every single one of them DEMANDING some attention.

Here are some culprits, both good and bad:

BAD: I have a small collection of Asian Asarums, the wild woodland gingers. Slugs have a feast with the tender new leaves that emerge along with the evergreen ones that have persisted from last year. If I don't bait now, they basically desacrate the entire plant in a matter of weeks!

GOOD: Close by is a stunning clump of an Epimedium I collected in China back in 2004. It has been blooming since late February and is simply stunning in flower. While it doesn't take long to really admire a flowering plant, I'm tempted to take photos and collect specimens to press for the Otis Hyde Herbarium at the UW Botanic Gardens so they have a record of this wild collected plant.

GOOD: Bright red new growth always catches my eye as it signals the plants survival of a cold, harsh winter. The one on the left is another China accession of the stunning Viburnum propinquum and to the right is a very rare horse chestnut, Aesculus wilsonii looking fabulous as the buds break.

GOOD: I can't help but notice the cheerful, bright spring bulbs that are peaking now. This is a pale blue Chionodoxa, The Glory of the Snow.

At the Washington Park Arboretum, the Magnolias are taking center stage with various deciduous cultivars blooming now. Here's just one with M. x loebneri 'Ballerina'. Gently fragrant, it is like a small tree covered in marshmallows. Yummy....

GOOD: More new growth. This is Iris 'Gerald Darby' with sword like foliage suffused in purple that's quite striking if you know to look for it.

I should be happy, right? More GOOD then BAD.

It's been a struggle this week as I'm without a car YET AGAIN. I was driving to work last week and the car (which I was borrowing from my brother) stalled just as I was taking the U-district exit on I-5. After the towing and diagnosis from the nearby repair shop, it wasn't worth getting it fixed. I was late to work, missed an event I was suppose to attend at Molbak's later that night, I had to cancel two appointments with some new clients, and plants I'm suppose to pot up and transport from the greenhouses back to Shoreline have to wait when they're suppose to be hardening off so they're ready for sale in just a few weeks. What a mess that say was; it felt like my life was caving in and I couldn't do anything about it besides wait by a bus station as I tear through my bag looking for the $1.50 fare as my U-Pass had already expired.

I could have cried, but I've been through all this before and I just tried to suck it up. Things got worse, however when I learned that my credit history is preventing me from getting a new vehicle and when I eventually got home, I was reminded of everything that needed to be done in the garden so I can start having open garden days so I can start selling plants. I'm weeks behind and there's already orders that need to be filled.

There are three things I remind myself to get through all this:

1) "You're still alive, keeping busy and still doing what you love doing"
2) "It could always be worse"
3) "There are people out there that love you and support you and are happy because of the work that you do"

Early struggles, persistence and patience is the key to a successful garden. Oh, and good weather doesn't hurt!

Cheers,

R