Let the Little Ones Come

John Paul II Rose

I mentioned in an earlier post my excitement at ordering my first rose bush delivered mail order from Jackson and Perkins.  :)  I potted it because we were having a new fence built in the back yard when it arrived in the mail.  It was shrouded in moist plastic and looked dead  dormant to this novice gardner...I was fearful--could I resurrect this stump into a real blooming rose bush?  Miracle--Mother Nature is kind to novice gardners!  :)  I hope to transplant it to my Mary Garden in the spring.  Here's a peek at how it has grown!  

Early May--just potted:

 

Mid May--leafing out!

 

Early June--first bloom:

 

Early June--just a few days later--mature bloom:

 

Gardening: The Chesterton Way!

 

The gift of a dandelion

G.K.  Chesterton and young friend

To paraphrase G.K. Chesterton, "something worth doing is worth doing badly."  Hence, my foray into perennial gardening.  I am determined to try and succeed.  I have felt discouraged buying annuals year after year only to seem them wilt and die when the Texas heat begins sizzling in July.  The only flowers I have ever nurtured through our summer heat are the impatiens that I faithfully plant each spring underneath our big old oak tree.

  

Marie, under our oak tree, May 2009

And they only survive because they get almost complete shade (and I must water them daily or even they begin to show signs of withering away).   And of course, they are only annuals and at the first sign of frost, ka-pow, they are gone!  :(

I am hopeful that by planting a variety of perennials, even if I kill off a lot (and this is a real possibility!), surely a few will be kind enough to survive my rookie attempts at gardening  and be back to grace my family with their beauty next year!! :)

Yellow Coreopsis with daylily in center, planted April 2009

I have no master plan--and definitely am doing this on a shoestring budget, but digging in the dirt IS fun and a great stress-reducer.  :)  I do hope to eventually establish a little Mary Garden but so far have been content to plant a few impatiens to temporarily bedeck our statue of Our Lady for her month of May.

Marie with our statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, May 2009

 So far this spring, I have enjoyed tending to my little plants  and hopefully, God-willing, I will be able to  enjoy them for years to come!  I hope to be able to post more in the future on my success (and failures) in the garden.  Happy Spring and Month of May.   May Our Lady bless you in her merry month of May!