June 18 – July 1, 2018
Mount Washington — Creating a garden and tending it is a source of continuous exhilaration. My first contact with the new growing season was to place the narrow tines of a spading fork into thawed earth and, lifting gently, find the soil crawling with earthworms. When I walked away, an orange-breasted robin flew in, landed on the cultivated ground, tread over it, stopped, held a posture of attention, plucked and chewed down a red wiggler. The robins follow us wherever we cultivate.
Hunting continues when gnats populate the air above the garden clearing: Phoebes dive off fenceposts after them, swallows glide in and dragonflies on whirring wings snap up the insects. I discover tranquil garter snakes curled up under groundcloths or cardboard that occult winter cover crops (deprive them of light) and keep the ground weed-free until schedules allow for planting. Three beds about 20 feet long and 4 feet wide remain occulted, awaiting a first sowing of cabbage, carrot, fennel and New Zealand spinach. There will be space for a second sowing of beets, radishes, Asian greens, collards and basil. For more about planting as summer begins go to https://theberkshireedge.com/natures-turn-sow-tender-crops-harvest-perennial-edibles-listen-near-the-flowers/.
The unpredictable experiences that occur while gardening can be the most engaging or challenging to our senses, our emotions, intellects and aesthetics. The first garden flowers, blue-to-pink as well as red lungwort and corydalis, drew in hummingbirds. Fritillaries, violets, lily of the valley perfumed the air. Downy soft foamflowers, hidden ginger blossoms and dangling Solomon’s seal blooms excited recognition and elicited memories of seeing them in the wild. Blue camas spires that grew 3 feet tall created a mass of starry blossoms that was a magnet for bumblebees, hummingbirds and the eyes of human passersby. In the garlic bed, a rather small ribbon snake caught a medium-sized toad and, over the course of an hour, ingested it before our eyes. That is another story!
Several days of warm weather quickened camas seed stalk development. I hastened to cut every stalk at its base. Only circles of deep green blade-like leaves remain of the two-week camas festival in my garden. A stand of purple lupine lengthened as camas faded. They are almost equally alluring, incandescent spikes that grow to 4 feet. Pink chive blossoms, blue-violet Centaurea montana and rose-colored Centaurea dealbata are blooming and are about to require removal of the flowering stalks. There goes the hummingbird darting across the yard and garden sipping a newfound diversity of flowers.
Resource
https://savvygardening.com/unusual-flower-bulbs-for-your-garden/
Opportunity to Participate
June 27 discounted registration deadline, August 10-12 NOFA Conference – https://www.nofamass.org/articles/2018/04/honoring-our-roots-tending-our-future-nofa-summer-conference-2018
