Here in central Texas, February has been glorious. I’ve spent most of the week in
flip-flops and I’ve noticed that the nurseries are stocking up on springtime
veggies and perennials. I even saw
poppies blooming yesterday. Now
that makes me giddy. I love
poppies! I’ve only loved poppies
since living in Texas though. The
Natural Gardener and the Deep Eddy Community Garden totally turned me on. I’m
thinking I won’t be able to resist planting at least a few things, despite our
extreme drought situation. We need
rain like nobody’s business. This
year, upon my green thumb brother’s recommendation, I’m going to try to get my
gardening on via five gallon buckets.
That way, I’ll be in more control of a few important variables. I can control the quality of soil
because here in Austin, we are blessed with hard black clay; sunlight – buckets
are moveable; water – only the buckets will need to be thoroughly watered. I won’t feel like a jerk for watering
my whole yard as our lake levels plummet.
I will attempt to plant some poppies randomly throughout my
front yard though. I cannot resist wildflowers. Under normal rain conditions,
Texas is blessed with a beautiful wildflower season. We are not expecting much
color this spring.
I’ve had several pleasant walks this week. Despite the
springtime temperatures, the landscape is stark. It’s still winter here. The trees are bare and the grass is
dead. Hardly anything is in bloom. There’s no snow to cover up the
nakedness. Yet it’s refreshing to
try to stop myself from wishing to be elsewhere. To be in the moment and to
capture the beauty for all it’s worth.
