Immerse yourself in the energy of what you desire.
~ Hiro Boga
When I returned from my trip, I found the crocuses blooming. This is my first full spring at the Wabi-Sabi Ranch, and I have no idea what I might find. The crocuses are out near the greenhouse and the sagging pergola. From what I found last summer, I guessed that Mrs. B might have had a flower garden out that way, but it was hard to be sure if it was more than a few daylilies, irises, a yucca, and an overgrown rosebush.
One of the things I would like to cultivate this year is a passion for gardening. Can you grow a passion? I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s possible. I think if you approach something with an open mind, love, and desire, it could happen. I have gardened in the past, but not with much in the way of passion. Or desire either, other than for the fruits (or vegetables) of that gardening.
We acquired rosebushes with the Wabi-Sabi Ranch. I have never had roses before, and don’t know what to do with them. I spent a little time watching videos on YouTube in order to learn how to prune them. My rosebushes do not look like the rosebushes on the videos. It’s not the type of rose that presents the differences. I don’t think the W-S Ranch roses have been pruned in a very long time, whereas the rosebushes in the videos were obviously well taken care of.
After watching a couple of videos, I went out with loppers and pruning shears in hand, and had a go at the overgrown canes. If I were to follow everything said and shown on the videos, I’d have to cut them completely down to the base. Perhaps I should have. We’ll just have to wait and see what comes of my pruning endeavors.
The garden is coming along. I cut back the morning glory vines, picked up the rest of the big trash out there, and had a go at the small pieces of plastic. Little by little, I’ll get them up. M girdled the trees near the garden. There is an oak tree I would like to leave, but it will probably have to go next year. It shades half the garden. Fortunately, it’s not the half that I’m working with this year.
We have a pair of ducks living in the lagoon. M and I are having trouble identifying them. Our best guess at the moment is that they are American Black Ducks. I’m hoping they’ll settle in for a while, but they may be on their way to elsewhere.
Desire is a teacher: When we immerse ourselves in it without guilt, shame, or clinging, it can show us something special about our own minds that allows us to embrace life fully.
~ Mark Epstein
That should do it from the Wabi-Sabi Ranch on this cold Tuesday. We’ve had a few snowflakes fly by from time to time, but not enough to call it flurries. The sky is dark gray and heavy. Although the sun will certainly set, we won’t be able to see it unless a big wind moves in and suddenly clears out all the clouds.
Thank you for visiting. I hope your Tuesday has been magical and delightful, and that you’re staying warm (or cool if you’re living in the summer part of the world).
Be good, be kind, be loving. Just Be. 🙂
breezes at dawn 
your crocuses are glowing Robin, and I believe that passion for the garden will ignite too … working with living things has its own reward, not just their fruits, but the joy of seeing how they are from day to day and what marvellous things they and their companions do next! What a wonderful reclamation project you are engaged in, restoring health to land so poorly treated in the past …. love, time and patience 🙂
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Thank you, Christine. 🙂 Whenever I feel overwhelmed by the mess, I will remember your comment. It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it? Instead of thinking “mess,” I will think “restoring with love.”
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I’ve just been away for a few days too Robin, so have to catch up on what’s been happening at the Wabi-Sabi Ranch a little bit later. I love to see crocuses, they are such cheery flowers, but I suspect they wouldn’t enjoy our warm temperatures here. It sounds to me, not knowing all that much about roses, that you may be on the right track with them, as one thing I have heard is that during the cold weather, they should be pruned back to just a few bare branches. They lay dormant during the colder months and begin to shoot green buds of new growth when the weather warms up. I do feel passionate about gardening and always have, but whether or not it is a passion that can grow, I’m not sure….you’ll have to let us know. 🙂
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I’m not sure either, Joanne. I’ve been gardening for several years, but I’m a reluctant gardener rather than a passionate one. I’m hoping I can turn that around. 🙂
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Those shots are amaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing! What color! I’m happy to see color SOMEwhere! We are back to grey right at the moment. But your gorgeous shots just gave me hope! 🙂
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Thank you, CM. I’m so glad you enjoyed the little flowers. 🙂
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Such beautiful pictures of crocuses. As dadirri7 says, they are glowing. And this early – for me that is quite amazing. Enjoy springtime.
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Thank you, Otto. 🙂
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I tried roses (hybrid tea) the first few years we were here, but they do not like our normal winters and sudden early and late frosts. I finally grew weary of babying and replacing them, so now I have only a couple of rugosa roses that just do what they wish with an occasional mild trim back from me. I do love crocus but those have to be replanted every couple of years because our underground critters also love them. I occasionally find a crocus popping up in odd places – the work of said critters I am sure.
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I’ve heard that the little critters like to eat crocuses, Carol, but have been lucky with mine in Ohio, and so far, here. I need roses that just do what they wish. That’s my preferred method of gardening. 😀
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Robin, try some Rugosa roses. They pretty much fit that bill.
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Hi Robin. Last fall I planted a good lot of crocuses …. I can hardly wait for them to come up this spring. They are under about 2 1/2 feet of snow right now, but I can wait. As for cultivating a new passion, I know it can be done… I develop a new passion about every six months…. Jane
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Thank you, Jane. 🙂 That’s a good point. I develop new passions for other things. Why not gardening?
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These flowers are like little night lights for early spring. Beautiful.
You have day lilies, irises, and a hardy rose – that’s a good bunch to start with. Just think of the garden like a quilt. Stitch in what makes you happy.
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I like that analogy, PhilosopherMouse. Thank you. 🙂
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What beauties those flowers are. I am sure you are to have other pleasant surprises from your garden.
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That’s one of the lovely things about moving, Colline. Surprises pop up out of the ground. 🙂
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Love crocuses… is that the plural? We used to have some..chimpmunks ate them. And the few that survived were eaten by deer. So I love to look at other people’s crocuses. Yours are beautiful. We still have snow over my knees here. Can I come live with you?
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Sure, Dawn. Come on over. The guest room is the one room in the house that is pretty much finished. (I just need to paint some furniture, and I’m waiting for warm weather so I can do that outside.) It’s cold here, but there’s no snow. 🙂
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Robin, your photos of the crocuses are poetry. What lovely lighting to show the translucence of their petals. The last photo is interesting- is that a shrub? You might want to wait a little and see what you have before doing to much. Let your new garden unfold and show itself gradually. You may be surprised at what appears as the season progresses. Different types of roses require different types of pruning. Hybrid tea roses can take a hard prune every winter- and thrive. Shrub roses and climbers like to keep a bit more of their skeletons intact. Roses always bloom on new wood, so cutting back is the secret to good blooming. I”m waiting another little while before pruning mine so that the growth I stimulate by pruning doesn’t get whacked with another hard freeze. Passion for gardening is born from love of watching the individual plants grow into their potential, and the individual plants grow together into a place of beauty and peace.
Best wishes,
WG
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Thank you, WG. 🙂 The last photo is a clump of magnolia leaves just as the setting sun hit them. And thank you so much for the advice about the roses. Hopefully they’ll be okay through the next round of cold.
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Oh my gosh .. an actual “Springy” sight! Thank you. I can’t even imagine Spring. Snow is piled so very high, having trouble shoveling because I can’t throw it that high … it is 25 below this morning with windchill warnings for this afternoon … seems we are stuck with January weather until sometime in March. The longest, cruelest winter in years ….
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You’re welcome, Bearyweather. 🙂 I do hope winter starts to loosen its grip on ya’all soon. All of the bloggers that I read who are in the Midwest have been having such an awful time of it.
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Beautiful Crocus’s Robin, (I’d be leaning like that, trying to catch every bit of sunshine) Sometimes it’s a wait and see things with Gardens, then react (Heh!! …so I’m a reactionary ? 😉 ) I need to prune my Pyracantha come end of Spring , Its about 6ft tall, somehow methinks it’ll win the battle. 😉 Happy New Trails. xPenx
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Thank you, Pen. 🙂 I think the wait and see approach is a good one. 😀
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The crocuses are gorgeous, Robin. The have definitely brightened my morning. Glad to hear you also have roses. Interestingly, roses are one of Cuenca’s greatest exports. In fact, at my neighborhood Mercado, I buy 20 long-stemmed for only $4. I kid you not.
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
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Thank you, Kathy. 🙂 I remember seeing a Frontline (on PBS) about the flower industry in Ecuador. It was not good news in terms of labor practices and the impact on the environment. Have you heard anything about it since you’ve been there?
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Those glowing crocuses are enough to lighten my heart, for sure…and don’t worry about the roses – if they were still growing despite the neglect, pruning will not kill them. Honestly, whacking them down to the ground probably won’t kill them, if you find you need to do that to get one under control…
Passion for gardening? How about linking it to something you’re already passionate about – health? Herb gardens are great like that – some for cooking, some for teas, some for their medicinal benefit…and most of them are easy to grow, so when another project takes up all you time, they don’t die on you 🙂
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Thank you, Marie. 🙂 That’s a brilliant idea. I’d really like to move from the reluctant gardener stage to the passionate gardener stage. Herbs are certainly a great way to do that. I found (buried under vines) a raised bed that with some cleaning up, will be perfect for an herb garden.
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A quote from Hiro Boga– Be still, my beating heart!! I have a spiritual crush on her. 🙂
Beautiful shots of the crocuses, Robin. It looks like we have patches of them in the front walkway area of our new suite, too. It still amazes me that flowers can bloom at all in February– it’s definitely not what I grew up with in Alberta…
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Isn’t she wonderful, Dana? I was just playing with the Deva cards on her website, and couldn’t believe it when the card I drew turned out to be… Faith.
Thank you. 🙂
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[cue Twilight Zone music]– that’s so perfect!
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Your portraits of the Crocus are dramatic and wonderful. I really like the dark shots with the magical light. Yes, you can develop a passion for gardening. My mother was a passionate gardener. I was too for many, many years. Have you posted a pic of the roses? I could tell you what to do about them, probably. I never grew “tea” roses, and I’d wager yours are not specialty roses. They would have croaked. 🙂 Don’t cut down the oak. Plant shade-loving plants in its shade. You will find many of those that you want to grow. I am excited by the prospect that somebody I know is so interested in “growing stuff”. Once you get your hands in loamy soil, there will be no turning back. ;-/ Digging in the earth feeds the soul. It does.
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Thank you, George. 🙂 I posted pictures of the roses when they were blooming. I’ll see if I can dig out a few pics and post them soon. The oak will stay this year which will give me plenty of time to convince my husband that the oak should not be cut down. 😀
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How beautiful! I’ve only seen some daffodils blooming here and there in our neighborhood.
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Thank you, Michaela. 🙂
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How wonderful to be able to be out and about in the garden. Our layers of snow have now settled into that hard, crunchy crust that won’t go anywhere until we get several days in a row above freezing (not in the forecast this week, sigh). What a difference a 6 hour drive can make! (Western Massachusetts to Maryland, lol!)
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Come on down, Karma. You can help me work in my garden. 😀
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