Open Dialogue

Dormant Green Thumb Gene Emerges

My grandmother's entire yard was a beautiful display of flowers--no grass, just flowers. The back yard was particularly magical to me as a child. She had lattice arches with flowering vines growing on them. I loved walking through these and on the narrow trails through the flowers.

I've seen my parents and my sister exhibit their love of gardening in various ways.

Now that I own a home with a real yard, the dormant green thumb gene in me has apparently emerged. This is much to my surprise as I didn't think I had the family green thumb.

Well, I guess it is to be determined if I have the family green thumb.

The desire to have a green thumb seems to be in me. Back in February it started as I found myself pouring over catalogs from Michigan Bulb and Spring Hill Nurseries. Feeling humble about my green thumb, I elected to order "The Foolproof Perennial Garden" and other plants that are in the "easy to care for" category.

Still waiting for the bulbs to come. And, it's been hard. I want to get my hands in the dirt.

Last summer, Des Moines experienced record high temperatures and little rain. The end result was the front corner of my lawn--which is on a hill--was fried. I had my suspicions last summer, but was told by hopeful friends that it was just "dormant".

It's not dormant, it's toast.

Pre-green thumb, I would have been upset about this happening to my lawn. However, I now find myself excited over being forced into a landscaping project. Started the first step today of outlining the portion to be landscaped and applying Round-up to kill off what is left of the grass. The grass will then be removed and Creeping Phlox planted.

Future posts will, no doubt, document my joy or sorrow--depending how this turns out.

posted by Susan @ 8:51 PM