Hope Springs Eternal

at least among gardeners in the spring (hahaha). THIS will be the year I have the flowers/vegetables/fruits I dream of, say all of us.

And so I must be an optimist. After years of drought, a broken ankle (no gardening), a broken wrist (no gardening), last year I tried again. No drought, no broken bones, but, OMG---deer!!! They ate everything, even rose bushes and they have thorns on them. Ouch! Wouldn't you think?

But this year I'm off again, to the nursery. I bought flowering perennials and I just put them in the ground. Our last freeze date is April 15th, so I'm early, but I figure that perennials are tough. Persist, perennials!!! (please don't die)

I had everything I needed, including my gawjus garden boots. It's beautiful out and it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so perfect timing.

I even planted purple coneflowers!

And that is proof of my optimism; a gardening friend, who is a way better gardener than I am, and who worked at a really good nursery, told me that, "If you can't grow coneflowers, we take away your trowel." Well, I have had coneflower plant after coneflower plant die on me, year after year. I can't find my trowel from last year, so maybe someone DID take it away. Hah! I bought another even BETTER one and I love it.

Best trowel ever!  Soil Scoop by Garden Works, Bellevue, WA

It is really curved well, has notches on the sides that make digging really easy, and I can scarify the root systems well with it. (Scarify is a word my daughter taught me, meaning that you sort of pull the roots apart so they don't continue to grow in the shape of the original container. I think she was watching a lot of Martha Stewart at the time she learned this.) Maybe you already knew the word. I did not.

So now I wait and watch. Last year I briefly tried netting until I was warned that the netting could trap birds in it. It also allowed vining weeds to twine up and through the netting and into the rose plants. I tried helium balloons. I tried cotton wadding that was soaked with smelly stuff and then attached with bread ties to the plants. 

And the deer ate my whole garden.

But THIS year? THIS year? As doG is my witness, if those deer show up, I'll, I'll, I'll, well...I don't know what I'll do.  

Cry?