This week, it seemed that the theme of all that is growing around and within me was one of surprises. First, I’ll get to the big surprise for the week: on Monday I had my first sonogram and learned that we are having a boy! I can’t tell you how excited I am, not to mention how blessed I feel too. I call our learning that our baby is a boy a surprise because during the first part of the sonogram, the technician showed us that we were having another girl (she even froze “pictures” and marked the frame with “It’s a girl.”) Several minutes after she told us that we were having a girl and I had started planning out how to repurpose baby clothes and materials to welcome a second girl, the technician stopped and apologized, saying, “Oh no! I’m so sorry but I’ve made a mistake.” My immediate reaction was worry . . . I had no idea that she was talking about the sex of our baby. She then froze several more pictures of our baby and repeatedly showed us our baby’s little boy part to prove that we were indeed having a boy. Secretly, I do think that I wanted to have a boy so the tech’s mistake was a welcome one for me (though healthy was most important to me). In the meantime, I am hoping to relax and enjoy the remaining 20 weeks of my pregnancy, getting to know my little guy before he arrives to the world later this summer, and getting our home ready for him too.
In my garden too I was surprised. As I mentioned in this post about my gardening journeys, I picked up a small gardening journal this week so that I could organize my thoughts and plans for my flower, shade, herb, and vegetable gardens (no, we do not have expansive acreage but I do utilize all of our square footage for sake of growing as much as possible). From there I mapped out what my gardens look like now using graphing paper, and then I researched native perennials and annuals that would do well in a zone 7 garden during spring, summer, and fall (I relied on the sites mentioned in my last gardening post as well as several gardening books that I hope to add to my Goodreads page later this week). While I prefer perennials for their endurance and beauty, I do think that we will rely on annuals too for color and variety (not to mention that many of our vegetable plants have only one season in them).
Now, back to the surprises in my garden. I wanted to make sure that before I headed to the gardening centers with any serious intention of buying plants, I wanted to survey my gardens to see what we already have from last year’s garden (if you didn’t know, this is only my 2nd year gardening). To be honest, I didn’t expect much, aside from my hostas and liriope, which are hardy and take up much of my front flower garden. Well, as alluded to, Mother Nature did surprise me. Not only were the hostas sprouting and the liriope beginning to grow back, but my mini hydrangea, ground cover, ivy, and mint are returning again too.
Other surprises came from my more recent gardening experiments: several weeks ago, Annabelle and I planted spinach and pea seed in my vegetable garden as well as parsley seed in a large pot. A few days later we had an unexpected snow storm. I was certain that none of these seeds would germinate or even grow into seedlings. But, lucky for me, I was wrong. The spinach and peas are both beginning to peak through (though I have to tell you that I can’t say for certain which is which), and now that I’ve moved my parsley inside, it too is sprouting up. I really felt as though Mother Nature was giving me a bit of encouragement with these seedling surprises.
Um, but there is potentially bad news too for my garden . . . remember my post on potting bulbs? Well, according to the gardening center’s manager, I should have kept them inside until May 1. When I returned home from talking with him, I brought all of my pots of bulbs inside with the parsley. You should see my kitchen floor right now! Our kitchen is probably about 10 X 10 and half of it is full of pots! Oh well, this doesn’t bother me too much since I don’t really like to spend much time in my kitchen anyway (my ongoing joke about myself is that I am the world’s most amateur preparer of foods and the world’s worst chef, :-)). So at least, my kitchen is now being put to good use!
Last but not least, in my flower garden, I had transplanted an unknown perennial that our birds love to eat, and at the end of last season had cut it down to the roots. I forgot all about this plant and again was excited to see that it is returning.
Okay, okay, I know that I am writing a lot today, and you’d probably prefer to go peak into my garden to see what I’m talking about. Well, here she is:
unknown and plentiful ground cover in my shade garden is flowering. Whatever this plant is called, she is reliable, steady, and doesn’t seem to need much care.
my hostas are making their way back,
as is my hydrangea (hooray!),
little peas (I think) peaking up from out of the earth,
and spinach sprouting too (my parsely is growing in a similar fashion),
more hostas,
and a new friend in my flower garden, candry striped phlox.
my pansies are still doing well, though I’m not certain how many more weeks we’ll spend with them,
and last, my unknown perennail is shooting up, looking ever so beautiful in spring’s dew.
{ 11 comments }
congrats on your healthy baby boy and also your healthy garden!
Thanks for the peek into your garden, and again congrats on finding out about your son!
I’d say it’s time to thin those spinach seedlings. Check the packet for how far apart they should be. I’ve found that if I neglect to thin early, the plant’s growth will be stunted.
OMG, Congrats on your little boy! How exciting to find out the gender of the most important seedling of them all! It’s incredible how balanced a family becomes when you get to love and nuture both genders! You just can’t explain the wonder of having a daughter and son, until you have both. You, your hubby, and dear Annabelle are SO blessed!
OK, for me, the garden certainly takes a back seat to the new baby growing inside you! But…your garden does look wonderful, too! You’re SO far ahead of our gardens due to your warmer climes! Enjoy the baby and the garden, but don’t be afraid to let a few weeds grow, too, or have someone else help with the weeding. The job you’re doing right now is way more important!
Hugs,
Ruth
Robin, thank you! We are so happy, :-)
Abbie, thank you too. What exactly should I do to “thin” my spinach?
Everyday woman, I am so excited and curious as to what life will be like with a boy and a girl. For the most part, I cannot wait to meet my son, though I anticipate it will be different than it has been with a girl. Oh, and I will definitely rely on weeding help from my hubby. The vegetable garden is his area of focus come May 1 when we begin planting tomatoes and more. In the meantime and while I have the energy to keep up, I love being outside with my plants and in the dirt. Besides, Annabelle seems to like it too. :-)
How exciting your baby news is! I have two boys and two girls and having both is a joy.
I think you have correctly identified your peas and spinach! It seems so from the photos you’ve shown. Your phlox and pansy are so sweet. Don’t you love the little faces on pansies? They are a welcome sight to these winter-weary eyes! Thank you so much for sharing your garden.
What joy for you to be growing your family as well as your garden. Busy days ahead for all of you. I love the last picture of the cute little plant making an appearance in your garden. Very interesting. Did you plant it last year? Maybe you will reconize it when it fills out a little more.
By “thin,” I mean pull out some of the plants so they’re not so crowded. I know it’s hard to pull out the ones you’ve been nurturing, but you have to or else none will thrive. You can leave them closer if you want to eat small, baby spinach, or if you want to grow large plants, you’ll have to space them out even more. I tend to leave the biggest, healthiest looking ones and pick out the littler ones.
And thanks for reminding me that I need to clarify! Perhaps I’ll do a post on thinning when I acutally have something to thin!
I’ve noticed with my students, I’ll expect them to know something when they don’t. The other day, I said, “You know, those flowers look like strawberry blossoms.” I knew what they looked like, but none of my students had seen them, so sometimes it’s nice to get a reminder to step back and define my terms.
Thanks Aisling. You must have your hands full! My hubby talks about having a larger family like yours . . . we’ll see. They are so much fun (and work too :-)).
Cloudhands, yes I believe I planted it last year though it could have been the first fall we lived in our house. I hope to spot it at the garden centers so that I can figure out what it is!
Abbie, thank you for specifying what you meant. After I read your advice, I asked my husband what “thinning” was and of course, being the North Branford native he is, he explained what I needed to do (you see, the spinach and peas were my idea). And I think that it’s great that you speak with knowledge about your subject area–I think your students expect you to know more than they do . . . it’s part of why they respect you, yes? The great part about you and other great teachers is that you make your wide breadth of knowledge accessible to your students, and let them into the expert’s circle. That’s how I see it, anyway, based on what I observe about your classroom via your blog.
Congrats on the boy! I have one girl and a baby boy as well, and it’s a lovely combination.
And your ultrasound story reminds me why I take the gender determination of ‘girl’ with a grain of salt. I’m always afraid they’ve just, you know, overlooked something. ;-)
Congratulations on your new baby boy. You must be so looking forward to meeting him!
There are so many things growing in your garden! The pictures are great.
Great pictures! Looking forward to spring here!
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