The Good Spring Gardener
Spring Prunus Blossom
What are the attributes of the Good Spring Gardener? Read on - see if you make the grade!
Notices Everything...
Firstly, the Good Spring Gardener is a good 'noticer'. She (or he) sees and anticipates, checking the spring garden every day, noticing everything! For example, all those delightful little beginnings - the new green shoots on the Lupins and Delphiniums, the fattening buds on the Rhododendron and Camellia shrubs...
And all the bigger, less obvious changes - like Prunus trees on the fence-line suddenly bursting out into pink blossom, and the big Wattles overhead covering themselves in bright yellow flowers...
And because she (or he) has been a good 'noticer' in past springs, the first Camellia, the first miniature daffodils, the first snowdrops, and so on, will all be appreciated at the right moment. Nothing will be left to a chance wander past. All bloomers can be satisfied that their own special debut flowering will be seen and marvelled at.
Calm and Consistent...
The Good Spring Gardener is calm and consistent, noting all the daily changes in her (or his) garden. This gardener is never taken by surprise by the bluebells, and will never suddenly discover an early blooming rhododendron, and rudely shriek at it out loud. She (or he) doesn't gush when the peony stalks are a foot high and then forget to look for weeks, missing the grand opening! There is no panic in the personality...
Spring Daffodils
And Forgiving...
The Good Spring Gardener is also forgiving. The wind may blow down all the new blossom, and favourite rhododendron Percy Wiseman may decide to have a year off. Rain may flatten all the fancy split corona daffodils and push their pretty heads into the mud.
Spring Hellebore
C'est le Printemps!
But this gardener can just shrug her (or his) weary shoulders. C'est le Printemps! Completely at one with the spring season, she (or he) accepts nature's impeccable sense of timing. Eek!
Excels at Garden Maintenance
Finally, it goes without saying that the Good Spring Gardener will also excel in mundane garden maintenance. Understanding that spring is the busiest garden time, she (or he) is happy to sit or kneel in mud to micromanage the tiniest green weeds - and is patient with the taproots of dandelions and docks, pulling oh so slowly.
Oops...
And, by the way, garden tools are always safe and secure, particularly in spring (when they need to be at their sharpest and cleanest). Never, ever will the secateurs used for late pruning the roses be found rusting in the compost heap - or smouldering in the ashes of the rubbish fire! Oops...