Growing Inspiration

Snapdragons!

Tomato seedlings are finally becoming tiny plants.  That’s the good news.  The weird/odd news is that the majority of the germination is happening on the opposite side of the bed where we’ve had the best luck in the past.  And, I didn’t even plant these seeds.  These came from my habit of watering with grey water from the kitchen, which in the summer contains quite a few tomato seeds.

So, we’ll definitely have tomato plants, but except for those I planted this year, which are maturing more slowly, who know what type they’ll be?  (I’ll try to remember to tell you!)

Over the last few weeks, we’ve started grooming the garden beds, but we’re waiting until nighttime temperatures stabilize in the 50’s to do most of the planting.  We might start some zucchini, radish, carrots, and Swiss chard sooner, especially if the wind lets up.

I’ve started container plants, some with seeds, some from seedlings that need thinning, a few with plants I purchased.  This year our window boxes will feature snapdragons that we bought on cheerful impulse.  I love snapdragons, but these last few years all we’ve seen were a pale yellow.  Since our native plants do a lot of yellows, these weren’t tempting.  However, deep velvet red won the day.

I was recently asked if my gardening had ever inspired a story.  The answer was “definitely, yes.”  In fact, my second published short story “Between Tomatoes and Snapdragons” (originally in Dragon Fantastic, reissued in my collection Curiosities) would not have been written if I didn’t garden.

Off to work on a few more aspects of my life as a writer.  Then maybe I’ll rehab a few more of my containers.  I have more zinnias to thin, and portulaca seeds to plant.

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