I promise that I will not mention this gardening project again until it is finished! Pinky swear!
I had hoped that by now I’d have the shrub removed in the area imagined to be my hummingbird garden. Formerly planned as an herb garden, the area may morph again a time or two before it’s ready to be planted.
Two things have happened. Of all the shrubs and trees on our property, not to mention the neighbors’ yards, too; robins have decided to build a nest in the walking-dead shrub and as of yesterday there were three eggs.
Second, after seven months of trying to solve a painful problem and meeting most of the DuPage Medical Group doctors along the way, I had back surgery. The most minimalist kind of back surgery possible and it went very well.
In fact my surgeon, Dr. P., remarked that it went especially well because it’s so easy to operate on skinny people like me!
I’m still laughing over that one. If you met me, or if you do know me, skinny is not ever one of the words that would come to mind.
So if you’re ever blue, enjoy a laugh on me. The bad news is no gardening for me for quite some time. No bending forward, no sitting on my little stool planting sweet little flowers, no heave-hoeing that bush or even chopping it to bits and so on.
The third “bad-ish” thing is that I have lots of hours to reconsider my plan for this space.
One of my garden club friends says no hummingbirds will come close to the drive, so plant a peony. My friends at The Growing Place told me to be sure to consider “snow dump” (where the snow will land when Kent shovels the drive and walk. Learn something new every day, “Be sure to consider snow dump!”
So it may be next fall or spring before this garden takes form. But in the meantime, the get well cards have meant a lot to me. The warm thought, encouraging words and sometimes good advice such as this tip from another of my garden club friends:
“Company coming? House a mess? Display old get well cards!”
