April 2022 in the Garden (And Indoors Dreaming, Planting, Painting, Reading)

I spent Monday in my garden. Mondays are technically the weekend for me and I was so glad my time off coincided with good weather. I was able to start my spring garden clean-up, stopping when I ran out of space in the containers I leave at the curb for the city’s yard waste collection.

Spring is late to arrive here in Wisconsin. Last year my first, sweet daffodils were blooming by April 4th. This year the greens are barely peeking out of the soil.

I looked back at last year’s April garden post and many things are behind (last April’s garden post was published on the 4th Friday and this year’s is on the 3rd Saturday, but even so, I know I won’t be harvesting asparagus next week).

I’m starting to see tiny hints of green, but I have to hunt for them. Sometimes on my hands and knees. Tulips, walking onions, feverfew, oregano, iris, alliums, grape hyacinths, catnip…

The afternoon in the garden was just what I needed to remind me of who I am.

Oh, how I’d forgotten. Even looking at photographs I can’t quite remember what it’s like to be surrounded by my garden, this space I’ve created slowly, year by year. I love it. It’s so imperfect and yet at the same time, it’s just right.

Now my garden is just a promise. Mostly bare ground. And yet sitting in the sunshine I was able to remember. Remember the flowers and plants. Remember the bees and the butterflies. Remember the birds. Some of them are already here. Visiting the feeders. Hopping along the fence. Singing from the branches of the birch tree.

Clara was delighted to be able to come outside with me. She loves the garden, too, happiest lying in the sunshine. She’s my sundog, my golden girl.

As a gardener who’s trapped inside for too many months, these days are hard to fully describe. The feeling of excitement mixed with hope mixed with remembrance mixed with a complete sense of rightness.

The weather didn’t last (we had snow again by Thursday and I saw snowflakes again on my walk this morning), but even just that taste was enough to remind me.

Meanwhile, my seedlings are growing indoors.

Tomatoes and eggplant and basil and snapdragons and many more. Some years my indoor seed starting is more successful than others. I’m hoping this is a good year.

Someday I’ll have a greenhouse. For now I’m grateful for my cobbled-together setup in the basement (did you notice the visitor in the tomato seedlings? I didn’t until editing the photo on my computer).

I’m tending baby geraniums in my studio, too. Cuttings that spent the winter in water were finally tucked into soil last month and are doing well in spite of months of inattention.

Window space is at a premium (filled with houseplants) or I’d overwinter more plants and take more cuttings.

My houseplants sustain me through the winter and I’ve been relying on them heavily for painting inspiration.

Purple oxalis, cyclamen, orchids. I’ve painted them again and again, and yet they always call to me in winter.

And in spring, before the garden gets going.

But I start to get impatient as the garden begins to wake up.

I bought some potted mini iris the other day. I’ll plant them in the garden after I paint them. Not quite painting from the garden (yet) but almost.

In addition to painting and tending plants, I’ve been reading about gardens, too.

This time of year I can’t help it.

After I ran out of room in the yard waste containers on Monday, I settled on the blanket in the sunshine with Amy Stewart’s From the Ground Up. I’d read it before and recently found myself a used copy. Such a fun garden read. The perfect balm for when you can’t be digging in the dirt.

Just about any garden book is a balm when you can’t be digging in the dirt. And perfect after a full day outside when all I can think of is gardens and gardening. I know some of you feel the same way so I thought I’d share the books in my current pile (all by the top one) from the library.

The Well Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith

I’m still working my way through this one and it’s fascinating. Here’s a short clip of the author reading from her book in her greenhouse (oh, what a greenhouse!).

You’ll want to see this video of her garden, too.

The Cottage Garden by Christopher Lloyd and Richard Bird

“The essence of a cottage garden… is a bountiful yet regulated informality.” I love the description and I love the style of garden that this book also describes as “a tidy mess.” The styling of the book is a bit dated-looking, but I never tire of looking at photos of flowers and plants.

Small Garden Style by Isa Hendry Eaton and Jennifer Blaise Kramer

If The Cottage Garden looks dated, Small Garden Style is the opposite, stylish and trendy. Perhaps my favorite spread in the book is a two-page photo of a table with food for a garden party. Definitely evocative of elegant, casual living. The book is lovely but geared more toward gardening in warmer climates than mine (the authors and the gardens are in California). It’s also filled with many design rules, most of which I’d never follow.

The First Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables by Jessica Sowards

This is probably the best beginning gardening book I’ve ever read. It’s super practical, interesting and encouraging. If you’re familiar with Jessica’s YouTube channel, you’ll know just what I’m talking about. Jess is passionate about gardening and about passing that passion on to others.

A Way to Garden by Margaret Roach

Re-written and updated 21 years after its original publication, this is a beautiful book that takes you through the seasons of the garden with wonderful photos and lots of advice.

I’d love to hear what garden books you’ve been reading. Another day I’ll pull together a list of my favorite titles to share with you, too.

Next week I’m away for a girl’s weekend with my two oldest, best friends and I’m taking the week off from my blog (here’s to inviting more ease into my life). I’ll be back with a new post on April 30th.