Exuberance

As the calendar moves from June to July, we are in the season of exuberance in the garden. This spring and summer I have found myself prone to exclamation points when enjoying my garden. The abundant water in May led to amazing blooms in June. I have never seen the roses so plentiful! The peonies were rich in fragrance, the lilies blooming by my back steps make me smile. My clematis was bursting with blooms, and even shared the joy with my neighbors on the other side of the fence. My honeysuckle rebounded from the drastic pruning of a few years ago when we put in a new fence.  Even the peach tree which was nipped by frost during bloom time is harboring a few precious peaches. And the current abundance of blooms has made me almost forget the brilliant poppies of spring. 

I have been gardening in Colorado for 29 years this summer, and my memory is full of many more years of drought than exuberance. Since careful planning is part of my personality, all this exuberance has me wondering if we will forget the lessons of drought, and the reality that we live in a semi-arid landscape. The fact that the prairie grasses have stayed green longer than many past years may dull our commitment to conservation. The snowpack in the mountains that has filled our reservoirs for our urban water supply is a gift, not a guarantee.

Daylilies – putting their all into one day!

I will keep on emphasizing hardy low-water perennials that add color and joy to my garden, in a sustainable way. And today I will exclaim at the exuberance of the garden and treasure it all the more because it is unusual.

 

---