'Alien Mist' ( Cy Bartlett, registered 1998). Seedling HD-IQ 1. TB, height 37" (94 cm), midseason bloom. Ruffled very pale blue self; beards bright medium blue violet, horned; slight sweet fragrance. 'Howdy Do' X 'Inca Queen'. Sutton 1998.
I say most, because, well, there’s always one, right? (Admit it, you’re thinking of one right now, aren’t you!?) But, even the exceptions have the spark to tend their garden, to take time, to invest themselves in the dirt and the plants and the seasons’ cycles. They may not like other gardeners as much as I do, but if you don’t like plants, you won’t make much of a gardener.
Mom’s slope, in a very good year. This is about 15% of her iris population.
For purposes of laughs, and context, I’ll share a favorite story about my mother, and her gardening. One day as she was in her front yard, pulling weeds and pruning, a neighbor walked by with her four-year old daughter. They started a conversation about what my mother was doing, and mom patiently showed the little girl the flowers, the weeds, the tools she was using, etc. After a few minutes, the neighbor prompted her daughter to come along so my mother could continue her work. As they walked away, the little girl asked her mother, “Is Lee Mother Nature?”
I love that story because it’s so sweetly innocent, and such a testament to my mother’s gardening skills, and it also makes me laugh and cry at the same time. The best part is, yes, my mother was Mother Nature. She could grow almost anything (except Matilija poppies, which she really liked but just couldn’t get to thrive), and could bring back just about any sorry looking plant or tree from what was almost certainly death...until it turned green and was happy again. In this way, I learned optimism and persistence from her. Sure, it looked dead, but give it some nutrients, a good spot in the garden, and lots of water, and presto, bringing the plant back from the dead. [This is not a post about zombie plants, so if you are hoping it will head that way, I will disappoint you now.]
'Beverly Sills' (Ben Hager, R. 1978). Seedling T3201PK. TB, height 36" (91 cm), Midseason bloom. Laced coral pink self; tangerine beard. 'Pink Pirouette' X 'Vanity'. Melrose Gardens 1979. Honorable Mention 1981; Award of Merit 1983; American Dykes Medal 1985.
This quality of understanding nature, of being in harmony with her, of serving and admiring and challenging and commanding her all at once, well... that’s what makes gardening so meaningful. You invest the time, and when the garden thrives, you do as well. I learned it through doing—I was never taught gardening at home, it was just what we did on weekends. And summer evenings. And as our schedule allowed, mornings before work. In fact, during the bloom season (and other good-weather months), the daily practice for my mom (and now me) is to get up, put on yard shoes, and walk the garden before just about anything else happens. Yes, breakfast needs to be eaten, and certainly the dogs want to be fed. A shower should happen somewhere in there, too... But more often than not I would call my mother at noon to discover she was still out on her “morning walk” and never made it back inside at all. She would be in her pajamas and gardening boots, pulling weeds, watering potted plants, raking out that one corner where the wind always deposited leaves, and breakfast and showers and sometimes even dog-feeding was left hanging until later, later, later.
Peach blossoms. I don’t want to get poetic, but they start out beautiful, and end up amazing.
I know, deep in heart, that my mom and I are not the only ones who do this. Particularly when the iris are fully budded out, and you’re just waiting to see what opens today, I bet you go out to check on their progress first thing, even if it’s “just for a minute...” It’s ok, it’s more normal than you think.
Again, though, I was never formally taught to garden until I was in my early adolescence when my school offered organic gardening classes. I did learn some amazing things there (worm farming, how to really efficiently turn rows, tool maintenance), but I already knew how to love the soil, admire the living, growing artwork that nature creates in our gardens. I learned that from my mom, and I learned it without even knowing I was being taught. It is simply just who I am.
'Jennifer Rebecca' ( Lloyd Zurbrigg, R. 1984). Sdlg. Q181. TB, 35" (89 cm). Midseason bloom and rebloom (Oct in VA). Ruffled and laced rose pink, lighter around tangerine pink beard; slight sweet fragrance. 'Grace Thomas' X 'Vanity'. Avonbank Gardens 1985.
