backyard love.

When we decided to buy this house about three years ago, the backyard was the deciding factor for us. It is huge and beautiful. And because our home is on the wetlands, we have no neighbors directly behind us. Just lots of marshy, grassy land- I'm sure one day in the not so distant future I will find Henry Cooper out there up to his knees in mud. The mud is thick and runs deep. When the tide is low and recedes to deeper parts, it leaves behind little fiddler crabs that like to pop in and out of their little tunnels. When the tide is high, we squint and pretend we have real waterfront property. Every day I look out and see geese, grey herons, and beautiful big white herons. Our neighborhood was once farmland, and also home to many horses. According to an old neighbor who was nearly 100, our house stands in an area where the stables were once located. I'm convinced that this, along with the whole wetlands factor, is why the soil is so rich and fertile. It is like black gold; and with only a partially green thumb and a little effort, I have had minimal gardening success (i.e. not ALL of the plants I have planted have died- some, but not all). When I worked before and didn't have a newborn, I used to blow most of my paychecks on the garden. Mostly perennials- which is good, since I am no longer employed- plants that come back every year. This summer, due to the limited funds, I will be growing most everything from seed. I will probably be tracking the progress here.... so hahaha- my boring mommy blog will become a boring gardening blog, perhaps. Anyhow- the whole point of this post (which has become a bit long-winded-- sorry) is that I love, love, love our backyard in the spring. We have nine camelia trees of varying colors blooming at the moment, and scads of daffodils which my husband has lovingly planted over the past two autumns (because they are my favorite, and he is awesome). There are mounds and mounds of bluebells that have naturalized in the yard, various kinds of tulips, rhododendrons, azaleas, and a couple explosions of blazing yellow forsythia... man, I really love our backyard in the spring.