spring – Waite for it…

Suddenly the yard was filled with color

Posted on May 18, 2024 by William Douthwaite

Night was just about ready to give way to the dawn. It was just light enough for a yard full of purple flowers to catch my eye. I and the dogs walk by here several times a week. It’s like they appeared overnight. Some kind of daffodil? A wildflower?

Google identified them as Zephyranthes, sometimes called a Zephyrlily or Rain Lily. It’s a bulb that thrives in subtropical climates like ours. They tend to appear after a rain shower.

The thing I found interesting is that this wasn’t a garden. It’s a front yard. These bulbs were planted, propagated, and sprung up through the lawn. Okay, so that lawn wasn’t that great. But the flowers were!

My dad had lots of flowering bulbs in his gardens. The crocuses would show up first, sometimes while there was still a little snow on the ground in the early spring. Tulips and hyacinths would follow, filling the front yard gardens with bright colors. But only for a week or two. Then they disappeared till the following spring.

That was up north. Garden life is different in Florida. The only flowers from bulbs I’ve seen here are amaryllis. But now I’ve seen the rain lilies. I would love to have a whole bunch of them sprout up overnight!

garden

An afternoon working on the yard

Posted on March 9, 2024 by William Douthwaite

After a few morning activities, we got home about noon. A few clouds drifted by, the temperature reached eighty, and there was just enough breeze to jostle the palm branches. It was a perfect afternoon to do some yard work.

I really enjoy getting out to work in the yard. Yes, you read that correctly. I’m a big fan of gardening, yard-ening, and firing up small engines to cut and trim and prune and tame the relentless growth of a northeast Florida yard.

After a smear of sunblock, picking out a hat (Phillies cap), and cleaning my sunglasses, I yanked on the lawnmower starter cord. One pull and it started right up after six weeks of rest and relaxation. As the first day of the vernal equinox approaches, more and more sun reaches our front yard, so it’s growing well. The back yard will catch up soon. It only takes about half an hour to cut the deep green front yard. It looks so much better when it’s all the same length. A few more passes up the west side of the house and I was done.

I topped off the string trimmer with some two-cycle gas and made a mental note to mix up more this week. Ten pumps on the bulb and three pulls on the starter and it roared to life. The edges of the property and gardens hadn’t grown much, so it only took fifteen minutes to trim. Three pulls on the blower started that engine, too, and I blew away all the grass clippings and pine needles from all the walks, driveway, and patio.

While cutting the law, I spent a lot of time dodging low hanging palm branches, so I decided to trim them, too. I grabbed my leather work gloves and pole saw, cut the lowest dozen branches off the canary palm tree, and set them off to the side. I’ll cut them in thirds and put them out on Wednesday, waste collection day.

Next, I raked a whole bunch of pine needles out of the gardens, pulling a few weeds along the way. I’ll need to add some cypress mulch this year. I pumped up my weed sprayer and hit the smaller weeds that are harder to pull.

Since I had protective gear on, I grabbed a hand-trimmer and cut back all the thorn-covered bougainvillea branches along the back yard fence. Everything looked so much better and I felt a few raindrops on my arm. Perfect timing. Enough for today. Plenty to work on another day.

I find yard work relaxing. Songs go through my head. The sun can’t decide whether to warm my skin or duck behind a cloud to let me cool off. Both feel nice. I love the smell of freshly cut grass. Unruly grass yields to a string trimmer. Soon I’ll wander through a nursery, looking for flowers to paint the empty spaces.

I am so glad I had a chance to work outside today.

garden, Moments of grace

Amaryllis Blooming: A Reminder to Slow Down and Enjoy Life’s Simple Pleasures

Posted on March 20, 2023March 21, 2023 by William Douthwaite

They are sneaky. You forget all about them for most of the year. Then suddenly, one day, BAM! There they are. The amaryllis.

I didn’t even notice as the plants began poking their heads through the pine needles and bark much. Even when they were a foot tall, they blended in with stalks of hibiscus and other plants that had died when the temperature dipped below freezing for a few days. The perfect disguise.

One afternoon, walking through the backyard, a tiny glimpse of red caught my eye. I couldn’t ignore them any longer. They had blown their cover. They weren’t coming; they were here.

The next day it looked like someone had run through the garden with leaking buckets of bright red paint. Flames shot out in every direction from the stems. The colors shouted from the brownish-gray backdrop, “It’s spring!”

The brilliant hues make me laugh out loud. I can’t contain the joy inspired by sudden spring color. I have to stop and look and look and look again. They are beautiful.