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Patience is a virtue

April 27, 2009

It really is. And there’s nothing like becoming a gardener to remind you of that.

I’ve been gardening for about 15 years now. Well, 15 if you count the peppers I tried to grow in a pot on the front step of my first post-college apartment that I watched with eager anticipation of eating something I grew. Unfortunately the squirrels have less patience than I do and day after day I’d come home after work to find one more pepper with a bit ol’ bite out of it. Actually that didn’t last for too many days, because I only had three peppers to begin with.

My gardens grew over the years, and it wasn’t until I had completely covered a small patio at an apartment that my husband declared we needed to get me a garden, preferably with a house attached. For the last seven years I’ve been gardening at our rural converted cottage near Lake Michigan, and slowly taking over the lawn for more and more gardens.

In my haste for a lush, garden-filled yard, I’ve definitely cut some corners. And paid the price. I’ll talk about some of those mistakes I made here, but don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be making plenty more in the future.

But there are occasional reminders of why it’s worth it to just hang in there and have patience. Here’s one of them. This Mrs. N. Thompson clematis was the first clematis I purchased, as a lanky thing at a local nursery. I didn’t have a clue what to do with clematis, so I plopped it in the ground and waited for the show. And waited, and waited. For three years. I didn’t realize that I wasn’t doing it any favors by not planting it deep to encourage new shoots, by not fertilizing it, but not pruning off all that lanky growth the first year. Fortunately, Mrs. N. Thompson hung in there, and three or four years after I planted her (and subsequently abused her), she forgave me and gave me this sweet bloom. Let’s hope the rest of the plants are as gracious.

Mrs. N. Thompson
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Last night we stopped at my parents’ house and it looked like a snow globe outside. As we were leaving the snow stopped and the sun came out. It was absolutely beautiful. 

#happyearthday🌎
It’s really not uncommon to have a bit of snow here this time of year (and it’s my mom’s birthday so we tend to remember what the weather is like this specific day) but it still is a bummer. The good news is that it will be gone soon and Odin was happy about it. We never got really warm temps so a lot of my plants are not up yet and most things are just budding, so I’m not worried about most things and didn’t take any protective measures, but I know a lot of you are in a different situation. Hope all manages it fine in your gardens. 

#aprilsnow #springsnow #daffoldilsinsnow
Yep, still love Amsonia hubrectii. In fact I’m adding more to the garden this year. I can’t get over that texture. That’s Cotinus (purple smokebush) in the back and one of @casteglass birds “flying” above. 

#amsoniahubrichtii #bluestar
Well, I’m still going back to the well of old pictures because there’s not a lot to show right now. I am one tired gardener this Monday. I gardened nonstop this weekend. And while these long gardening days don’t offer a lot of immediate gratification it’s views like this that make that work worth it. And when I look back at pictures like this I realize that whatever you can get done in the garden is worth it. And what doesn’t get done will be forgotten about when you enjoy a view like this. 

#gardenweekend #limelighthydrangea

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