From Leonard Moorehead

March 25, 2009

My Dearest Elizabeth,

We cannot call the city a barren place. The moment pavement yields to soil grows living green. My daily stroll through the garden is no longer soggy or snowbound. A happy colony of house sparrows has taken roost in the forsythia arbor and chirp ceaselessly. Mourning doves are somewhere among the beech trees and their plaintive cooing sooths every nerve. Indeed, when I enter through the broken garden gate I am calmed and breathing becomes deeper, longer. The birdsong is a language of peace.

I filled a bag full of stray debris; I found a cd case, numerous snack bags, covers to coffee cups, several condom wrappers and half of a box of valentine’s chocolates. There is so much to do and so much promise in the garden. Let me share some of my upcoming goals and a few projects.

I garden according to color, scent and form. I often look for color and do not shy away from brilliant reds and yellows. I found lots of choices in my favorite annual, the zinnias. This Mexican stalwart did very well in the border last year and I purchased seeds in petite, medium and tall varieties. Oh, the variety! I found classic zinnias but also the pompom types and a few cactus types. For experiment sake, I found a new product that incorporates zinnias in a mulch type roll that covers a 6x4 space for only $2.99! I love to mix the colors and types roughly and expect to cut a larger roll into several sections. Zinnias love sun and are very tolerant of drought. Since last year I’ve incorporated a lot of leaves and compost in the loam and expect drought to be less of an issue. Zinnias are not too fussy about fertility and I think the added compost will provide plenty of nutrients and keep the soil moist.

To punctuate the herbaceous border I’ve splurged. Yes, I bought 8 clumps of dahlia tubers. Like the zinnias, they are in several forms. I usually don’t but made an exception this year and bought 2 of the pie plate size dahlias; in a deep maroon and also a pink. I have friends who fuss and coddle their large dahlias. I do not. I am however dedicated to composting and dahlias love a deep rich soil. I think a dahlia every few feet will anchor the border. They tend to bloom only towards August for me and there will be plenty of other action in the garden until they emerge to claim their place as the showstoppers. Along with the pie plate types, I also found some very pleasing cactus types in pink. I resisted the urge to keep only to pink and found a soft yellow pompom type. Each will be planted fairly deeply and also mounded with compost. I like to add bone meal to the planting to help with a healthy root system. I nearly always end up with gigantic tubers for the next year with this regimen.

With the zinnias and dahlias dominating the border I am inserting other blooms. I’m sentimental and as soon as I saw the Four O’clock or Marvel of Peru, I was instantly transported back to long childhood evenings in the garden with my Nana. She allowed me to harvest the large pea size seeds from the Four O’clock to save for the next year. I picked up a packet of these easy to grow annuals in red. As I will have many morning glories later in the summer blooming early and late in the day the Four O’clock will be a perfect companion.

I also found 4 varieties of cosmos. How I love daisy petaled plants! I found a tall cosmos and the others are shorter and I want to put them close to the fence. Can there be anything more romantic than strolling down the sidewalk and seeing the cosmos peaking through the fence? The cosmos are all in pastel shades to contrast nicely with the brazen zinnias. I couldn’t resist another old fashioned favorite…gladioli. I found a nice sack of 50 corms for only $4.99. I like to insert glads in small groups over a month’s planting and sport the blooms for weeks over the summer.

You’re probably wondering if the border will be all blooms. No, darling. I’m again growing pole beans on the picket fence. They did so well last year among the morning glories! I bought Kentucky Wonder, a life long favorite and an Italian flat bean type. I’m looking for the French Horticultural types for their red and white blooms but alas, seed racks can be the lowest common denominator. Besides, the morning glories and beans are fine companion plants and thrive together. It’s not only the giants that I seek. The garden has many volunteers but is sadly lacking my favorite: Johnny Jump Ups. No more! I’m scattering them along the edges of the border and look forward to the violets and strawberries competing with the violas. It will be perfect chaos!

Well, there’s still labor to perform in the garden and the compost harvest is still good. I filled eight 5 gallon buckets of old compost the other day to spread in the sunniest section of the border. I planted Bloomsbury Spinach in the compost. What? Spinach among the dahlias? Of course! The brilliant green spinach is so damned cheerful and long before the heat settles in to grow the dahlias and zinnias; the spinach will be a happy memory.

Well, darling, the mourning doves are cooing in the beech tree and remind me it’s time to sort through seeds on the kitchen table and think of my next foray into the garden. Zinnias, dahlias, pole beans, Four O’clock, and the ever delightful violas will keep my vision clear and bright.