Mired as we are in the deepest and coldest part of winter, I thought I’d do a review of last year’s garden. Just to remind us that brighter days do lie ahead.
As would be expected, the 2022 gardening year had its share of highs and lows. Let’s get off on a positive note and start off with the highs.
Thanks to a wet winter, the flower display in the spring was amazing! The irises I divided in 2021 (see here: Iris division) really put on quite a show. The rest of the garden was especially lush as well.
Growing tomatoes in a bucket sort of paid off, and I finally got to eat home grown tomatoes from my own garden after years of failure.
The bunnies were much scarcer this year; thus, the bunny damage was significantly reduced.
Even though the summer heat was brutal, the autumn display was especially dramatic last year. As a bonus, it lasted for a couple of weeks. It was a very nice finale to the gardening season.
With that being said, how about less talk and more show. On to the pictures!
Low points
Now, since I am definitely a glass 3/4 empty kind of guy, I was able to find lots of lows in 2022.
The cool, wet spring gave way to a hot, dry summer, and the garden suffered because of it. The plants became overly lush during the wet spell and then wilted in the heat. Even though the majority of my garden is comprised of low water plants, the display still suffered. After all, one way for plants to deal with drought is to reduce growth and/or blooms.
While I did get some home-grown tomatoes, the yield was underwhelming. The work/cost-to- reward ratio made growing tomatoes in a bucket a bust. I need to find another way to raise tomatoes to produce higher yields. It didn’t help that one of the tomato plants died before producing any fruits.
While the bunnies may have moved elsewhere, they were replaced by hordes of ravenous grasshoppers. These little gluttonous bastards laid waste to large swaths of the garden.
That is the way of gardening. A gardener, much like a farmer, accepts the whims of Mother Nature. A gardener must learn to work with her, not against her.
While Old Man Winter still has a very icy grip on the Vintage garden, these photos are a hopeful reminder to me that the growing season will be back very soon. Patience is another thing gardeners must be willing to learn. For the growing season will return soon, with all its joys as well as its attendant chores and duties.
It the meantime the gardener, and his garden, rests and awaits the arrival of spring.
