of gardens

[bronze_ribbons]

All week long, the smell of fresh dirt has pervaded the office building where my husband works, thanks to the crew currently relandscaping the atrium garden. It's not unpleasant -- just disconcerting. Every time I walked into the hall, it was like hearing a burst of shape-note singing smack in the middle of a Haydn mass.

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It was posted many moons ago, but I only just found out about Julad's Night-blooming Heartsease (Snape/Neville), a prequel to Resonant's Transfigurations (Harry/Draco). (Favorite line: "Snape's lips almost twitched. 'The linen closet is better ventilated,' he said.")

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I've been working on my own "garden" the past couple of days ("garden" being clusters of containers on and at the foot of the deck). Last year I didn't do much beyond watering the basil my mother-in-law had restocked for my birthday, so anything I manage this year counts as progress.

Last year's survivors include a clump of chives, several clumps of Greek oregano, some sprigs of lemon thyme, a couple of gnarled rosemary branches, and a patch of mint. I did save some basil seeds from the past two autumns; it was very satisfying to see the sprouts emerge this week. Sunday, a friend and I filled half a flat at the farmer's market with more basil and chives, along with curly parsley and creeping thyme. For flowers, I'm hoping for snapdragons, poppies and moss roses. (I also have a bouquet of Sweet William (dianthus) in a vase on my dining room table. I've never seen it up close before, and the buds peeking out of the petal clusters look bizarre to me, so it'll be interesting to watch the flowers age over the next week.)

Still to be planted: spinach, beets and grape tomatoes. And maybe I'll give zinnias another go. . .

Comments

[ky-expatriate.livejournal.com]

What color are the Sweet William? At the farmer's market today they had the most brilliantly pink bouquets of it, all tightly clustered in buckets. I would have gotten some but for my cat's habit of eating anything green down to the root.....

I've read that story and enjoyed it (although Snape usually squicks me out when paired with a student) and got massively into shape-note singing after hearing it on the "Cold Mountain" soundtrack. Exactly how much do we have in common, anyway? ;)

[mechaieh.livejournal.com]

Some of the clusters are wine-red with dark pink buds, and some of them are purple with white edging. Fortunately, the dog knows better than to surf the dining room table (though I'm not entirely sure she isn't to blame for the denuded stalks of mint on the deck).

(although Snape usually squicks me out when paired with a student

I hear you -- I generally prefer post-Hogwarts stories (for the same reasons I stick to Dark Is Rising futurefic), although my favorite Snape storyline is probably the Snape/Lupin pairing in triumvirate.