don’t be envious, but apparently, they have gone to my backyard 
in a stroke of pure genius- clearly anticipating that they would one day sell their house to a clod who knows nothing about succession planting- the previous owners of this house planted a gajillion bushes that all flower in various colors and at various times.
what does this mean to us?
this means that on any given day, my backyard is a constantly changing kaleidoscope of color. the palate literally changes from day to day, and sometimes it seems like from hour to hour, and i am having such fun with all of this explosion of unexpected color that i often forget these things are flowers and just stare- mouth agape (not too attractive, and what’s that about anyway? why do folks do that when their attention is absorbed? like if i concentrate on something my brain forgets to close the mouth? like that takes so much brain power normally? seriously- do any of you have theories on that???)- and then other family members come over and they stare too.
i imagine that early settlers of wherever used to do this, and i think i used to do this in the garden- just marvel at what was around. like- inhale breath- ”wooooooooooooooooooooooooow.” exhale slowly. “this is sort of ours.” sharp inhale again. “woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow…”
so succession planting is something i have a lot of trouble with. i get the concept. i love the concept. i just can’t figure out how to make it work.
it shouldn’t be that hard, i know. i’m reasonably intelligent. find a crop that you harvest at a certain date and then plant something that can be planted at that later date and plant it. but i can’t get it right on paper. so i never sit down to do it.
so i never would actually have done these flowering bushes in the yard.
because whoever did it not only made sure that they were different colors, but they spread them around and they made sure that they would spring open and bloom so that there would always be something coming into color and something waiting to open and at least a few things in full bloom.
and that just leaves me in awe.
and it’s super pretty.
and i wish we could find a camera so we could put up some photos.
or i wish i knew artists because then not only could i pretentiously name-drop them here and say, “oh it looks just like a so-and-so”, but also i could paint you a mental picture.
but i can’t really.
i can tell you that there are lots of reds and some pinks. no oranges (yay! i really really don’t like orange…) lots of shades of the same color… lots of variations of green…HAH! i just went to look to tell you what else and today we have a full bush of purple- from nowhere- just like that! beat that! amazing!
imagine buying a house that meets your needs and keeps giving you gifts every day!
imagine every day being christmas morning!
i’ve already arranged with a friend that she will give me half the haul from her plum tree (yum!) in exchange for half the haul from our asian pear tree (which we don’t love as much)- so every time i look at that tree i literally see mason jars of jam in my storage area.
i’ve had another beat-your-head-against-the-wall multi-day migraine, so it’s mighty nice to look outside and remember all the blessings that have been showered on our family.
i hope you’ve had blessings showered on yours as well.
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look what *h just emailed me- maybe we can even get a few more to really show off later!
May 16, 2012 @ 13:38:44
I spent my childhood nearby in Edmonds and noticed the flowers come up every year all by themselves, so they are perennial. Meaning you don’t have to work to recreate this next year. I don’t know how that works but you should be sure to feed the soil so they will have something to eat this year and next. Some of them may not be only flowers, some may be berries or other edibles.
If you have dug into the dirt there yet you will know it tends to be rocky and gritty. Adding organic material is a must since the rain tends to leach out the soil.
If you have surplus pears, don’t forget the local food bank likes donations.
Here is the cutest video of a bucket garden experiment, starring the 3 year old granddaughter. Dave runs a wilderness survival school in Ohio, and this “home scene” is a first for him.
May 16, 2012 @ 20:25:52
Orange comes in the fall, should the prior gardener have liked the full spectrum succession.
When we moved into our house 15 years ago the backyard looked like a series of oddly shaped bare ground patches surrounded by ugly rock. We had 3 fruit trees though and a giant shade tree so we were happy. Shortly after moving in (in March) we noticed that if you even accidentally dripped water on the ground we’d have a flower pop up the next day. At least it seemed that way. Turns out we’d bought the house from a master gardener and there were flower beds under all those dirt patches! California poppies, daisies, lily of the valley, irises, and other things I couldn’t even name. The shrubbery bloomed in reds and yellows that were exciting to see. And then I got ahold of it all. We moved out the rocks and put in grass -which ChemLawn killed when they treated for grubs. Next to go were the shrubs (same cause…thanks ChemLawn) and then the fruit trees died from old age, which causd the grass to die from too much sunlight. Along the way the flower beds succumbed to my loving (or not so) attention and we eventually just replaced the dead grass with prettier colored rock, planted new drought tolerant shrubs, and the flowers are now contained in pots. Evolution of an outdoor space I guess.