Yesterday was the day I had set aside to dig the bulbs for winterizing the calla lilies. I had no idea there were so many of them in the ground. I had not dug them them recently so I had forgotten just how many small ones were clinging to the sides of the main bulb. The more I dug the more I seemed to unearth. I finally went to the back of the house and carried a light weight chair around so I could rest in between the digging. My plan was to keep the bulbs separated as to color. Since some time had passed since I had seen the blooms in all their glory I did not do a good job of keeping them separated. What I should have done was consult the files in my computer where I had stored pictures of them in bloom. When it was all finished and I had washed the bulbs, dried them and temporarily stored them in a shed, I went to the computer to check out the color. Oh, how I wish I had done that earlier. Will I ever learn to "read the directions" before I start a project? Apparently not.
I do know that most of what I have dug are white and a smattering of them are yellow. The most beautiful of them all is a large yellow which turns red, first around the rim and then all the way down. That group of bulbs is hidden under a large Miss Huff lantana. So, when I dig them later in the fall I will know for sure what they are. I promised my doctor that I would bring a bulb to her for her garden she is making in memory of her favorite aunt. The one I want to take is this big yellow one.
Later in the day I was picking purple grapes in the vineyard and my thoughts went back to the digging of the bulbs. It was harder than I had expected. For some reason I began to think of the first home that my husband and I bought at Arnold, Maryland. As new homeowners we were clueless about boundaries and how important they are to property owners. We decided to put up a row of shrubs between our home and the adjacent property. The agent selling us the home had told us where the property line was so we felt confident as we proceeded with this project. Oh that we had investigated further !! It would have saved him a lot of back breaking work. With only a shovel to prepare the beds for this long row of shrubs, he worked his heart out making the holes for each one. After the job was all finished and we thought we were all set, my neighbor decided to have her property surveyed. Her suspicions were confirmed and we had indeed encroached upon her property. The idea of doing such a thing was no where in our minds. But, there was no question about it. The shrubs were over the line by about one foot. So another week-end was put aside to correct the situation.
I suppose what brought that episode to mind was that a little detective work ahead of a project can save problems down the road. It would have helped to know the exact colors of the calla lilies and it would have helped a LOT to know exactly where the property line was before doing all of that hard work.
I have learned a lot since then. One thing I have learned is how to tell if a tree is alive when the foliage is gone. For that first home we purchased a pink dogwood and planted it in front of our house. I noticed when we were transporting it that a certain brittle sound came from the branches touching each other. But being inexperienced I did not know that a very simple test before buying that tree would have saved us money and disappointment. For in the spring when all the other trees began to leaf out this pink dogwood did not. The Nursery where we bought it was no help at all. We had bought it and that was that. If only I had known to scratch the limbs on that tree I would have seen that they were brown under the bark and it was quite dead. So, again a preliminary investigation was in order but not carried out, so, an unhappy situation was not avoided.
My son told me recently that making mistakes was indeed one way of learning, but in my case I seem to be a slow learner in regard to proper preparation before taking on a new project. I think I have learned how to identify a dead tree however and I may have one now that could need to be replaced, or not, we shall see. A dwarf apple tree near my house began to show brown leaves long before it was scheduled to happen. I did scrape the bark and it was green underneath. I will wait and see how it fares next spring and if need be I will replace it but it is worth a wait to find out. And I have already decided to put out markers for the new calla lilies and if they need to be changed after the bloom time then that is easily accomplished. And hopefully I have learned that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I do know that most of what I have dug are white and a smattering of them are yellow. The most beautiful of them all is a large yellow which turns red, first around the rim and then all the way down. That group of bulbs is hidden under a large Miss Huff lantana. So, when I dig them later in the fall I will know for sure what they are. I promised my doctor that I would bring a bulb to her for her garden she is making in memory of her favorite aunt. The one I want to take is this big yellow one.
Later in the day I was picking purple grapes in the vineyard and my thoughts went back to the digging of the bulbs. It was harder than I had expected. For some reason I began to think of the first home that my husband and I bought at Arnold, Maryland. As new homeowners we were clueless about boundaries and how important they are to property owners. We decided to put up a row of shrubs between our home and the adjacent property. The agent selling us the home had told us where the property line was so we felt confident as we proceeded with this project. Oh that we had investigated further !! It would have saved him a lot of back breaking work. With only a shovel to prepare the beds for this long row of shrubs, he worked his heart out making the holes for each one. After the job was all finished and we thought we were all set, my neighbor decided to have her property surveyed. Her suspicions were confirmed and we had indeed encroached upon her property. The idea of doing such a thing was no where in our minds. But, there was no question about it. The shrubs were over the line by about one foot. So another week-end was put aside to correct the situation.
I suppose what brought that episode to mind was that a little detective work ahead of a project can save problems down the road. It would have helped to know the exact colors of the calla lilies and it would have helped a LOT to know exactly where the property line was before doing all of that hard work.
I have learned a lot since then. One thing I have learned is how to tell if a tree is alive when the foliage is gone. For that first home we purchased a pink dogwood and planted it in front of our house. I noticed when we were transporting it that a certain brittle sound came from the branches touching each other. But being inexperienced I did not know that a very simple test before buying that tree would have saved us money and disappointment. For in the spring when all the other trees began to leaf out this pink dogwood did not. The Nursery where we bought it was no help at all. We had bought it and that was that. If only I had known to scratch the limbs on that tree I would have seen that they were brown under the bark and it was quite dead. So, again a preliminary investigation was in order but not carried out, so, an unhappy situation was not avoided.
My son told me recently that making mistakes was indeed one way of learning, but in my case I seem to be a slow learner in regard to proper preparation before taking on a new project. I think I have learned how to identify a dead tree however and I may have one now that could need to be replaced, or not, we shall see. A dwarf apple tree near my house began to show brown leaves long before it was scheduled to happen. I did scrape the bark and it was green underneath. I will wait and see how it fares next spring and if need be I will replace it but it is worth a wait to find out. And I have already decided to put out markers for the new calla lilies and if they need to be changed after the bloom time then that is easily accomplished. And hopefully I have learned that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
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