Yesterday was a lovely sunny day, with a high temperature of 32 degrees (0 for our Celsius friends) and a steady strong wind. Wind chill temperature was down well into the 'teens. Where was I? Not snuggled in the warmth of my house ... no, not I. I was in northern Virginia with a group of about a dozen garden club members, digging up the garden of a fellow member who is moving. (This wonderful effort was organized by Jim, the fellow in the bright blue jacket. He is our fearless leader and someone that I am infinitely thankful to call my friend.)
This garden was a wonderful 19-year collection of plants, artfully chosen and skillfully shoe-horned into a narrow city lot. The object of our day was to leave as little behind as possible, since a garden like this can only exist in the presence of its gardener. The owner was keeping a bare minimum of sentimental plants. Everything else was up for grabs.
We met at noon, and quickly got to work. Many of us brought along as many spare, large pots as we could, to pot up the plants as they were dug. One member had filled his truck with compost to use as potting mix ... Carol and I volunteered to be the potting crew. She and I used the tailgate of the truck as our potting bench, and we worked quickly to pot and tag each plant as it was brought to us by the digging crew, as they proceeded systematically through the yard.
Within a few hours, the sidewalk and part of the street in front of Mark's house was packed with pots of plants of all sizes ... small trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, and roses. Those of us on the crew were welcome to take what we wanted, and the remainder was moved to a member's house to be stored for the club's plant sale in the spring.
My goal was to support the club effort, lend my labor to the project, and bring home as little as possible. You won't be surprised to hear that my 4-door Jeep was packed completely full of plants on the drive home (to the point where I couldn't see out of my rear view mirror). I blame the cold for my lack of restraint ... plus there was the encouragement of fellow gardeners who said things like, "You HAVE to have this", or "No, you go ahead and take it."
I made a list of my plants as I unloaded them into the sunny protected spot beside our house. I am thankful for the labels we wrote for each plant, so I know exactly what is what ... and I should have no trouble siting each of them where they will grow and perform best.
Thank you, Mark, for sharing your garden with us. I will think of you throughout the year as these plants grow and become a part of my own garden. Thank you, also, to the Four Seasons Garden Club for being so generous with your knowledge and experience ... you are helping to encourage this rosarian to become a much more well-rounded plants person.
My Plant List:
Rose 'Rook' (Gallica hybrid)
Camellia 'Londontowne Blush'
Camellia 'Autumn Moon'
Camellia 'Autumn Carnival'
Camellia 'Korean Fire'
Camellia, unknown sasanqua
Arum italicum
Acoris 'Ogon'
Helebore foetidus
Lycoris radiata
Daylily 'Penny's Worth'
Iris 'Low Ho Silver'
2 pots of crocus
a lovely Serviceberry tree
3 unknown Clematis
Daffodil 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation'
2 pots of Colchicum (autumn crocus)
2 large 'Nikko Blue' hydrangeas
and a spectacular Viburnum carlesii compactum!
If you are looking for me today, check outside because I have a lot of holes to dig.
