The Sorry Gardener

The front walk collection

Hmm. The first day of winter. And my plants aren’t in the ground yet. Imagine that.

The herb garden that never was

This is the day I’ve been racing against in my mind’s eye all gardening season. That nebulous day when I told myself I’d have all of those plants in the ground. That far-off day waaaaay at the end of the calendar, that—when I bought an iris or daylily or hydrangea that I didn’t really need—I told myself, “Surely I’ll find a spot for it by winter.” Well, I didn’t quite make it. In fact, even by my sorry gardening standards, it’s stunning just how far I missed the mark.

Hydrangeas waiting patiently for another year

I knew I still had “a few” plants out of the ground, but the sheer quantity didn’t hit me until I went out to snap a quick photo of that one cluster of pots on the front walk and then discovered another cluster along the side of the house … and another near the back patio … and another on the other side of the house … and some other places, too. It was shocking to actually “see” all of those pots for the first time, even though most of them have been there for months (and, in a couple of cases, years).

Let’s take a quick stroll through my winter inventory. And these are just the ones that I hope will overwinter successfully. There are a bunch more that I’m hoping will freeze. When your eyes glaze over, feel free to skip ahead:

Cranesbill & daylilies left out in the cold

26 irises, 18 daylilies, 14 hydrangeas, 9 germanders, 8 cranesbills, 5 ajugas, 5 azaleas, 5 sedums, 5 dogwoods, 3 lobelias, 3 heleniums, 3 hebes (probably croaked), 3 nile lilies (safe in garage), 2 boxwoods, 2 bear’s breeches, 2 violets, 2 primroses, 2 agastaches, 2 hostas, 2 mints, 2 crocosmias, a baptisia (likely dead from transplant shock), a ladybell, a shrub rose, a ninebark, a smoke bush, a coral bark maple, a variegated shrub I can’t remember the name of, a penstemon, a blackberry lily, a verbascum, a rheum (that damned well better not be dead), some blue-eyed grass, some alpine lady’s mantle, some prairie mallow, a coneflower, and some marjoram, sage, rosemary, and thyme.

All I need is a partridge in a pear tree. And a landscaping crew—because that’s about 150 plants. Kind of makes you wonder if I actually have any in the ground, doesn’t it?

No wonder it’s been a relief to get away from the garden for a while, to embrace the excuse that it’s too cold and too wet to do anything “out there.” After all, it’s winter. So now what? Rest.