It’s true, the phrase ‘sleep, creep, leap’ when referring to one’s garden growth cycle. Meaning that by the third year of your garden, the ‘leap year’, the perennial plants will come into their own. They grow tall and blossom in a way that they weren’t able to do years prior. The plants, like purple coneflowers, butterfly bush, etc. have all been saving up for this very moment. All good things come in due time, I suppose. I’ve loved watching my garden come alive over the past few weeks. Everything around me seems to be in its ‘leap year.’
My relationship with gardening is what inspires my art making practice. I create gardens in the front and back of my house, and on paper with brush strokes and pencil marks. I can capture ephemeral moments from my day-to-day, and place them onto paper, allowing fleeting memories, and glances, to last forever (or so I’d like to hope). My main focus over the past year has been supporting pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and moths with the plants I choose to grow.
I receive joy from observing, drinking in the colors and smells of the flowers, and watching pollinators at work. I enjoy the act of pinching off yellow leaves, of harvesting vegetables, and spreading compost. I do plant edible plants for myself, including cherry tomatoes, spinach (pictured below), romaine lettuce, and rosemary. But my overall goal is to provide nectar, pollen, and host plant resources for pollinators in an urban environment. Gardening is a radical act. It can be done anywhere and any amount of planting is a positive change. Learning how to garden has reconnected me to my ‘urban ecosystem’. I’m not just an observer, I’m a part of something, the way people used to be back when we understood where food came from - before our food became an industry, and before our lives became heavily influenced by consuming.
By tending soil in pots and raised beds, I give back to an environment that is severely lacking in native plants, shade, rainwater control, and so on. A few potted plants can do a lot of good. With all that said, here is a glimpse into my April garden. I’m so glad the world is green again.
My three year old red raspberry bush. I’m harvesting its leaves and turning them into raspberry leaf tea. Bumble bees love visiting its blossoms.
Two different varieties of dahlia seedlings from Growing Floret. I started them from seed back in March. This week, I transitioned them outside and I’ll soon be planting them into raised beds.
My lush spinach plants before harvesting.
Harvesting spinach; my first harvest of 2024. I ate it all within two days.