Madam Gardener

I kinda like gardening.  I don't love it but I do love the results.  I adore flowers and I like to watch them grow and flourish.   I have always had flowers of some sort but it's a lot of work and Norm HATES it so I'm on my own unless I can really sweet talk him into helping me.  I have usually just had annuals but in the 5 years we have lived here I have planted quite a few perennials.  When we moved into this house there was a big agapanthus (Lily of the Nile) plant in the corner of the flower bed.  It has never failed to produce its comical lavender colored flowers year after year.  I know perennials need dividing but I've never done it before.  I meant to do it last year but lost my window of opportunity when Feb. had come and gone and it wasn't done yet.  The book said fall.  So this year I made up my mind to make it happen.  The book and the guy at the nursery said "In September, right after the flowers are over".  Remember that sweet talking I said I had to do? Well I did it and got Norm on board.  Got some soil booster from the hardware store and made a date.

This is the original plant in all its green glory.

It took 2 days to dig the trench between the few minutes after I got home from work and dark.  Norm said I had to be there to show him EXACTLY where to dig. We piled all the dirt on a tarp spread on the ground.

 Then it rained and rained and rained.  For 3 days.  When it finally stopped we waited 2 days for the ground to dry out a little and then dug out the original plant.  Whew!  Really hard work.  (And when I say we I mean Norm...of course!)  I figured out how many divisions I needed and then he hacked it apart.  I marked the planting spaces with little flags and then it rained again - for 2 more days straight.  I piled the plants in the wheelbarrow and covered them with soil to wait out the storm.  Finally the sun came out and we got the soil booster mixed into the native soil and put them in the ground.

I'm so proud of myself I could just burst.  Just call me Madam Gardener, thanks.