Simple Pleasures

We all run around at a frantic pace- it's the way of the world these days. I've never been a gardener and house plants in my care are essentially on death row awaiting their execution date. Lately, however, I've taken to spending a few minutes each day with the flowers- not smelling them necessarily, deadheading them.

A few years ago, we did a major overhaul to our backyard, including lots of plants and flowers.  We watered them faithfully and most of them survived. Last summer we got two large hanging baskets along with two large pots of flowers for the steps. I managed to keep those flowers alive well into the fall. I spent 15-20 minutes most nights pulling the faded blooms from the plant. It was oddly therapeutic. This year we replaced the hanging baskets and pots and I find myself out there in the wee hours of the morning plucking the deadheads.

In Maine, we can't keep hanging plants, they require too much water and being here only on the weekends is a recipe for plant disaster.  However, I still manage to get regular doses of plant therapy. We found a seasonal coffee shop that has 3 enormous baskets of petunias hanging out front. On the way in and out, I pull off as many dead flowers as possible- much to my husband's dismay. The young owner of the shop saw me one day and thanked me for helping out. It had been pouring rain for a week and she was afraid the plants were done for. We chatted a bit and she gave me the green light to deadhead the plants to my hearts content. We stopped by today and I was happy to see the flowers were making a spectacular comeback. I could happily spend an hour with those flowers. It's a good thing being at the beach is it's own kind of therapy otherwise I'd be applying for a job as a weekend gardener at the coffee shop.