disdain_in_the_garden kerry the bulbs i planted in winter were pure experiment, bagged in six and 12, an impulse buy some were rejected early on by the dirt—you couldn’t call it soil, implying nutrients and health, because it’s decades old and surely bled dry—and i tossed them in the bag of lawn clippings without much surprise or disappointment and because my expectations were so low, the crocuses and daffodils and tulips, just ribbons and fans not quite ready to bloom, were a shock, a gift, like the pignole and hot cross buns the houseguest brought with her last sunday night for dinner why, hello! so pleased and surprised to see you! seemed sudden how the crocuses unfolded their royal purple petals framing bright orange eyes, and next the ruffled daffodils unfurled, yellow as butter. but the tulips are still waiting, the fans of their leaves becoming thicker and stronger, preparing for some opulent unveiling it began to rain the other night as i was falling asleep but the roof is flat and we have no attic so i could tell it was just a steady nighttime shower, not a roiling summer storm but in the morning i saw that the crocuses were withered and the daffodils bent over in shame and i was indignant, irritated by their fragility… shouldn’t they know about the rain (innately)? what was the point of all this waiting in the freezing ground only to be brutalized by some springtime rain? the tulip leaves stood tall and resilient, undefeated. and the young salvia looked a little tired but not discouraged and the tiny beads of poppies were still hanging on, waiting for the right time i went outside and cupped my hand under a daffodil blossom, lifted it to see if i could prop its stalk against the others, maybe it would rally, but when i withdrew my hand it just collapsed, whining at me not to bother it’s winter turning to spring—what did they expect? constant sunshine? 220326 ... epitome of incomprehensibility I can just picture this! Shiloh seems to be disdainful of the dried-out tomato plant stalks from last year - he pulls them up unceremoniously. The parsley plant, which has survived the winter, he hasn't attacked other than to step on unthinkingly while running. (We'll have to put up some sort of fence.) Also, the sticks-and-leaves compost heap has what looks like carrot leaves growing out of it. But I think it's something else. 220327 what's it to you? who go blather from