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| Planting the daffodils in the Red Bench garden |
Here at Cedar Bluff -- Latitude 43.70 north, Longitude 82.61 west -- one would think that the ground would be frozen already. There have been several winter storms with snowfall. But the warming effect of the Lake Huron shore protects the ground from freezing early. The water cools slowly and we've only seen ice along the shoreline once in November.
Yesterday I planted golden yellow daffodils and rich red tulips. I pulled out the geraniums (still growing) and put them on the compost pile. I drained and coiled hoses and hauled them to the basement. I brought the snow shovel out and stationed it at the mudroom door.
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| Red bows on the fence along the Dortmund roses and cedar trees |
With a hot cup of coffee and Amy Grant's "Tennessee Christmas" on the CD player I twisted and wired red velvet bows for the split rail fence the borders the cedars and driveway in front of the lakehouse. It felt like what I've always imagined December must be like in Tennessee -- a moderate day, no snow on the ground, planting and cleaning in the garden beds.
Any thoughts of the south will soon be gone. The ground will freeze. Lake Huron will ice over. Snow, glistening white, will blanket Michigan's Thumb. Yesterday's late gardening was a gift of Mother Nature's southern temperament, a chance to smell the promise of the soil and of spring before winter sets in in Michigan
Copyright 2011
Wanda Hayes Eichler
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