By Phyllis Galowitz

My bones are aching. After spending all these winter and early spring days sitting by the fire, it’s hard to get my knees and back to cooperate with me. I consider myself an active person. I swim three times a week (when possible). I do a half hour exercise routine that I stick to religiously every day, and still, gardening seems to use muscles that have atrophied. I say to myself, as I’m stepping into the garden with my tote filled with small garden tools, and covered from head to toe to ward off the bugs and the sun, I’ll only work for twenty minutes, no more! And I start to weed. I need to get a pail to gather the weeds in. Down the steps to the garage I go, find one, and back up again. Oh, I forgot, the marigolds that I bought three days ago. They must be planted near the peas in the vegetable garden. That’s on the other side of the garden. The marigolds will keep the pests away from the vegetables.

While I’m there, I notice that parsley, planted a year ago, is coming up beautifully. I can’t believe it! Have the roots been lying dormant over the year or did new seeds fall in exactly the same place? Anyway, I’m delighted and inspired to weed that bed.

The birch tree has grown so much this year that it is shading the vegetable garden. I must prune it drastically. Maybe I’ll have to remove it completely, but for now, I’ll try pruning.

It’s almost two hours since I started gardening. I can’t stop. One thing leads to another.

Trout lilies are beginning to bloom. Grape hyacinths are nodding in the wind. Daffodils are still showing off their bright yellow and cream ruffles for one last day. I just can’t stop… but, am I pulling out weeds or is this a perennial that I don’t recognize?

I’m way behind in planting. Other things have gotten in the way. Maybe it’s just as well. My garden journal entries for early June of 2005 and 2006 show cold with snow flurries, following a month of May just as it was this year! Be careful. Don’t rush to plant those tomatoes. Wait until the second week of June.

The arches and annoyances are worth it when the blooms arrive. Shown here are the delicate droplets of Phyllis’ Bleeding Heart.

Oh, I do love gardening and tomorrow’s swim will surely cure my aching joints. ~