April 3, 2018

It snowed yesterday, the 2nd of April, and it’s slated to snow again later on this week.  I’m not sure what it means to begin planting gardens in a time like this, a time when I have the distinct impression that a garden is but a museum of future relics; - and yet, I’ll do it anyway.  Just like the workers that have come to toil early in the day, just like the workers that arrived towards the end, they were all welcome to wear the light burden, and I am happy to accept the yoke, even if it’s but moments to sundown.

Earlier in the week, I saw what looked like crimson buds sprouting out of the ends of the twigs and branches of one of the maple trees on my front lawn.  It seems to be a species that is popular on my block, for all around me, I saw the same little red heads sprouting forth.  After the snow had stopped, I stood outside waiting for my ride to the city to arrive, and I got a chance to take a closer look at the buds.  To my surprise, they were no longer the round heads that I had seen before, but appeared to look like some sort of flower: tiny things that were deep reddish burgundy, with serrated edges.  My aunt said that they were leaves, but I found it so hard to believe.  They look so small against what I remember were albeit also small, but certainly much larger by comparison, and differently shaped maple leaves of last fall.  But what do I know.  The truest observation I’ve made so far in my short history of observing my lawn, is that I am sure I know nothing about anything going that’s on here.  I marveled at the spiky looking things until my car arrived.  It almost seemed as if the snow helped the buds to unfurl.

These days, I began to consider the changing colors of deciduous plants for the first time as real elements of the garden to consider.  An obvious notion, but it was not until recently that it was just a superficial piece of information floating about all the other superficial facts in my head, until the idea of planning to plant something specifically with the intent for fall color occurred to me.  It’s funny how great a portion of one’s success in life is simply a consequence of being able to recognize the obvious, to see what is before you, what has always been before you.

Another thing to consider are the leafless branches of winter as a decoration in their own right.  Whoever said bare branches couldn’t be beautiful?