What I’ll miss

As I travel on business for a few short weeks, I’ll miss the garden, even as I search for new treasures to plant. There will be flowers that will be missed, with ones budding today past bloom when I return. No doubt, an abundant crop of weeds will greet me, and this I’m not anxious to see.

Seedling rudbeckias, blown in from the neighbor’s garden since they disappeared in the shade in this one decades ago, are just beginning to flower.

This isn’t new. I’ve been traveling in July for most of four decades, and while I greatly enjoy catching up with old acquaintances, there are times when I long to be home, wandering through the garden, plucking a weed here and there and enjoying the summer bloomers.

Flowers of Bottlebrush buckeyes (Aesculus parviflora) are likely to be past their peak when I return.

On the road there is nothing to equal lounging on the back patio, relaxing to the sound of water rippling over moss covered stones in the adjacent stream (and often neighbors’ lawnmowers). Even in the heat of July this patio seems cool, and the adjoining garden hardly suffers in dappled sunlight. While I am happy to break the months long stay at home routine, there will be moments when I’d rather be home again, in the garden.