I have a very small front yard. That's it! Desire was great, power and understanding were small. My last house has a very small yard.
A yard that I call a garden, no matter how small, is extremely important to me. For the joy it brings me, for the relaxation of my eyes, and because of it I can call myself a gardener!
My garden is not a secret garden. My garden comes to life, as it does every spring. Now it's a more special situation because we didn't have winter this year. I was afraid it was going to be a hard winter and wrapped all my Mediterranean plants in fabric. If I hadn't, it would have been better. Last year I didn't protect the plants and lost many of them. No two years are alike!
This year I have had flowers in the garden since January. It was supposed to be the middle of winter. It is the flower that intrigues me most, a flower that has withstood nighttime temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius. A plant that looks like an alien.
Helleborus niger. Also called the Christmas Rose, it is so beautiful that it is poisonous!
I went to the market, to the farmer's market near my house, I had to buy food. I returned home with no food but instead with this, snowdrops picked from the forest. I had some in the garden but I wanted more. Instead of cooking, I started planting. So began my first day of work in the garden this year.
I planted in front of the hydrangea bushes, which are now just dry branches. The snowdrops will bloom next year too before the hydrangea bushes have leaves and cover this spot.
I also planted in front of what I call ghosts. They are my Mediterranean plants protected against winter frost. The frost wasn't much, it was even unnaturally warm, which fooled the plants in the garden that spring had come. They have already sprouted and some have even flowered!
I was pleased to find that most flowers heralding spring are blue. Blue is my favorite color!
Only these orange ones want to be different...
Another plant that eagerly awaits the signs of spring and often tricks itself into growing ahead of time is the primrose.
The roses have started too. I love their small, tender, green leaves with red edges...
I like the Mediterranean climate, and therefore the Mediterranean vegetation. I try to plant as many specific plants as possible in my garden. Most Mediterranean plants crawl, climb, cling... and are evergreen. Some are already growing in my garden!
Everything I've told you so far happened before... Before I was forced to spend two days in the hospital. In the hospital I never had the sight of my garden in springtime. The window in my room looked out onto an inner courtyard and the only pleasant sight was the pigeons coming to rest.
This intermezo at the hospital was not pleasant at all and I only remembered it because something unexpected happened while I was there. It snowed! The first snow of this winter, coming in early March when winter usually ends. I got home in the evening and saw the snow... This happened afterwards, after I left the hospital.
The next morning I saw winter through the window. It's nice to see winter from the warmth of the house.
I'll remember this. Winter was this year in the two days I was in the hospital!