After the Party

Spring is always a busy time for gardeners. Everything needs to be done at once. The longer hours of sunlight, gentle rains, and warming soil bring plants into vigorous growth (including the weeds!).

The last few weeks at Montrose were especially busy as we prepared for our annual Spring Garden Open Day. We weeded and mulched, we planted and pruned, and then we weeded some more. Consistent rains kept the poppies, larkspur, and nigella growing. The cool weeks of this year's April helped slow the opening of their blossoms. Finally, in early May, it turned hot and sunny and everything burst into bloom. It was the best year for roses in our memory. By the morning of our open day, the spring garden was at its peak.

Each gardener at Montrose has their own relationship with the garden. We each have our favorite little corners and we cherish peaceful, solitary hours working in them. Suddenly, on garden open days, we open the gates and have the bewildering experience of hundreds of people cheerfully tromping along our quiet paths. This year's attendance was the highest in recent history, and we've never had such a goodnatured, jolly crowd. Old friends came to talk about memories and plants and many people came to visit for the first time. It was a long, tiring day with questions to answer, minor crises to avert, and bustling plant sales in the nursery.

Coming back to the garden on Monday, we all noticed the return of silent calm. The roses and poppies were slightly past their peak, but still overwhelmingly lovely. The nursery had to be set back in order. Tender plants had to be brought out of the basement and the greenhouses. The promise of rain spurred us to plant perennials we had propagated last year. We gratefully returned to the pace the garden sets for us. 

We close the gardens for the summer while we collect seeds from the annuals and plant tender species in the flowerbeds. We will enjoy the hot, quiet months ahead, and we look forward to welcoming all of you back in the Fall!