Dividing Perennials - Soothing the Monster

I'm a greedy gardner.

I want one of everything. And then I want multiples of each variety. I want swaths of color drenching my yard. I want flowers for sun and a woodland garden that takes your breath away while offering serenity for our busy days.

And I want it all now.

Alas, this desire might take me a few years in this new garden.

I was on year three of my garden in our last house. All gardeners know how wonderful year three is. Minuscule, transplanted, divided baby plants finally thrive in year three. By year three you have finally figuring out where your plants like to be. You're beginning to see your vision of a garden fulfilled. There are swaths of color, ambitious climbers, and a riot of blooms.

Then we moved. And I heard that the new owners of the garden I sweated over, poured my heart into, relaxed in, and watered like I was feeding my children -

Well, they mowed it over.

I'm still not sure how they did that exactly with all the roses, hydrangas, azaleas, lilacs, weigelas, and well, you see what I mean.

Let's all take a moment of silence.

....

(Moaning, gnashing of teeth...moving on)

Last summer, our first summer in our new house, I can now see that I was still in mourning for a garden I no longer could care for. I was in mourning for more varieties of more plants than I could count. My MIL, who has taught me so much about gardening and shared more purple conflower seedlings than I could plant each year, was impressed. That made me proud.

This year, the gardener in me is bursting forth. Oh, I'm still trying to figure out how to make that beautiful woodland garden in the deep shade of 40 oak trees, but I have hope. The hope of spring and the rebirth of plants that slept through the winter. The hope of five shade gardening books and a stack of magazines.

I got my hands dirty this weekend. I only had three plants that I purchased last year that could be divided. How I love to divide a plant. Gently tugging each new plant away from the group. Creating many new plants as I envision them all in bloom. From 3 plants, I now have 33 plants. I was also smart enough to make my divisions big enough to bloom well this year. My greediness was soothed.

Oh, the excitement of spring gardening. The hope of what is to be. The dream stepping into reality.

I can't wait until next weekend. I'm going to my dad's, and he never takes time to divide his flowers. The greedy little flower monster in me is giggling in anticipation.