Eternal Optimist.

"Concrete is heavy; iron is hard--but the grass will prevail. " Edward Abbey
March 2, 2009, 18 days until Spring, when the grass will prevail....again! But as I look out my window this morning the remnants of Saturdays cold front that carried 3 inches of snow for us and up to a foot for folks farther east, still is piled in places protected from the weak, but strengthening sun. Today the high temp is to be in the mid 3o's but in 2 days, 65 degrees will once again give hope for Spring!
In the sermon yesterday the pastor used the parable of the sower, and asked if anyone was a full time sower, no hands went up. Then he asked if anyone would like to be a full time sower, mine was the only one that went up. In another era I might have been a farmer, like my grandfather before me. My parents are part time farmers and I am an amateur gardener. That sounds pretty lame, but if you look up the definition for amateur, you will find it has roots in I think French "amare=" to love". " A person who engages in a pursuit for pleasure and not as a profession." Well, that would be me. I would also have to add that as an amateur gardener, I am an optimist. Who knows what will happen when the seed or seedling is planted? I don't know for sure, but I hope for the best.
For several years now I have been a patron of the Missouri Department of Conservation's George O. White State Nursery near Licking Mo. This great service of the state allows citizens to purchase trees and shrubs for very low prices. I mean, where can you get 30 plants for $25 dollars.? The thing is these plants are very small and though some grow very fast, most will be 5 or more years to becoming the tree you will buy at a nursery for $50 or $100. With that in mind I determined that I was probably getting too old to purchase plants here with the expectations that I would see them mature. My thoughts on this are based on visiting my hometown and seeing trees I planted 25 years ago just beginning to really fill the vision I had when I planted them in 1984. Let's see 25 years from now, I'll be 78. So last year I declared, no more Conservation trees, I'm going to buy big trees that I can enjoy!
Well, I just got my post card notification from George O. White that my order will ship in the next 10 days or so. Red twig dogwoods, flowering dogwoods, Ohio Buckeye, White Fringe Tree, Golden Currant, and American Beauty berry. 25 plants to add to my amateur garden. Except for the Ohio Buckeye, these are all "fast growing native shrubs or small trees". I am optimistic that most of these shrubs will add beauty to my gardens and that my grandkids will bring me a buckeye when they visit me at the nursing home.
Peace