A time to be born, and a time to die; a
time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Ecclesiastes
3:2
On 5th March, my
garden was on full bloom. Sun was shining bright and birds were chirping as
usual. When I went home for lunch around 2 PM, I happily checked my flowers and
my seedlings (sunflower and zinnia) and even took some photos of Delphiniums,
Larkspurs, Nasturtiums and Cineraria.
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| Hailstorm |
Around 4 PM, there was a
sudden hailstorm……. the lawn turned white and the flowering plants were slayed
within minutes. Hailstones of the size of golf ball were too much for my
delicate flowers to bear. At the end of it Nasturtiums, cinerarias and Petunias
were gone completely. Few pots and flower beds in shade of trees survived the
worst. Kalnchoes and Impatiens suffered
major damage and in short, the garden was ruined. It was a sad sight and it
broke my heart.
 |
| Orange blossoms |
Next morning, the sun was
back, so were the birds and while I was still mourning the destruction of
yesterday, nature had started building up. The geraniums started showing new buds
in few days and even the petite pansies fought back. The water in waterlily
tubs had turned black but soon, I saw new leaves of waterlilies too. The
calendulas and Helichrysum braved the damage and again stood tall.
I was still sad thinking of the premature ruin
of my pretty flowers. Then on a Saturday, standing out in bright sun I saw a
blue sunbird happily frolicking among the larkspurs. It was such a
heart-warming sight. Standing in the middle of ruined flowerbeds, I smiled.
Since then, slowly but
surely things have warmed up in the garden. Nastratiums are now replaced by the
tiny seedlings of Zinnia and in place of my pretty pink petunias, I have
planted Giant Russian Sunflowers. Gaillardia and Vinca will be next and of
course Kochia and Portulaca. It is said that “A good gardener always plants 3 seeds -one
for the bugs, one for the weather and one for himself.” But well, I did not.
Hailstorm also killed many of the seedlings. The mis-calculation has costed me
one full month. At present I have vacant flower beds but nothing to plant. My
Mixed Zinnia seeds are coming up slowly and hopefully in another 20 days I will
be all set to face the summer with my summer flower garden.
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| Trays of Succulents |
Meanwhile,
I had collected some succulents and had arranged two trays of them. They also
suffered some damage in the storm but these tiny plants are known for
their sturdiness. So they are doing fine. I am still not too enchanted by them
as I find flowers much more delightful. But who knows? I also got some more
succulents as gift and may be another arrangement will soon follow.
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| Helichrysum- the everlasting flowers |
To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild
flower Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.
--
William Blake
That is funny
part of being a gardener. Your garden often knows better than your imagination
and skill. The storm had damaged one part of mango blossom also and yet the
other side of this good old tree is still
a sight to behold – full of pale yellow blossoms. As I have always
believed – Mango blossom is the true portent of summer. So here it is – the
summer of 2020.
 |
Outside the
limited world of my garden, there is a real scare of an epidemic. The virus is
spreading world over and the normal life has been shut down in so many
countries. For the first time the scorching summer sounds very welcoming.
Temperature in the city is touching 32 and hopefully, we won't be affected much
with the deadly virus thanks to the heat.
 |
I just remembered that this is the 12th edition of
my garden diaries. It was fun writing these posts. I do hope I will read them
in future and remember the joy my garden brought me whole year through. It was
a great learning for me as gardener and also as a person. I learnt the lesson
of patience and moderation, a lesson of learning the skill right and most of
all, I learnt that it takes a dallopful of faith and trust in nature for a
garden to bloom. I am ever so grateful that I could hear the music of the earth
and could hum its tune this whole year through.
