Gardening Frustrations

Marcie commented in my earlier blog, Garden Magic In Kanab, Utah - Phase 2  that I hadn't mentioned the frustrations we've had with the weather lately. Here it is the end of May and we still need to watch the weather forecasts closely in order to keep plants alive.  Just last night we were supposed to get rain and snow showers. People who live here year-round have all said the same thing: this is definitely not a normal spring. One woman told me tonight that the temperature is usually in the 80s by now. I've bought plants several times and tried to keep them alive. Alas,  no luck. They seem to commit suicide regularly without fail.


I've been spoiled by spending many, many years gardening in Oregon. There, all I had to do was stick something in the ground--plant, seed, stick--and it would grow, lushly and lustily. It didn't matter what it was - raspberry canes, snap peas, broccoli, tomatoes, fruit trees, tomatillos - everything grew. But here, in the high desert, it's a whole other story. Very frustrating.


But, rather than mope around about the weather and gardening mishaps, I googled to see what others have written about the relation between plants, people,  and weather conditions. Hope you enjoy these.  At least they've gotten my mind off dead plants for a while.
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My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view.  ~H. Fred Dale


There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.  ~Mirabel Osler



In gardens, beauty is a by-product.  The main business is sex and death.  ~Sam Llewelyn



Weather means more when you have a garden.  There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans.  ~Marcelene Cox


Plant carrots in January and you'll never have to eat carrots.  ~Author Unknown



Last night, there came a frost, which has done great damage to my garden.... It is sad that Nature will play such tricks on us poor mortals, inviting us with sunny smiles to confide in her, and then, when we are entirely within her power, striking us to the heart.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks



Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise.  ~Michael P. Garafalo, gardendigest.com



There is no gardening without humility.  Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder.  ~Alfred Aust
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In the meantime, we have high hopes for these latest plantings of tomatoes, peppers, lavender, and cucumbers. Fingers, toes, and eyes are all crossed in hopes that these plants will survive to adulthood.