Lately, I’ve Been Thinking About…

When August Feels Like Fall

These first few days of August have been almost fall-like. Of course, by the time you are reading this email, it might just be back up in those high, hot 90s we have been seeing in July. Whew! That heat reminded me of when my husband and I had our wholesale nursery, and how we would be pruning the garden mums and watering them twice a day in July and August, while also taking early morning poinsettia cuttings for December sales. It seemed like it was never-ending. Always as a grower, working 1 or 2 seasons ahead to have our plants ready for garden centers and landscapers.

The Life of a Grower: Always a Season Ahead

Today, while going to the post office with my mother-in-law, I saw a white 14-foot box truck like I used to drive and told her that I sure do not miss driving those trucks. I guess when you are young, you just do what you need to do to keep your business going. Sometimes I think I must have been nuts. Like farmers, when you are a grower, you never really get time off. We were fortunate to have a few good employees, so we could occasionally take a break in January. When our kids were small, before we had some full-time employees, we would take separate vacations with our children, leaving either my husband or me home with the plants. Nuts! I say.. LOL

From Full-Time Growing to a Slower Pace

When we closed Hillside Nursery, our wholesale nursery, and I went to work at Behnke’s, my husband finally had time to create some beautiful garden beds around our home. Now that I am retired (sort of), I find that I love the simple pace of just taking a walk around our yard, seeing what is blooming and what the deer ate the night before.

What about you? How is your garden doing? Are you taking time to enjoy it while keeping up with the weeds?