The sun is shining bright here in the Carondelet Garden on this Friday morning in Lent.  The weather folks tell me that it will become overcast by this afternoon with highs in the low 70s.  The perfect day for a bit of Spring gardening.  

Spring is made for mulch.  We have begun spreading a layer over the surface of the soil.  This lovely, rich, organic material is not worked into the soil, but left as a surface blanket over the bare ground of my borders and beds.  It is such a great soil builder with the added benefit of looking and smelling great!

A garden gives such pleasure and instills a sense of calm into the soul.  Gardening slows us down, gives us an opportunity to work out worries and puts those problems into perspective.  Let's be honest, optimism has to be the most essential tool in the gardener's toolbox.  

Lent is drawing quickly to a close with Holy Week beginning next week.  Spring is here and the celebration of Easter is almost upon us.  The sun is shining.  The weather is stunning.  It's a good day for a good day.  Optimism is the word of the day here in the Carondelet Garden.

A bit of a chill in the air on this the first full day of Spring.  We should have sunny to partly cloudy skies with highs near 60-degrees by this afternoon.  The Violas are definitely in a Spring mood this morning.

Spring is finally here!  As the Song of Songs reminds us "... come away, for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard on our land.  The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom, they give forth fragrance."  Song of Songs 2: 10-12.

Spring is here.  This time of year reminds this old gardener that we should make our soul into a seeker of beauty and our garden a holy site that rejects the tawdry, the artificial. and the vulgar.  Beauty cleanse our senses oof the mundane.  It awakens in us a desire to see more than simply things.  We desire to see beyond the things to new insights about life, about new feeling, about a new sense of transcendence.

It is midweek with Lent quickly coming to fruition.  The Spring of Lent as come just as Holy Week is soon to begin.  Palm Sunday with its triumph this weekend.  Then Holy Week with the devastation and loss ending in the glorious resurrection.  

It's a good day for a bit of kindness to share and receive.  We all need it.  We crave it right now.  My prayer is for kindness to be the new normal.  Wouldn't that be something?  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

Happy Saint Patricks Day a day late!  
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It is cold and sunny out in the Carondelet Garden this frosty Monday morning in March.  The sun should hang around all day with a high in the mid 40s.  A big change from last week.  

The mulching for Spring has continued in earnest the past few days.  The clean-up of the Parterre and Shade gardens are cleaned and mulched.  The sunny garden and the side garden are next.  Then we tackle the backyard.  With the changes in the back gardens, it will be a bit more work but I'm excited to see it finished.

Spring is just a day away.  The strange this is that it always takes me a bit by surprise.  Spring arrives.  It is odd, thrilling and utterly unpredictable.  Then you walk outside, take a fresh of the fresh Spring air and you recognize it for what it is.  Spring is finally here, and it will not go away for months.  

Spring is in the air even with these colder temperatures.  Enjoy the sunshine.  Welcome the change.  It's a good day for a good day.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

Happy #314Day Saint Louis!  It's dark and ominous out in the Carondelet Garden on this mid-March morning.  It may not be officially Spring yet, but the weather is certainly Spring-like with thunderstorm watches and warnings issued for most of the morning.  The sirens have already gone off this morning warning of potential storms.  It's definitely Springtime in Saint Louis!

Spring has sprung here in the Carondelet Garden to be sure.  Our Peony survived!  This poor plant has suffered had the hands of this old gardener.  I've moved it twice because of location.  I must be honest, last Fall I did not have much hope for its survival, but here it is sprouting new growth and looking quite healthy.  Whew!  As our friends say, you only know a plant when you've killed one twice!  Grow on little Peony!

It is #314Day celebrating our venerable area code and all things Saint Louis.  We are beyond blessed here in Saint Louis.  You would not realize it if you only read the @STLToday but we have amazing restaurants, skilled and talented makers, and incredible artists and craftspeople.  It's Spring and the outdoor markets will be in full force.  Let's get out and support our fellow neighbors.  Buy local.  Shop local.  Let us celebrate the best of our fair City.  

Be careful if you are out and about on the stormy Thursday morning.  Be good to yourself and kind to others.  We all need a bit of kindness and goodness in our lives.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It is a lovely start to the Tuesday morning here in the Carondelet Garden.  Fair skies overhead and temperatures heading toward the low 70s by this afternoon.  Hard to believe it is still early March in South Saint Louis.

The Vinca are in bloom and putting on quite a show in the parterre garden.  It is always exciting to see these little beauties come into flower every Spring.  We gave them a hard cleanup last Fall and they came roaring back better than ever.  

Gardens are my call to "come away and rest awhile."  Rest takes different forms for each person.  For me it is turning of the soil of my soul to see what is buried underneath.  I need to find beauty and quietude in this over-messy, overcrowded, overstimulating world.  I need the quiet of the garden.

The seventeenth century mathematician and theologian Blaise Pascale said, "All a person's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone."  Even Albert Einstein said, "The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulate the creative mind."  I find myself searching a bit this morning.

It is quiet now.  A cup of tea and a slight breeze accompany my contemplation this morning.  A bit of prayer and quietude this Lenten Tuesday.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It's still dark outside in the Carondelet Garden on this chilly Monday morning in March.  The sun should come out soon and the temps will reach the lower 70s by this afternoon.  A glorious way to start the week.

A bit of my gardening to-do list was checked off over the weekend.  The new beds are finally filled with fresh compost and the new metal borders are finished and look wonderful.  It feels good to get some of these "heavy lifting" projects finished before the heat of the summer.  

The Spring Forward in time and the blooming daffodils tells my heart that Spring is here even if the official day is still a week or so away.  You can smell the change in the air.  The magnificent Magnolia in our neighbor's yard in in its full glory right now.  The birds are singing and are a delight to watch.  It's Spring no matter what the calendar may say.

I have to keep reminding myself that true planting doesn't begin for another month, and I still have time to finish all the chores I want to accomplish.  Yet, it feels so close.  I am feeling the pressure to get things in the ground, but my head knows it is way too early.  The struggles of this time of year for an old gardener.  

It's a beautiful day.  The sun is peaking out and the weather should be glorious.  Enjoy this Monday.  Be good and be kind to yourself.  We all deserve a bit of kindness right now more than ever.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It's a cloudy morning here in the Carondelet Garden in South Saint Louis.  The weather folks are telling me we should see some rain soon with thunder possible.  I do hope for a nice, gentle soaking rain but no storms, please!

Working hard in the garden this week has been a total joy but as I've gotten older it is taking me a bit longer to do things and a bit longer to recover.  Old age gives me the knowledge of just how powerless I am.  Not helpless so much but with little control over life's results.  In many ways it is comforting to know that nature is going to do what nature is going to do.  I can urge, and push, and pray, and hope but in the end, what happens happens.    

What is happening now in the garden is beautiful.  The daffodils are in full glory right now.  Their lovely yellow heads waving in the breeze bring a smile to my face every time I see them.  Such a simple, ordinary pleasure.  

It's a good day for a rainy day.  Hunkering down with a lovely cup of coffee, the newspaper, and some beautiful music playing in the background.  Not a bad way to spend a Thursday morning.  Be good to yourself and kind as well.  You deserve it!  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

A light chill is in the air on this sunny Wednesday morning in the Carondelet Garden.  A few patchy areas of fog earlier but the sun has driven all of that away.  It looks like another beautiful day with highs in the mid 60s by this afternoon.

The spring lettuce crops are planted in the new cold frame.  I'm hoping to get a full first crop before I even start planting in the regular beds.  I'm so excited as there is nothing better than a fresh salad made from the greens you grew yourself from seed.  

Change is a constant here in the Carondelet Garden.  Let's be honest change is everything in gardening.  Whatever the weather brings, March changes day to day, even hour to hour.  We often have snow, frost, wind, and rain throughout the month and then there is that sunshine that breaks through and brings the daffodils, hellebores and hyacinths crashing into bloom and the cool season grass growing as well.  I mowed yesterday.  The last time I mowed was in December.  Only two months off this year.  

Spring is in the air here in the garden.  I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy a bit of this sunshine today as it looks like rain will be moving in later in the week.  No complaints.  We could sure use the heavenly moisture.  

Be good to yourself and kind to others as you travel about on this mid-week Wednesday in Lent.  It's Spring almost!  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It's overcast here in the Carondelet Garden on this first Tuesday of March.  There is a slight chance of a rain shower but who knows?  It's St. Louis!

The old gardener has been toying with the idea of a Boulevard Native Garden for a long time.  The only grass I have left is in the Boulevard between the sidewalk and street.  I've removed the Zoysia and I am getting ready to mix in some good compost and get things ready for seeding in a little over a month.  The average last frost date for the Carondelet area is April 12th.  My plan is to wait until then to begin the seeding process.  I'm very excited about the possibilities.  I have one more Boulevard with a tree and a lot of Crocus plants.  That is going to wait until I see how this one turns out.  No Mow May will hopefully turn into No Mow No More!  

Here is a list of the plants I'm planning:

• Side-oats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) 
• Lance-leaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) 
• Sundial Lupine (Lupinus perennis subsp. perennis) 
• Spotted Bee Balm (Monarda punctata) 
• Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) 
• Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) 

Working in the garden is such a joy right now.  The smell, the actual smell.  The measurable smell of plants growing is literally filtering through my system.  I'm basking in the moderate temperatures these past few days.  I'm loving the extra light and the flowers peeking their tiny heads above the ground.  The Crocus, the Daffodils, and Hellebores are such a delight.  

Gardens are the call to come away and rest awhile.  What would happen to our hearts if there were no place for us to find the beauty of quiet in an over noisy, overcrowded, overstimulating world.  What a gift to enter into a sanctuary to work, to pray, to listen, and simply be.  

It's a good day for a good day.  Be good and be kind to yourself and others as you travel about on this Tuesday in March.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It is a spectacular start to the day here in the Carondelet Garden.  The sun is shining, and the temperature is quite mild for this early March Monday.  The sun is around this morning, but the clouds will move in for the afternoon with a chance for some rain later today.  Rain and possibly some thunderstorms for later tonight.  As always here in South Saint Louis, we'll just wait to see what happens.  

It looks as though Spring is beginning here in the Garden.  The Stachys (Lamb's Ears) are beginning to show new life in the back garden.  Always a good sign that Spring is not too far away.  

As I'm getting older and older now it seems I love March more and more.  There is this palpable sense that the long, long journey of Winter is nearing its end, and the garden comes back home to this old gardener once more.  No other month quakes with such possibility and although the month can often bite back with some of the coldest and snowiest days of the year, there is also the return of sunshine and the promise of precious hours outside working the ground in faith, hope and love.

Today marks another trip around the sun for this old gardener.  Another year older yet filled with a bit of hope, a little faith, and some pretty powerful love.  I'm truly a most blessed person.  Not rich in monetary terms but abundantly wealthy in the love of my amazing Dr. B, good friends, family, great neighbors, and my wonderful chosen family.

I hope you can get out and enjoy some of the sunshine and mild temperatures on this Monday in March.  Be good and be kind to yourself and others as you travel about this day.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.