Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

I am ready. Ready to have my house back. Ready to throw everything out of our holding greenhouse. Ready to empty the root cellar. Ready to get on with Spring. By April the urge to throw every surviving plant in my house outside is all consuming. I’m tired of them demanding water (the sink is right there, get it yourself). I’m tired of leaves falling. I’m tired of the ones that just barely hang on so you give them more time but they never really do anything. I’m tired of them taking more than their rightful share of space. So when May arrives each day is marked off the calendar as we approach that most glorious day of all days – the day of frost-free weather.

People who do not garden fail to have even the slightest notion of how important that date is. This is the day when the dahlias can go in the ground. This is the day when the tomatoes can be planted. This is the day the houseplants can go out on the porch. THIS IS THE DAY WHEN WE GET OUR HOUSES BACK! For two months I’ve been fighting with the Enstetes in my laundry room for access to the dryer. I finally cut a leaf off one of them this week. At the same time I am so grateful that my two biggest are still alive and growing. They are actually pushing against the ceiling (say a little prayer for some of the smaller ones in the plant room). In just a few weeks their huge burgundy and green leaves will bring tropical splendor back to my yard. That’s one of them in the background of this picture.

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I love my DNA! I love your DNA! I love everybody’s DNA (Is that a double helix in your pocket or are you glad to see me?). It’s what makes each of us our own little traveling Freak Show. I have always been interested in genetic diversity when I think about it. I grew up in a family of 9 children. Alright, alright, I will tell you. I am 8 of 9. My parents both had essentially black hair in their youth, but the 9 offspring? Let me see – black, dirty blonde, black, dark brunette, black, auburn, brunette, coffee bean brown, dirty blonde. Can you tell which one is me? I swear in the 5th grade if someone said my hair was black I would say, “No, it’s coffee bean brown” (shut up Chad). I got it from a hair dye ad. It’s no wonder I was picked after the ugly girls for softball.

I also remember a picture of my oldest brother taken with one of those Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum cameras – I am so damn old and this is not the Joe of my youth. He was sitting out in the yard in jeans and a flannel shirt I think, about 8 probably. When I was about 6 I would cry because people would say it wasn’t me. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I hate to go on and on about my somewhat dysfunctional relationship with Spring but…….. Bloody hell it’s April and why isn’t it warm yet? I want to catch Spring Fever. Mind you I am not interested in a repeat of last year’s meteorological disaster. Normal highs right now should be in the mid-50’s. If I get a day that’s 45 and sunny I’m practically kissing the ground in joy. You need sun, 60° temps, and some balmy air to catch Spring Fever. The official first day of Spring was March 20. No Spring Fever. On March 11 at 2:27 pm I found my first crocus in bloom. No Spring Fever. Our first daffodils really only came into full bloom about a week ago.

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Let’s all give a warm welcome to IMA’s newest blogger, a fabulous horticulturalist, Irvin Etienne!

It is certainly a bit hard to believe I am writing for the IMA Blog. My more technology savvy friends are slightly shocked. I read Meg’s entry about email. Junior high? Lord have mercy. When I was in junior high I don’t think our school owned a computer. So let’s just say I am not up on cutting edge technology. And that’s okay. My purpose is to bring you info on the horticulture side of the IMA, the truly green side, the natural world. I hope to keep you updated on happenings in our own backyard, occasionally the world’s backyard, and once in awhile my backyard. So here we go, one giant blog leap for horticulturekind.

Spring is such a fickle wench. On a Sunday she’s all pouty lips and swaying hips with warm moist breezes blowing sweet promises of swelling buds and rising sap. By Tuesday she’s throwing ice water on my horticultural genitals. Such is our relationship. I’ve been disappointed before. I’ve been hurt much more before - sometimes instead of ice water you get an army boot. Lucky me. Last year we had 80 degree days followed by a week in the 20’s. Didn’t the plants just love that? All those tender soft green tree leaves turned to brown crispy dust like you find in the bottom of the toaster. Perennials, awake early from the long Indiana winter, were all turgid from the heat-accelerated lusty growth. Then they were a flaccid brown heap on the ground in a chlorophyll cesspool. Such is the life of a Horticulturist or gardener. You better learn to roll with the punches. Fortunately there are many plants that tolerate Spring’s erratic weather swings and provide some much needed bloom in late winter and early spring. I am amazed some times how coming across some little bloom at this time of year thrills me so. All these years and the multiple times the same plant has flowered and still it gets me. I want to mention just a few of the ones you are likely to come across. And fair warning, I use scientific names.

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