There has been a lot in the news about the hurricane in the Philippines.
Well, there has been a small one right here in Sidney — this one is called ‘Leslie’, which is the name of my middle daughter.
It all took place on my balcony. Admittedly it was something of a mess — geranium petals scattered on the floor, pots full of dying foliage, lily stalks standing like wounded soldiers, weeds multiplying in pots.
Leslie was horrified. She went to work shifting pots, ridding others of dying plants, moving soil from small pots into a few larger ones and finally washing the floor. The whole place now looks great.
Then, we planted bulbs, at least one hundred: crocus, anemones, tulips and daffodils. It should be glorious out there next spring.
Right now I am exhausted and she, still full of pep, is on a ferry headed back to Vancouver.
This was something that has been worrying me for at least a month — bulbs still in bags, patiently waiting for attention but just sitting there, going nowhere, probably wondering if they’d been forgotten. Now they are safely in the soil, promising a beautiful potted garden next spring and I am lying down trying to recover.
But it is done! Now once a week a thorough watering should be enough to get them started growing and keep them happy for the winter.
Today it is glorious for the second day in a row. How lucky can we get! Every nice day is a bonus at this time of year, especially when the TV shows pictures of B.C. mountain passes plugged with drifts of snow.
Mind you the skiers are celebrating the early snow but we on the Peninsula aren’t even getting rain. And the moon at night is huge, moving across a cloudless sky. It is so bright I can see my shadow on the wall.
The first time it appeared I jumped a foot, wondering who was in the room, but no such luck. I was still alone.
Helen Lang has been the Peninsula News Review’s garden columnist for more than 30 years.
