“As the Leaves Turn” is a gardener’s soap opera brought to you by our sponsors.

When last we left our gardener at the end of episode 2, she had just finished planting more bulbs and was still waiting for her mysterious package.

Let’s turn the lights up on the stage and see what’s going on in episode 3, shall we?

Our gardener has just finished a Saturday’s worth of gardening.  She reflects back on all she has done.

She had readied the patio for winter by covering all the furniture with a large tarp. She decided to also cover the large pots on the patio, rather than risk injury by trying to move them all to safer locations.

(This s a low budget soap opera so we do not have funds to create elaborate hospital scenes with doctors and nurses hovering over the gardener as she lays in traction to recover from any injuries caused by moving heavy objects.)

Our gardener will find out in the spring if that was enough protection from whatever winter sends her way. 

Right before she started to mow the lawn, a FedEx truck pulled up and the delivery man hopped out with a small box.  Our gardener realized right away that this wasn’t the package she was waiting for, but it was a package she had expected.

Inside were 70 crocus corms, the exact number our gardener needed to bring the total number of crocuses planted in the back lawn over the last three years up to 2,000.

Without hesitation, she went out and planted the 70 corms under the watchful eyes of the pillywiggins, tiny garden fairies who are responsible for most of the spring blooms.

Next, our gardener mowed the lawn. The leaves crackled beneath her feet and she reminisced as she walked about all the time she had spent as a child raking leaves at home. Back then, they raked the leaves and drug them to a big pile to burn them.  She was happy that burning leaves is no longer allowed, but she could still remember what they smelled like.

She finished mowing the lawn and wheeled the mower back to the garage. As she was rounding the corner of the house, she spied it.

Her longed-for package had arrived!  The postman had placed it by the front door.  It was the right size, the right shape.    She quickly put the mower away, grabbed the package and rushed inside to open it.

Tune in tomorrow for another episode of “As the Leaves Turn” to see the contents of the package and learn why our gardener was so anxious to receive it.