• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Speaking
    • Upcoming Speaking Engagements
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

Suspense and Mystery in the Garden

August 7, 2013 By Carol Michel 6 Comments

Bird’s Blanket Garden Border

I’ve been reading Agatha Christie mysteries featuring Miss Jane Marple and watching clips of Alfred Hitchcock after watching the movie “Hitchcock” the other night.

Do you know what this means?

This means new ideas and thoughts about gardens and gardening related to mystery and suspense are swirling around in my mind.

Alfred himself explained the difference between mystery and suspense which you can hear on a clip on YouTube.

If I may paraphrase, we have an intellectual response to mysteries. We have information and we want to figure out why or who-dun-it.  On the other hand, we have an emotional response to suspense. We have enough information to know something could happen but we don’t know when or what’s next.

In the garden, for example, it is a mystery to me where all the tulips and grape hyacinths are in the garden border around the locust tree that I call Bird’s Blanket.  I know, though, that they are buried somewhere in that border, so if I dug in there now, there would be suspense each time I shoved the shovel in the ground. Will I slice a bulb in two? Or will I miss them completely?

Forget that every gardener knows that as soon as you dig around where bulbs are planted, you are going to slice a bulb right in half, or so it seems.  The point is there is a difference between mystery and suspense.

I’m going to move some surprise lilies, Lycoris squamigera, to Bird’s Blanket. I’ll do it in the spring when the foliage of the tulips and grape hyacinths solve the mystery of where the bulbs are planted.  Then I’ll know the lilies are there and the enjoy the suspense of waiting for them to pop up out of nowhere in early August.

Lycoris squamigera hiding in the hydrangea

Then I’ll go off and think more about suspense and mystery in the garden. Or maybe I’ll get two cats and name them Suspense and Mystery?  

Who knows?  

-or-

Who knows what will happen next?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: books, bulbs, gardening

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Layanee says

    August 7, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    Gee, I sliced a bulb in half just yesterday but there was no suspense, just a mystery as to how that bulb got in that spot as I did NOT plant it there. I did not! LOL

    Reply
  2. CommonWeeder says

    August 7, 2013 at 2:04 pm

    I think you are the Queen of Suspense in the Garden.

    Reply
  3. Gail says

    August 8, 2013 at 3:29 am

    I think I may just order more rather than slicing them into pieces! I do like them peaking out of the hydrangeas!

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    August 8, 2013 at 11:23 am

    You make me want to read the Agatha Christie series, Carol, since I love mysteries. I would move the surprise lilies now, and have done so with success in the past. They would look grand in the bird blanket.
    Frances

    Reply
  5. Pauline says

    August 8, 2013 at 11:53 am

    I really like your Lycris squamigera, such a lovely flower.Agatha Christie is very popular where we are in the SW of the UK. Her summer holiday home is only an hour away and a favourite place to take our visitors.

    Reply
  6. Covegirl says

    August 8, 2013 at 12:38 pm

    I have sliced quite a few bulbs over the years. good idea to move the Lycoris!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,048)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Newsletter Archive

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT