My garden is full of them, and I’ll bet yours is, too. Generally, only you can see them in your garden until you tell others about them. Then they see them and nod in agreement realizing that they have them in their garden, too.
We should talk about them, because as Spring gets closer, there might be an opportunity to tend to them, and maybe even remove a few of them from the garden to make room for others because we always have them.
Some of mine have been in my garden for years. Others just arrived in the last few years or showed up over the winter.
You won’t find a lot of books about taking care of them. You know deep down inside how to do it. You just need to do it.
“Them” are our “good intentions”, and I’ve got a lot of them, enough to give them names!
“One of these days” is my good intention that one of these days I’ll actually dig out the grass along the side of fence in the backyard to make a nice big planting area. I’ve thought about it, blogged about it, even gotten an estimate to see if someone would do it for me. Well “one of these days” just might be taken care of this spring. One of these days, you might read a blog post about it actually happening.
“I ought to” is my good intention that someday I ought to plant some blueberries and raspberries. I think I’ll have more success with raspberries than blueberries, and I’ve got a good spot for them. I did try blueberries once, planting some tiny little plants, then side dressing them with sulfur and coffee grounds to increase the acidity of the soil. Then in the winter, the rabbits proceeded to eat quite a bit of them, so I had to put wire cages around them. They never were vigorous enough to recover, and sadly, they died. I ought to give blueberries another try. (After all, plant in three’s can also mean “try three times” before you give up on a plant.)
“I keep meaning to” is my good intention to do more with roses. There are so many good roses to plant these days, roses that don’t need all that molly coddling like the hybrid teas my Dad messed with back in the day. In fact, Dee from Red Dirt Ramblings sent me a list of roses she thought would do well in my USDA Zone 5 garden. I keep meaning to look at that list and see if I can find some of those roses either locally or through mail order.
“This year” might be the biggest intention of all in my garden. This year I’ve got a lot of plans swirling around in my head. One of these days I ought to put those ideas on paper. I keep meaning to.
Yes, there’s no time like now to take care of the good intentions I have for my garden this year. One of these days is here, I ought to, I keep meaning to, I will!
(Yes, you can also have them in other aspects of your life, at home, at work… they are everywhere and can be overwhelming if you dwell on them too much. Just take care of a few of them now, and you’ll be surprised at how good you get at taking care of them, wherever and whatever they are!)
Where does that road paved with good intentions lead? My good intentions tend to be more long-range than yours, although last year was the year I finally did something about my green mustache. I hope you have better luck with the blueberries this year. The raspberries should be no problem – they have wicked thorns!
Oh this is a good post Carol! intentions… I am getting ready to take care of one of mine…the GOBN is getting a make over~~gail
Great post, Carol! And I’m with ya!
So true! I think gardening in itself is one big good intention to make the world a more beautiful place, and improve ourselves in the process. VW
I really like this post.
I have now written down a few of my ‘good intentions’, because that might help me to actually do a few of these things…
You nailed this one! Thanks for the gentle nudge.
Hi Carol, so true. I have had a terrible time with blueberries, buying large plants, small plants, bare root, it doesn’t matter, death is always the outcome. Now raspberries are another matter, easy and rewarding the first year. I have started putting those intentions in my sidebar task list, to haunt me constantly while on the laptop. It works too. 🙂
Frances
Very true! I’ll get to it eventually.
Oh plant those raspberries. If the rabbits try to eat them, they will be sorry with a mouthful of thorns. Also raspberries are weeds. As long as they have water, I think they would grow anywhere.
Like Frances, I can’t grow blueberries. They need too much acid. Blackberries are the thing here. Thanks for the link love. You really do need a rose or two.~~Dee
I have so many good intentions … it’s the time to carry them out that I’m lacking!
I hope you WILL get some roses this year!
A fun post as always, Carol. I’m not gonna even confess all my good intentions and plans, other than to say it’s going to be even more of a challenge to get them to fruition this year…
Oh! Yes, Carol, I have all those in my garden and a few more. This year I’m about to prove that I can say “after it has flowered” and mean it.
I have the berries “I ought to” too. I’m trying to limit myself to one of these Intentions per season and actually follow through on it. As a result, I’ve got them all lined up for the next 17 years.
I’m with Dee. I want to see a rose or two at May Dreams this year.
Oh, if there weren’t so many good intentions at Our Little Acre, I might actually get some of them accomplished! But I am The Queen of Procrastination, you know. LOL.
I’ll try to do better this year, though.
One of these days….I’m going to get busy and do some soil ammending in the flowers beds. My mind is very busy, but the body can’t keep up with all the good intentions. This was a fun post to read.
I think it’s natural for gardeners to have a lot of plans and intentions, maybe more than are realistic. But that’s OK, for me anyway. I like to have something to look forward to in the future, I like to have plans — and whether or not I realize them all, I think intentions equate to HOPE and we all need that! I love the Julie Andrews song–believe it or not, I’ve never seen TSOM all the way through and didn’t know this song! I think old age, erm experience, helps one have confidence in many things, and I know the garden gave me confidence.
Yes, I actually make “lists” of “good intentions”. I just love to be organized. tee hee…