Ever since I started gardening in our new house, I've had to be patient in ways I'd never even imagined. Sure, I was used to the idea of planting a tomato seed and waiting a couple months for fruit but now I was planting small shrubs and waiting years for them to fill out a space. Now that we're reaching our 3rd summer in the house, I'm finally starting to see some of those results. Gardeners around here often use the phrase, "sleep, creep, leap" to describe the phases of perennials so if that's accurate, then this summer should be the summer of leaps for a lot of these plants!
“Sleep, creep, leap” - hadn’t heard that before, but it seems like a very good way of describing it. Could possibly also add “bleep”, to represent the expletive-rich response to noticing that a previously slow-growing plant has suddenly exploded into a massive and untameable beast.
My patience in the garden varies. Starting seeds or direct sowing in beds feels like a science experiment. I look forward to each phase of the plant's life and am not bothered by the time it takes. Maybe that's because there's always something else to take my attention and energy. But trees are a different matter. To borrow your phrase, we "paid for time" by having some mature trees planted last year at the same time as younger varieties. We just couldn't bear the thought of waiting years and years for everything to grow.
You're right, there is always something else to take your attention away - and thank goodness! I find distraction to be a very useful tool to tackle impatience.
Ever since I started gardening in our new house, I've had to be patient in ways I'd never even imagined. Sure, I was used to the idea of planting a tomato seed and waiting a couple months for fruit but now I was planting small shrubs and waiting years for them to fill out a space. Now that we're reaching our 3rd summer in the house, I'm finally starting to see some of those results. Gardeners around here often use the phrase, "sleep, creep, leap" to describe the phases of perennials so if that's accurate, then this summer should be the summer of leaps for a lot of these plants!
“Sleep, creep, leap” - hadn’t heard that before, but it seems like a very good way of describing it. Could possibly also add “bleep”, to represent the expletive-rich response to noticing that a previously slow-growing plant has suddenly exploded into a massive and untameable beast.
My patience in the garden varies. Starting seeds or direct sowing in beds feels like a science experiment. I look forward to each phase of the plant's life and am not bothered by the time it takes. Maybe that's because there's always something else to take my attention and energy. But trees are a different matter. To borrow your phrase, we "paid for time" by having some mature trees planted last year at the same time as younger varieties. We just couldn't bear the thought of waiting years and years for everything to grow.
You're right, there is always something else to take your attention away - and thank goodness! I find distraction to be a very useful tool to tackle impatience.