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Current mood:  amused Category: Travel and Places
..Le Printemps est Donc Là !
Spring is Here!
[ republished from the 3 April 2007 Myspace posting / réimpression: du 3 avril 2007 impression de Myspace ]
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Cyclamens from the winter-garden
on terrace of the stone table. | Jenny has added a very short blogpost, this time; but that seems fitting to the blink-of-an-eye sort of transition La Burlande has had this spring. And her description of me is no less fitting. I feel as though I have been through battle, and my knees are still raging!
(Added note: The splendid, white horses you see in the photo are known as "le cheval camarguais" or "chevaux blancs". They are highly intellegent, pleasant ... why they are our favorite neighbors!)
| Les floraisons d'hiver ont disparu et toutes les nuances de verts se font une concurrence acharnée. Tous les jours une nouvelle surenchère.
Les tulipes sont la nouveauté de ce printemps. En octobre j'ai trouvé une caisse de bulbes à prix attractifs dans une jardi-nerie où nous étions pour un tout autre motif... Je ne sais plus, mais quelque chose comme 280 bulbes! J'ai dû sous les gentilles moqueries de mes amis leur trouver une place.
J'ai en fait créé pour eux deux nouveaux emplace-ments destinés aux fleurs : l'un tout au fond du jardin mais dans la perspective de la porte d'entrée, l'autre devant un massif d'arbustes vert foncé de niveaux divers. En ce moment les tulipes s'ouvrent et chaque jour de nouvelles couleurs apparaissent, se superpo-sent, se complètent et donnent un vif éclat au jardin.
Nous avons travaillé de façon acharnée tous ces derniers jours. Il a d'abord fallu retirer les aiguilles de pin et les feuilles sèches qui recouvraient les banquettes, protégeaient du froid, conservaient l'humidité, étouffaient les mauvaises herbes. La terre mise à nu, nous l'avons retournée en éliminant les racines des plantes non souhaitées; Ensuite quelques poignées de terreau bien noir au pied de chaque plante, un engrais naturel, un bon arrosage...
Qui s'étonnera qu'aujourd'hui j'aie si mal aux jambes et au dos que je n'arrive qu'à peine à m'asseoir et que mon ami traîne la jambe comme un invalide de guerre?
Bon jardinage à tous!! | 
Chevaux Blancs behind a bed of tulips. | The blossoms of winter have disappeared and all the nuances of greens are in vigorous competition. Every day brings a new best.
The tulips are the innovation of this spring. In October, I found a case of bulbs at an attractive price in a garden-center where we were for an entirely different reason… I no longer remember, but something like 280 bulbs! I had to find a place for each of them, under the friendly jokes of my friends.
I have, in fact, created for them two new sites intended for flowers: one at the bottom-most part of the garden but prominently visible from the door of the entry; the other in front of a dark solid mass of evergreen shrubs of various heights. Right now, the tulips are opening and each day there appear new colors, superimposed, complemented, and giving a dazzling brightness to the garden.
We have worked energetically all these last days. It initially was necessary to take up the pine needles and the dry leaves which covered the [flower] beds, [the blanket that] protected from the cold, preserved moisture, and choked the weeds. The ground exposed, we turned it over while removing the roots of the unwanted plants; then a few applications of very black compost at the foot of each plant, a natural manure, a good watering…
Who would believe that today I have such pain in my legs and back that I am hardly able to sit down, and my friend drags his leg like an invalid of war?
Good gardening to all!!
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Tulips at the bottom of the garden. | 
Tulips (close-up).
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Tulips beside pool. | ..
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