Every spring, along about early May, I start planting annuals.  Because our backyard gets so much shade, I tend to plant impatiens, year after year. There are a few places in the yard where they do particularly well.
I could vary it up — and maybe one of these years, I will — but for now, I love the combination of colors: the snap of the red and the bright punch of fuschia, the pure white to balance it out, the soft baby tones of pale pink and lavender. Â Whether they are in a ray of sun or in the shade, these colors positively glow.
Patting the soil around the little plants, I always feel like I’m participating in a beautiful ritual. Â I finish and straighten and look around my yard. Â Even though there are patio pots still waiting to be filled and hydrangeas that have yet to bloom, I feel as though the garden is coming to life again. Â It’s just waiting: for the boys to have sprinkler parties, for family dinners on the patio, for me to sit outside with a notebook on a warm evening, celebrating the sacrament of a summer’s night.
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