Gardener

G is for gardener

But in Colorado where I live, where half of the state is arid, hot plains and the other half is snowy, cold mountains, gardening is tricky!

I first lived on the plains in Arvada, a suburb of Denver, where my flowers and veggies flourished.

Then, on my 35th birthday, I moved to the mountains. It was early spring, just the right time for planting. Since I had moved a mere 20 miles distance, and my new place was only 2,000 feet higher, I thought the only difference would be a shorter growing season. 

Wrong-o. The shorter growing season is not a problem, but the elk, deer, and cute little bunnies are. They smelled my flowers and ripe-for-picking veggies from many miles away, and they loved my city garden in the hills!

With help from the local garden shops, I've learned what to plant that the critters won't eat. At last most of the time! One summer an elk ate the leaves of my rhubarb plant. Only once, though!

The above photo of my kinda-critter-proof garden inspired this quilt. It's made from triangles cut from fabrics reminiscent of things in my garden:

~ Tans for the Kansas limestone fence post, which is topped with green triangle printed with a sundial.

~ Gray geometrics for the rocks. (When traveling, I collect rocks as souvenirs.)

~ Yellow florals for my yarrow plants, and green prints for my herbs.

~ A triangle with a butterfly and a triangle with a bumble bee. Look closely at the bottom left triangle and you might spot the yellow head of a creepy-crawly!

The quilt was published in Quiltmaker Magazine.

Gardening is awesome!