It is almost as if we have forgotten to live in the present.
You know what you mean when you say "You should have been here last week". Either the rose were in full bloom and are now waning a bit, or it was the absolute height of daylily season - and while plenty are blooming right now the display isn't quite as stupendous. Maybe it's the lavender which is now in need of deadheading instead of forming that perfect hazy hedge. Or perhaps last week there was one perfect calla lily blossom to enchant you - and today that blossom is losing its perfection and starting to curl.
Whatever it is that made the garden so perfect last week - it isn't there when visitors arrive. And apparently, nothing else that is blooming brightly or thriving lustily can make up for that lack.
As for next week - well, we all know that one. Things can be blooming madly except for one favorite plant that is still in bud. We are always anticipating, waiting for that next thing to start its seasonal show. And because we are so busily looking to the future, we can't see the beauty that exists for us (and our visitors) right now.
Now, if yours is a specialist's garden - if the entire design is centered on daylilies, peonies, roses, or any other singular type of plant, then I can understand how you feel. If they aren't blooming yet, or are well past their prime, with only a scattered blossom here and there, then you're right. I should have seen it last week, or next week - whenever the big show is.
But that doesn't excuse the rest of us, who grow a variety of plants that are coming in and out of season constantly. Not as long as our gardens are healthy and well tended.
Even if the showy flowers aren't on center stage, there is much to admire in the individual plants. Many may bloom less gaudily - but they are flowering. Some may be past their blooming season, but can be admired for the way the leaf texture creates interest in combination with other plants.
And if you can't see that - can't admire the lesser lights in your garden and enjoy their beauty - why did you buy and plant them? There must have been something about them that you loved when you brought them home and made a space for them in the bed. Have you forgotten that? Is only the big picture that we look at now?
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