Happy Father's Day

Yesterday, as you all know, was Father's Day. In honor of the day, I would like to pay a brief tribute to Phil who is one of the most accomplished gardeners I know.

Favorite Phil facts....

Phil loves to dig holes. Maybe this is a guy thing, or maybe it's just a Phil thing. Either way, any time I want a tree or shrub planted, he's my go-to guy. He will happily dig a hole as deep and as wide as I want and then fill it with water to make sure it drains. He'll add compost or fertilizer, and then he'll fuss with the tree until it's facing the direction I want. If I change my mind, he'll even dig it up and replant it in a more suitable spot.

So far this year, he's planted five healthy Saskatoon bushes (or juneberries or serviceberries depending on where you grew up). We were going to put a row all along the back yard, but five was all they had at the nursery.

He also -- uncomplainingly -- planted two cutleaf staghorn sumac babies in the holes in my shrub border where a couple of things died over the winter.

Phil loves his plants. One of my favorite garden memories is of Phil splinting a broken tomato plant. He had been weeding or watering or something and accidentally broke a tomato. Of course there were many, many more lined up in neat rows. Still, he found a straight stick and some plant-friendly tape and made a tiny splint. The good news was that the plant didn't even blink. It continued to grow and eventually contributed to our abundance of tomatoes.

I just wanted to take advantage of this big day to celebrate Phil. Husband and gardener extraordinaire.

More later,
b