Ladybug, ladybug, welcome to my garden and home

“Ladybug, ladybug fly away home; your house is on fire and your children are gone …” It was a beautiful, warm, sunny morning as I opened my French doors and spied a ladybug resting on the doorsill. Every spring, I buy more ladybugs for my flower garden. Not only do they eat aphids and other garden killers, but they also symbolize that love goes beyond life. They are always there to let me know that love doesn’t go away.

Springtime in the Rockies is an adventure. One morning, we wake up to winter with freezing 20-degree temperatures. Then, by afternoon, it feels like spring with 60-degree temperatures. No wonder everyone has the crud. We don’t know if we should wear winter togs or summer flip-flops.

My bulbs are sticking their heads up through the mulch. I noticed my irises are also poking through the mulch. Even with the harbinger of spring, I just know I’ll have to cover their fragile heads a few times before spring really arrives. I’m so ready for spring this year. It’s a season of hope and new beginnings. That fact is comforting to me. After the dark, cold days of winter, I need a new beginning.

Someone once told me that politics and women’s fashions may change, but one can always count on springtime in the Rockies to remain the same year after year.

As I plan my garden for this year, I once again realize that my yard doesn’t lend itself to growing a large garden. I’ll probably grow more in the containers that I have placed on my deck and along the south fence. I just hope I can keep the raccoons away this year. The little scamps made off with one of my garden gloves last year.

While planning my garden I am reminded of the Victory gardens that grew in my hometown, usually along the railroad tracks. Many people planted those gardens during WWII in order to feed their families and share with others. Some locals set aside plots of land within the city boundaries and rented them for as little as $5 a year. Anyone willing to spend the time and energy to grow a garden could rent one of these plots and receive water for it at half price.

There are several community gardens in our area that are listed on the internet: Wilson Camp Ground and Second Street Camp Ground both in Longmont; Community Garden and Compost located at the Boulder County Campground at the Fairgrounds in Longmont. Another is in Fort Lupton. I believe that community gardens can rejuvenate our communities by bringing people together for a common cause. And, they just might find a few ladybugs in those community gardens, as well.

I remember having ladybugs in my garden. Dad and I didn’t use insecticides. We relied on nature to take care of the bad bugs in our garden. Today, my garden doesn’t look anything like the one my dad and I grew.

Mine is more compact, but the memories it brings to my mind are priceless. My parents were married 98 years ago on March 3, 1926. I wish they were here to see the ladybugs in my garden. They remind me that my parents’ love is still with me just as it was when they taught me the joy of growing a garden and living a joy-filled life. “Ladybug, ladybug fly away home …”