The Master Gardener
Hours and hours and hours in the garden
"How come you sculpted your beauty?"
- One of our kids at the sight of a clay sculpture DiPerri made of Frega in 2015
THIS WEEK:
Gardening!
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Gardening!
BEHIND THE PAY WALL: Gardening! Plus, we go “Back to the Drawing Board” on gardening.
There was no blizzard in the forecast. But there it was, out of nowhere and without warning, hailing down on us. We were in a snowglobe.
Cover your coffee cups — here comes the pollen.
Historically, I’ve never enjoyed yard work. As a kid, I hated pulling weeds, spreading mulch, mowing the lawn, vacuuming the pool, bugs, animals, worms, dirt, woods, sunshine, anything and everything nature. When I finally moved out of my parents’ house, I bought a condo and happily paid the association fees because I didn’t want to maintain (or go out into) a yard.
When we bought our house, my Italian upbringing and pride in establishing curb appeal kicked in to the extent of creating and maintaining a lush, dark lawn, which I did. I didn’t mind mowing the lawn. I’d spend those couple hours in my head “writing” Buddy and Romeo comics and working them out over and over, committing them to memory until I could write them down when the lawn was done.
This was about 7-10 years ago. All the while, Frega had garden dreams and began doing her research and cultivating a vision for what she’d like her flower and vegetable gardens to contain and look like.
So we practiced. On house plants; on potted plants; and in the backyard.
In the spring of 2023, we broke ground on our first major flower garden. This is what we started with.
The painting above is phase one of my next illustration. I’m releasing it episodically in seven installments, which feels appropriate as it documents how we built it ourselves -by hand with no machinery - over time.
If you’re curious, the illustration above is watercolor and colored pencil on Arches 140 lb. Hot Press. I painted it plein aire in about 20 minutes and then plucked away at the lawn with colored pencil off and on for another 20. You can see 2024 sketches of my plans for this illustration behind the paywall. To see the illustrated documentation of our garden construction, follow DiPerri’s illustration account on Instagram.
Here’s a photo of our tulips last month.
English roses are starting to open now and we’re looking foward to lavendar in the next couple weeks; I think the zinnias and straw flowers should start byJuly; and we’re especially looking forward to our dahlias in August.
While deep in her research, for years, Frega said she dreamed that one day she’d become a master gardener, with flowers perfectly timed so that something new is in bloom from spring through autumn. She’s on her way.
Though neither of us ever thought we’d become landscapers or gardeners, our kids are right: everything is better when you’re wearing garden gloves.
“I knee my guy-en guvvs.”
In case you’re new here, this summer, DiPerri is sewing individually handmade Buddy and Romeo stuffed toys.
These dolls will not be for sale. Rather, they will be exclusive to paid subscribers of this Substack.
If you want both a Buddy and a Romeo plush doll, please become a paid subscriber. It’s the only way to get them.
We hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber today to give your very own Buddy and Romeo stuffed toys a home.
If you’re already a paid subscriber, thank you. Your orders are in place. Stay tuned as the toys are brought to life and we chronicle DiPerri’s sewing adventures this summer.
We’re doing some gardening over on CartoonStock too.
For more of our Frega DiPerri magazine cartoons, visit CartoonStock.
I’ve stopped looking at our lemon tree.
I moved it outside in April, put it out in the rain for two weeks and essentially left it for dead. Most of its upper branches shriveled and turned light tan. For about a decade, we’d dreamed of having a lemon tree and as far as I was concerned, bringing this dream to life (or death) was the worst money we’ve ever spent.
Yesterday afternoon after tending to the rest of our flower garden, I heard Frega’s voice call out with some urgency to come quickly to see the lemon tree.
To be continued next week. Join us behind the paywall for more gardening.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Buddy and Romeo Cartoon Substack to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.