Is there a surer sign of Spring than daffodils? The daffodils in my garden have been enjoying the rainy, cool weather far more than I have. This morning they were looking particularly happy, and I can’t blame them since it was a glorious day. I spent the morning down in the garden, working away to the sound of church bells, donkey hooves clipping and clopping up and down the stone steps, and the music of a man in a nearby terrace singing old songs. Today was the day for Spring cleaning and doing some planting and rearranging in the garden. As I have very little experience gardening, this is all new to me. I have inherited here a rather overgrown and barely maintained garden, which I have been hacking away at, trimming, and reorganizing section by section. For instance, here is how the section I spent the morning working looked about a year ago:

A pile of rocks that needed to be moved, irises that hadn’t been cut back in 5 or 6 years, and a jade plant crying out for help. The whole area has been dug out now. I decided to plant lavender there, which I know grows well in the garden. And I know how to take care of it now thanks to this lovely article on how to prune lavender in Italy. I also moved the ivy plant and replaced it with some much cheerier pansies, which always make me think of my mom.

My cat inspected everything after I finished, just to make sure I put things in the right place:

I think the jade plant, which recovered some ground last summer, was not pleased with all the rain this winter. It is in worse shape now than before. But I have a history of bad luck with jade plants. For the time being, I repotted it in what I have termed “pronto soccorso” (first aid). Does anyone have any advice on how to make it happy? Lots of sun? Not so much sun? How much water? It has lost most of its leaves over this winter. Will they grow back?

Always an adventure!