What a torment!

 

Spring has officially “sprung”, it’s sunny and windy, and 65º - all evidence of Spring in New Mexico.

 

Alas, because our last freeze could happen as late as mid May, we can’t really plant anything outside yet.

 

But, I can’t wait to get some “dirt therapy”, so I started a patio garden on the South side. Pots on a baker’s rack.

“Not from Around Here”, © 2008, Jessica Wesolek

Pansies and Snapdragons are about the only flowers that can take the cold mountain nights in March, and I found some at the local nursery. As I was transplanting them into terra cotta pots, I was thinking about transplants in general.

 

Santa Fe is a place where many of the plants - and the people - are not from around here. People visit, fall in love, and are looking at the real estate ads by lunchtime.

 

But, when you are a transplant, you must adapt to the environment - you can’t bring the old place with you, and the new place takes some getting used to. Many people, and plants do not thrive here, and many others blossom in ways they would never have imagined. With both plants, and people, it takes a lot of experimenting to find out which way it will go.

 

This painting, again, is a combination of Pan Pastels and Caran d’ache Watercolor pencils.