Not everything at this time of year is about the blitheness of springtime. Though by contrast to that withering overture, I had an effervescent moment this afternoon at Walmart. I cleaned out their entire stock of synthetic long-stem roses both red and white. They’re for my precious Lalique vase. While waiting at the checkout counter I privately mused whether this bit of retail might qualify as springtime gardening. To be frank the quip is less than poetic. I don’t recall ever having done anything approaching productivity in a garden. Unless perhaps when I planted those real red roses which the sun promptly detroyed because I foolishly put them against an unobstructed southwesterly wall. And I as perishingly overlooked the business of watering.