The Garden and how it speaks.

 

There is something forgiving about a garden and maybe that is why I like to play in the dirt.  If you make a mistake you can always  start over.  A fresh beginning , a new season , a new day and always potential.   It will forgive you.

 I am most thankful for the  faithful trees and plants that make their appearance every spring and endure the summer heat.  Most of these are gifts from mothers , grandmothers and great grandmothers or were bundles left at the mail box by a fellow gardener.  There is a diversity here that is  facilitated by generosity and wishers of abundance.  My garden is not planned or plotted.  It is a free space with Season, Sunlight and Shade being its only constraints.  I am not a master gardener, I am barely a novice.   Plants have to be tough to survive me.  I plop it into the ground , water it, feed it and hope for the best.  If it struggles in that spot I move it.  If it does not make it, I try something else.  I try to stay away from fads and species with super complex needs.  I know my limitations.

There is no color code in my Garden.  Some garden designers do not incorporate red, or hot pink or white.  I say bring on the rainbow!  I am not so pretentious.  

Water in the garden is a must and to hear water in the garden is an added bonus.  The sound of moving water is comfort food for your soul.  When you add bird song as a accompaniment it truly makes the garden a place of respite and rejuvenation.  There is nothing better than sitting in the garden at day break listening to nature wake up with the gentle movement of water.  

All you need is a fountain pump and a water tight vessel to make a water feature that will produce sound.  Here is an old cherub fountain base with a bass pheasant faucet mounted on piping sitting in an old plastic pond form we bought years ago. 

An old faithful bird bath.  A great attractor of birds and much needed in the summer.

A little simpler approach is a saucer (can be any saucer that will hold water) that has a hole cut in the center with the fountain pipe coming out of it.  It sits atop an old terracotta drainage pipe. The saucer fills and the water spills out of the rim.  

The greenhouse in the garden is a luxury and one that I do not take for granted.  It is beautiful and can be brutal in this part of the country. Without heating and air,  I am not using it as a conservatory, in June or January.  It requires a shade cloth, in the summer, on the West side to tame the afternoon heat from the beaming sun.  Heat mats are required to start seeds and I have to move my seedlings around to chase the sun.  It houses Garden implements, potting soil and pretty pots that I will more than likely never use. 

  

The green house is a motivator to do better.  It deserves a weeded flower bed, alliums, shade cloth and a blanket in the winter.  It always welcomes you to my garden.   It has become an old friend that speaks softly to me of seasons to come and reminds me that the season I am in is beautiful.

I truly hope that you have a garden room that you love to spend time in.  That you can take a moment in and , slow down and be still.

Sheryl