My sister is reading Williams and I’m reading Lively — both authors called the book, Life in the Garden. (I haven’t suggested it to her, but I think we should swap when done.) Quotes to follow from Lively.
You don’t discover your own gardening potential until you have gardenable space of your own, if only a humble window box.
I remember my first gardenable space. Larry and I were living in graduate student housing at the University of Rochester. A new friend, the wife of an older grad student, shared some strawberry plants with me — they were finishing up and leaving town and I was glad to inherit her riches. That’s when I first heard, “The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap.” We did harvest a few tiny strawberries before Larry finished his program. In the interim, the sweet flowers of the strawberry plants charmed us. That same spring, I planted Portulaca too.
By their gardens ye shall know them.
Years later, I’m gardening more than I ever had time for. Still, my garden beds will tell you I don’t fully know what I’m doing. I don’t know what will do well and where with precision. Yet, I do know when something’s not quite right and needs to be moved to another spot. Nature has its own timeline.
This week, we took a two-night trip to Poplar Forest (the retreat home of Thomas Jefferson). How about this glorious old tree?!
And in historic downtown Lynchburg — not many people — but this seemingly untended and meandering Oakleaf Hydrangea made it a lot less empty.
At the moment, I might have what are referred to as informal, cottage-type gardens which is apparently code for “bit unkempt and weedy.” Bless your heart.
#GardeningLifeLessons
Gardening: Before & After 