I’m a garden girl.

And I garden with abandon.

When I first moved into my home some twenty something years ago, I moved into the home my parents built. My parents had made sure to have someone carefully landscape the yard and everything that had been planted was low maintenance and non blooming….everything.

For me, that was totally boring.

I LOVED flowers, and wanted something blooming every season of the year.

So, I started on an experimental mission to dig up every. single. plant.

…and then I rescaped my yard, my way.

The interesting thing was that I didn’t know anything about gardening...which meant I simply had to jump in and start.

Believe me when I say, it has been years of trial and error! LOL!

But you know what I’ve discovered along the way?

• For me, my garden is like a creative playground…I can mix and match colors, textures, shapes and sizes...no self judgement allowed. No perfection needed.
• I LOVE weeding, because it’s a mundane task that allows me to think clearly in my head and find my muse. I like this space.
• I can let go of the perfectionist side of me. The garden sometimes looks messy, and I’m O.K. with that. There will always be a stray weed or many, but I’m good!
• I really love that it’s not an exact science. I forget from year to year what I’ve planted, and sometimes new things pop up (or don’t). It’s a mystery of sorts and I love the surprise factor.
• In late summer it often looks abandoned because I’ve left dried and dead plants, but really there’s a method to my madness. Birds love the dried thistle. No better reason!
• Finally, gardening reminds me to slow down and take in the fact that it’s a process. I find myself sometimes wanting things to hurry and bloom because I know how gorgeous they are, but there is no hurrying anything...nature follows a process and the plants grow and bloom when they are ready.

All I can do is plant the seeds, water and weed…with love.

Hmmm…sounds a lot like life.