Will I ever catch up on my weeding? Will I get the stuff on my patio planted before the snow flies? Oh my goodness, I have company coming and my gardens are a mess! Yep, I know you’ve been there too!
As gardeners, we are very passionate about our love of gardens, but how many times do we stop to admire the beautiful creations right in our own spaces? We spend hours wandering and admiring the gardens of others. This year, I invite you to join me in easing up on the personal to-do list and spend plenty of time soaking up our own wonderful spaces. The last few years brought my own quest for truly experiencing the rewards of my hard work.
A few years ago, my garden gained a custom designed and built from scratch functional garden shed, complete with spacious front porch! Recent years have brought busy summers of landscaping, the addition of a fire pit space, a conifer garden backdrop and many raised veggie beds. Now I linger on the shed porch and invite friends over to sit around a crackling fire. On the patio, the sound of bubbling fountains provides the soothing sound of water. So what are the things I love? Creating a peaceful retreat and making time to stop and enjoy.
Join me on my quest to relish the quiet times in the garden, to watch the mama bird feeding her babies, to admire the gorgeous monarch butterfly enjoying nectar from the coneflowers…and breathe deep and full within our own sanctuaries. The weeds will get pulled, the plants will get planted and our friends will still think our gardens are amazing. Let’s resist the impulse to point out the imperfections.
To visitors, our spaces are incredible artful creations using nature’s gifts, and indeed they are! So enjoy the quiet stroll around the garden discovering the new gifts of nature, embrace your hidden spots of solitude, grab a tall glass of iced tea and settle in to escape from the busy day. Your peaceful retreat awaits. Enjoy!
