My Garden

What's my garden like? Since I am a garden writer, I should have fabulous gardens, right?

Well, the fact is that the highlight of our property is the woods. We have many oak trees along with ironwoods, elms, ash, and basswood, which attracts many different woodpeckers. The wild fruit trees (hawthorn, juneberry, chokecherry) attract song birds, such as cardinals, indigo buntings, and scarlet tanagers. Our hummingbord feeder gets lots of business over the summer. The spring ephemerals include violets, anemones, jack-in-the-pulpits and columbines. The pond (um...swamp) is home to wood ducks and lots and lots of mosquitoes.

We have a lot of shade, so veggies grow in the only sunny spot. I don't have enough sunny space for corn, but I grow lots of tomatoes and peppers. Raised beds hold everything together, needed especially because of the clay soil we have. My fruit garden is a raised bed with blueberries and strawberries. What I grow, I eat. And I try to freeze lots for the winter.

My flower gardens emphasize part shade and full shade plants, and since we are rich in many ways but not particularly in cash, I have varieties that are sturdy and traditional, not cutting edge. I save money and the garden still looks fabulous. And I have lots of experiments going on. So one part of the garden may not look so good as I wait for the results, but then other parts of the garden make up for it.

After seeing a photo of Martha Stewart's perfect (and I mean perfect) gardens, I felt discouraged because I knew I didn't have enough time in a day to make my yard look like that. So I would prefer to offer encouragement to whoever reads this. Gardens do not need to be perfect. Gardens are meant to be enjoyed. I love playing in the dirt. I love picking fresh veggies. I love a sweet whiff of fragrance from my flowers on a hot summer day. So what if I don't have designer flowers or a weed-free lawn? I just love what I do.