My mother is an artist and even though she has not picked up a brush since the day her father died, she still creates. Her artwork is evident in her quilts, and especially in her gardens. Gammy (as my boys call her) always seems happiest in her garden, and with results like these, who wouldn’t be?
Moonflower beginning to unfoldThis moon flower, only opens for one night and then it's gone. It's beauty is worth the wait.Birdbaths can be found through out her yard.She even has chipmunks for entertainment
There are hidden treasures in every nook and cranny of her home, from masks, to feeders, to climbers and more. Living in a state where everything dies from the heat, I’m always envious of her results. I’m gathering all of my photographs of her gardens over the years and creating a book for her on my publisher dot com for Christmas. I think she’ll like it. Don’t you?
I’m hiding in my room today. I actually have the flu, but I’m also hiding from my gardens. I had great plans to write about my fall gardens and the beautiful colors that are coming out. It is time to weed back my summer beds so that my fall mums can bloom. Unfortunately, I believe my mums are going to have to bloom without me this year.
You see, my son found a tarantula this week, and I haven’t recovered. He asked if he could keep it. We have in the past been home to an odd assortment of tree frogs, snakes (hidden in his closet because I had said no to those at some point), hamsters, guinea pigs, lizards, dogs, cats and fish but never a spider, so his request was not unusual. That’s why I’m here in my room and not outdoors. Not because I let him keep his furry friend, but rather because I didn’t and it is now roaming free in my gardens. I hate spiders more than I hate snakes. Over the years we’ve had to edit our pet allowance verbiage. “Must have legs” has now been changed to “no more than four legs allowed.”
I have a tarantula living in my garden beds. And I’ve seen the movie Eight Legged Freaks with my boys and I am freaked out. I think I’ll let him keep the garden.
Charlie is away at college and Dillon is a Junior in high school. I know the day will come when I’ll miss our ad-hoc petting zoo. Well, I’ll miss the boys, that much I do know.
I wrote a song years back describing life with boys — It’s sung to the tune “My Favorite Things.”
There are frogs on the curtains
and snakes in the closet
lizards in cages
and mud on the faucets
smelly old gym socks stuffed in every chair,
is it any wonder I’m losing my hair?
I don’t know what
happened to me
I used to be so calm
now it’s fist fights
and wrestling in my living room
and endless calls…
for Mooom!
I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just, no spiders please.
Some people have gardens and some people have garden cemeteries. My home is the place most plants come to die. Just calling it what it is folks. Please join me as we bid adieu to this year’s not so lucky winners of the “Oh Dear Heaven’s Please don’t take me home” Garden list..
This summer alone I killed:
Six zucchini plants — got ONE stinkin zucchini before they all died. (personally, I think my boys sprayed them with Roundup, but no one is talking.)
Three String Bean Plants – got nada from those babies.
My asparagus and rhubarb never even sprouted a single blade of anything green. Maybe next year?
and four fir trees — okay that one makes me kinda sad, the guy swore up and down I couldn’t kill those.
The good news is I have not killed these new members to my garden cemetery; three new lilies, My sweet pea and red twig bushes, Two wisteria bushes, one lilac bush (I now have three different varieties), two trees Jeff brought home that look oddly like well, something illegal, I’ll leave it at that, but the gal at the garden show said they are flowering bushes of some kind, three tomato plants, peppers, and herbs all did well, and I still have three of the original seven evergreens remaining.
So this is a good gardening year as far as gardening years go. More plants survived my black thumb than succumbed to it. Fall is approaching and it’s time for me to harvest my seed pods. I have daisies, spirea, coral bells, black-eyed susans, some lime green cone flowers, Holly Hocks, moon flowers, and well… a large smattering of flowers I forgot to label, all ready to be replanted next Spring.
I’m curious: What kinds of plants do you grow in your garden?
Just some random shots from our visit to the Botanical Gardens in Chicago, IL. It’s been almost 22 years since we’ve been there. I’d forgotten how beautiful it is.
The picture to the left is our shed before we painted it. – I was in a patriotic mood the year we bought that shed and wanted our home to be red, white and blue – a color combination very popular in New England, but not so popular in Oklahoma. I wound up choosing a more color neutral pallet for our house so that it would fit in with our neighborhood that prefers beige to everything else. What worked for the shed was rejected for the main house. I still like the colors, but it is time for a change. And wow – did I change it.
Not being able to work in my garden is probably the most difficult part of my recovery from surgery. I love working in my gardens. Something about it is peaceful and comforting. Still, just because I can’t physically work in them doesn’t mean that I cannot plan them.So that’s what I’ve been doing — working through new plans.
I told you a few days ago about how I was on the Better Homes and Gardens pages and got inspired to redo our garden shed. I thought my husband was going to hold his breath until he turned blue in Home Depot and I still walked out of the store with watermelon, Green Apple, and Lilac paints. I am a blessed woman.My oldest painted and I helped as I could. Yes, DH thinks he deserves canonization for it, but Lutheran’s don’t canonize, so the poor man is out of luck.
This cute sign (Above) – Plant Grow Bloom was purchased from Amanda’s Gift Shop on E-bay
The metal flowers below were purchased from Lowes Hardware store.
If you look closely, we had to use special brackets (purchased separately) at the top of the wire sculpture. The hardware that came with the flowers was not sufficient to attach to the wall. The watermelon color is by Glidden and the green and lilac are Behr. I wanted all three in Behr, but you are not allowed to cross brands. Meaning, I cannot pick up a Glidden color card and ask the Lowes guy to mix it in a non Glidden paint and vice versa. Nothing against Glidden, it’s a great paint, I just prefer Behr for longevity. Having said that, I really like Glidden’s exterior color pallet this year, it’s bright, and very versatile.
The watermelon was a little intense, so we used lilac with the green apple on the sides.
Side view -- now to go back and add the landscape.
So that is my new garden shed. Pretty hunh? Being the only female in my house, I’m pretty much the only one who likes it. My husband has jokingly told me his tools may not be able to live in such a place. And even though he’s not on the same artistic page as I, he does agree this project and these colors have not yet killed him.
We still have landscaping to finish. Pea gravel for the front of the doors, some flowers and maybe a rose-bush or two. I have a wisteria that I need to move and will probably put it next to the shed for stability. The white picket fence in the back ground is new as well. My dogs were destroying the fence line and have broken the main gate too many times, which is why we split the yard this year.
And that is how I spent my recovery time – blue printing and planning my gardens. I have more to come and as time and the doctor allows, I’ll be busy.
Have a great day ya’ll and don’t forget your sun screen.
On a side note, I was linked to from Shed Building Master’s Class last week. What a huge compliment. If you want to know more about building your own shed, please be sure to check them out. It’s a really nice and professional looking piece.
I’m dreaming of the sights of Summer. My gardens are dead now. Some of my perennials will come back though, the rest I’ll have to plant and I can’t wait. Until then, I’ll offer you sights from summer past.
“When you do tell your story, don’t sound like the victim. If you do, you’ll sound like you’re whining. Just be truthful in telling your story and aim to discover that slice of humanity that others can relate to.” David Pierce, author of “Don’t Let Me Go.”
Ever pick up a case of the whines without realizing it? I do that and I don’t mean to. I hate it when I catch myself doing it too. When sharing facts, I can forget the good pieces that came of whatever situation it was. Case in point. I went through an incredible season of sifting that has brought amazing fruit and yet these places in my heart are still tender, still mending, and giving voice to them, hurts a little and it comes out all wrong. I caught myself doing that a lot last week at the Cove and man did that ever frustrate me.
I learned so much in that season several years ago. I learned about letting go, about not having to be the Christ for everyone I meet, about boundaries, fear, idols, and about trusting God. Mostly, I learned how to play for an audience of One. Those are wonderful gifts to share. When I remember to share them that is. The problem is, I don’t always remember.
I know that I am not the first person in the world to feel forsaken or to feel like I’ve been handed over to Satan on a silver platter – as if to say, “Here, she won’t listen to me so you have a go at her.” I’m inspired by authors who are willing to tell the truth. Men like Philip Yancey who seem to bleed when they write. In a good way. Me? Sometimes I bleed, sometimes I vomit. Mostly, I stuff.
That paints a lovely picture, doesn’t it? Instead of the cute Irish Chia Pet, I’m that baby on the commercials buying stock and spitting up all at the same time. Ewww.
So how do I find that balance that David talks about? Talking with people I trust. Learning how to say I know there is something in here that can help someone else, please help me find the right words.
My husband caught a great quote of mine last week. The ice storm of 2007 destroyed all of our trees and instead of shade we now have sunshine and I planted flowers. Was it a lot of work? Oh yes. Clearing out dead trees and building beds IS hard work and yet- out of the storm came sunshine, and new life and a new creaton and that is a good thing.
My mother covets my garden! Oh my gosh. My mother, my muse. The woman who has gardens that rival any botanical place you can find, and she covets THIS picture above. It seems neither she, nor my aunt, can get sweet potato vine to grow like I can. They want to know my secret.
All I did was lose all of my roses to fire blight, and needed something to fill this bed.
I thought the vine was overrun, she thought it was great and told me they are jealous. I needed that perspective this week. And you know, just hearing that is enough to keep me going.
Now if I can only figure out how to kill the monkey grass in the back.
So what does an OKIE girl do on a beautiful, almost spring day? Dig in the dirt mostly. My gardens are trying to bloom. My tulips are coming up, my magnolia bush has already bloomed. And I still need to build out four more beds to get ready for Spring and Summer. I was supposed to be working on building those beds during the winter, but seriously who wants to be outside building flower beds in 20 degree weather? I may be going through Peri menopause, but my flashes are not enough to keep me warm in that environment. So, I kept putting it off until it warmed up.
It’s warm. My plants arrived early and I’ve got a week to build my beds.
Procrastination is not always my friend.
Speaking of arrivals, I had some “trees” come while I was in Nashville, which kinda freaked out my husband.
They aren’t tree’s exactly. More like really tall bushes, that grow to about 5 or 8 feet in height if you let them. But they aren’t trees. Really.
Another new piece I’ve added is wisteria. I love wisteria vines and so I ordered one last fall and then forgot I ordered it. Imagine Jeff’s surprise when a box comes (while I’m out of town)with the label “Grows 25 to 40 feet.” To call his reaction concerned, would be an understatement.
He has good reason for his concern. Really. He is after all married to an ADHD redhead who misses small detail, like plant height.
Case in point. While planning my front garden last year, I ordered what I thought was this:
The small print (stuff I can’t see to read) showed what I really bought was this: A tree that grows 15 feet. Oopsies. Simple enough, I put my new tree in the South East front corner of the yard, where I’m sure it will flourish beautifully.
So you understand his concern. He works in engineering at Level 3. I’m an artist in many senses, more than a little ADD, and a bit flowy in my visual thinking. I’m envisioning the BIG garden picture – I’m painting with plants, I see color and texture and style. He’s looking at size and feasibility, of both our yard and our checkbook, basically, he does damage control.
My husband caught a great quote of mine last week. The ice storm of 2007 destroyed all of our trees and instead of shade we now have sunshine and I planted flowers. Was it a lot of work? Oh yes. Clearing out dead trees and building beds IS hard work and yet- out of the storm came sunshine, and new life and a new creaton and that is a good thing.
Deana O'Hara - Speaker, Comedian, Writer 
