Back to the Garden…

I thought I had lost it forever. 

When I had to leave my home during my divorce, I left behind extensive gardens that I had been working on for more than 10 years.  Gardening was my passion, my creative outlet, my therapy. 

Then I had to leave it, and it was devastating.  I left that house in December, so in Wisconsin that means it wasn’t able to be dug up, and I was moving into a rental, anyway.  I felt the loss of my gardens keenly, and it hurt so much I stopped looking at gardens and landscaping, magazines and catalogs – all of it.  I thought the passion had died.

Last year my Dad tilled up the space between the two porches of my duplex.  I got a few plants “gifted” from friends gardens, and it made me happy.

This year?  The plants have  already been dug up and moved  around; I’ve bought new ones, divided some, potted several pots and baskets and am frustrated that I don’t have room for more!

It’s back.  The passion for gardening is flowing back through me and making me happy again.  It hadn’t died, it had just been pushed down while I dealt with all my other losses.  Now I know there will be other gardens in my life and that love will always be there when you are ready for it to blossom again.

Photo

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Flower Girl…

photo from perfectgardeningtips.com

I get to have the most fun for the next 6 weeks!  A friend of mine owns Marinette Farm and Garden, a local Feed & Seed (and everything else) store, and they always put up a garden hut in the Spring.  Hearing I was laid off, she contacted me and asked if I would be willing to help in the garden hut primping the flowers and plants, planting planters and hanging baskets, and helping customers.

Does it get any better than this?!!

I have missed my gardens so much since my house had to be sold in the divorce.  I had worked for years to create those gardens, and to me they were like my canvases.  Leaving them behind tore a piece of my heart out…well, what was left of it, anyway.  I mourned the loss of my gardens, and since I now live in a rental duplex, I couldn’t start another.  I stopped looking at gardening catalogs and thought I needed to stay away from that part of my past.  Last year, however, my Dad tilled a portion of earth up outside and I stuffed it full of perennials.  After 3 years, I was gardening again, albeit on a much smaller scale.

And now this.  I think it’s really ironic that God is giving me back my gardening passion in this way.  Even though I don’t have large gardens of my own, I get to help other people make their gardens and homes more beautiful.  All of the knowledge and skills I learned over the years can now be put to good use.  Connie, the owner, has started calling me “Flower Girl.”

I get to dig in the dirt, play with plants and talk with people…”these are a few of my favorite things…”