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

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…”