Back to the Garden…
June 15, 2011
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.
Flower Girl…
April 16, 2011
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…”