Garden Love

A garden is meant to be treasured and enjoyed--meandered and gazed upon. Many gardens are designed for contemplation and diversion. My garden was designed for these purposes as well and as a place to learn, to experiment, and to have sanctuary from the outside world. Each day my quest is to bring more beauty and more elements of harboring the soul into my garden. I often get lost in that quest, thinking and planning what the next step may be and how to achieve it. I become lost in all the tasks that still need to be done. I see what is missing and what needs to be repaired or redone. And I forget to enjoy it...

But...today, I want to take a moment to stop and behold my garden, smell the fragrant bouquet of the roses, touch the velvety softness of the lamb's ears, and reflect on the serenity of the wind as it wanders through the trees. I want to visit each nook and corner and savor the beauty, the aroma, the textures, and the views.

First, the cottage garden with endless smiling daisies and a bee favorite, mountain mint, is always a satisfying find.

Each year, I find myself favoring a particular plant. One year it was veronica with its endless and straight spikes reaching up to the trees. Another year it was the willowy gold blooms of coreopsis. For the last two years, it has been hydrangea with its full billowy blooms that exude color in various hues.

There are a few places to contemplate, read, or simply be...

Without the wildlife--the birds singing, the hummingbirds lording over feeders, the bees flying and buzzing, and the dance of the butterflies--, the garden would feel lost and empty like the ocean without the sound of seagulls and boat horns. To me, there is nothing more beautiful than witnessing nature live and breathe.

And nature provides in various unexpected ways. A wild blackberry bush provides us with delicious blackberries, and a volunteer pumpkin or gourd cropped up to offer a surprise.

Having a vegetable garden is one of the greatest joys I can imagine. The aroma, the fruiting, and the biting into flavorful homegrown vegetables is heavenly.

Sometimes the camera catches a view I have not seen. The butterfly bush is a treasure as it attracts many butterflies.

It is so satisfying to see the plants fill in all the gaps.

A new sound that adds so much serenity to the front yard is the fountain.

What areas of your garden deserve some garden love?

I am joining Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday Flaunt Your Flowers.

©Michelle A. Potter