Touring the Front Garden.

It's finally done.

After months of work . . . and months of procrastination . . . the front garden is finally done.

As a matter of fact, it's nearly immaculate. For the first time ever.

Here's the thing. I love, love to plan out a garden. I love playing with different ideas and trying to find ways to use a variety of plants and plan for bloom time as early and as late as humanly possible in my northern prairie garden. I do not love heavy digging or weeding. At all . . . I certainly don't find it therapeutic as so many do. But, I love to look at beautiful gardens. I love to pick bouquets for myself and my friends. And nothing is better than an early morning in the garden, still in pj's, sitting by the pond, with a cup of tea and homemade bread slathered with butter and homemade strawberry jam. Unless of course, I also have a good book to read.

So I compromise. I accept that my garden will always be a little weedy and slightly disheveled. I count on strong design and shrubs to draw the eye away from lurking thistles and that crazy purple bellflower that looks so great . . . until it takes over the entire garden and nothing you do will ever get rid of it.

 I leave room for serendipity in my garden. I can plan each detail until I think the design is perfect and turn around to discover that birds have planted seeds from a garden blocks away, and that one small thing can take a garden from lovely to sublime, even if  just for a day or two. I see God so clearly in those moments. A reminder that He is the ultimate Gardener, and those moments were created specifically for me, because he loves me.

 Serendipity can only happen in a slightly messy garden.

So messy is good right??

But, for the first time, I'm also seeing joy in maintaining my garden. So I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts, because as much as I might tell myself that this time I'm going to keep it up for the entire gardening season, I know myself well enough to know how unlikely that is.

While my garden is at it's best, I thought I'd give you all a little tour . . .

I made the concrete leaves as well as the hands decorating the front gazebo. I love a reason to play around with a little concrete.

And . . . for those of you thinking I'm exaggerating my inability to keep a well tended garden, feel free to drop by for tea in the back garden. But bring your machete with you. You'll need it to make your way to the gazebo . . .

Before

 I hope you enjoyed your little tour!

Saying Good Bye to Growing Wisdom

I'm nearly at the end of my Extreme Home Purge and I've come across some interesting things in the process.

One thing that I discovered, was just how long I have been working on growing a gardening business. Before I started Growing Wisdom, I had started Le Petite Jardin. (with a whole lot of help from my friend Ev.) 

That was in 2003! Over 10 years ago!

I shut that down after a few years, when I realized that I wasn't able to manage getting a business off the ground while mothering teenagers, and driving a school bus and volunteering.

I never quite let the idea go mind you, just let it simmer until a better time presented itself.

I've always wanted to make a living by utilizing my creativity. In the early days, when my kids were small, I had hopes of writing for a living, then, as they got older and my interest in gardening grew, I thought gardening might be the better way (have you ever seen the statistics when it comes to making any money writing??) and began working towards making that happen. I took courses and got my Master gardeners diploma in 2001. I read everything I could get my hands on, attended garden club meetings and visited gardens where ever I could. I even visited a beautiful garden in Victoria while on a 3 day cruise with my sister Lisa. And, because I'm a bit of a rebel, it wasn't Butchart Gardens, but rather, a much smaller garden with a wonderful story and a beautiful design . . . The Abkhazi Garden was such a treat, and one I got to by catching a city bus and crossing my fingers that I'd find my way back to the boat before it sailed that evening.

I ate, slept and breathed gardening.

In the end though, I discovered that as much as I enjoyed sharing my love of gardening and making cool things to enhance other peoples gardens, I didn't love the business part that had to happen to actually make a living from it. I looked at my own garden as a portfolio rather than a retreat from the worries and cares of daily life.

And there have been plenty of worries and cares over the last few years. . .

Pair that with the ever growing Big Box competition in the gardening market, and  . . . well. . . things just weren't fun anymore!

I also wasn't making a living with my business and I needed to.

It is very odd how, for years you think you have so much time to plan for retirement, and then, one day, while blithely making plans, you're caught up short in the realization that you are 49. 49! Your husband is 54 . . . !

People, that means if he wants to retire at a traditional 65 there's only (gulp) 11 years to go!

How did that happen??!

So, the time has come to say good bye to Growing Wisdom, and to gardening for profit in any form. It was the oddest thing, but when I made the final, irrevocable decision to shut the doors I just felt . . . relieved. I had thrown everything I had into it, learned a lot, had great times, met lots of interesting people and grew as a person. Rather than feeling as though I failed, I felt empowered with the knowledge that I was making the very best choice for me and for my family.

Life has changed a lot for me in the last few years. What's important to me has changed as well.

Henry and I are entering a new chapter as a couple as our kids grow older, leave home, get married and seek out adventures of their own.

What I do going forward is going to reflect those changes and will be a melding of old and new interests and skills.

But that's a conversation for another day. . .

Today is all about saying good bye to a dream that has brought me great joy and leaves me with beautiful memories and skills that have allowed me to plant an oasis I can step into from my back door.

Dreams shouldn't be laid to rest without something special to mark the occasion however, and I am holding a Garden Open House, complete with wine and cheese, for anyone (family, friends, blog readers, garden enthusiasts . . . you . . .)  who'd like to help me mark the occasion.

Say Goodbye to Growing Wisdom Open House: Wednesday, July 23, 7-9 pm.

 RSVP to rosa_veldkamp@hotmail.com by July 21 (so I'll know how many bottles of wine I'll need ;D )

I'd love it if you could join me.

Living in the Garden . . . a Birthday Tea

It was my sister-in-law Leona's birthday  a while back but I wasn't able to attend her party so I decided to celebrate it in my garden instead.

It took several weeks before we found a time that worked for both of us, but it was worth the wait.

Happy Birthday Leona! Thanks for a lovely visit.

And should any photographer be reading the is post . . . (Chandra)

Please be kind! Once Leona and Ethan left and everything was put away, I went to download the pictures.
Only to realize that I hadn't changed the settings after I had taken a bunch of pictures in the house, in a dark room.

 1600 ISO and a florescent light white balance setting! Arghhh!

I was never so thankful for Lightroom! The pictures are still rather grainy and maybe even a little bluer than I might have liked but . . . they are still pretty.

As I am working hard to let go of my perfectionist ways . . . I posted them anyways.