Down the Garden Path - Day 2

One good thing about cool, drizzly days is that you are more than content to stay indoors and read a good book. I'm half way through Down the Garden Path by Beverley Nichols and am thoroughly enjoying myself. It is a story about a garden, a gardener and all those who help him and those who hinder by giving their advice.
This was Nichols' first attempt at gardening and he was anxious to see results, I know that feeling. As a new homeowner (14 years ago), I wanted to get right out there into the garden and have something beautiful growing. "To dig one's own spade into one's own earth! Has life anything better to offer than this?" (p. 37). I whole heartedly agree with you Mr. Nichols. Later he writes, "The first real experiment was with mushrooms, and like all first experiments in gardening, it was a failure (p. 43)." I remember rushing out and buying a bunch of perennials in first bloom. Problem was that when summer arrived, all my spring blooming plants were worn out. It took time and a little research to plan a garden to bloom from spring to fall. I began achieving success after I stayed home with my children as a full time parent. Then I could really get to know my yard and the sun. What I thought were shady spots turned out to be sunnier and the sunny spots were full sun. I began to buy plants according to this new knowledge and started to have far more success. Of course, the summer that the shade garden in the back yard was at its peak we decided to sell the house. I took some of my favorite plants with me, the garden really needed thinning anyways.
I started with a fresh palette here at this new house as the previous owners were not into gardening. "And the extraordinary thing about it was that gradually my impatient desire for immediate results, which is the besetting sin of all beginners, died down. I began to take a joy in the work for its own sake (p.35)." Yes, it was like starting all over again. I put in my transplants and prayed they would come back up in the spring. I had to learn a new sun pattern and figure out the soil conditions. It has been five years and the garden is coming along nicely. I am trying to be patient as I wait for ground covering plants to cover the ground, for perennials to fill out, and for newly planted shrubs to grow in stature. No matter, I have found the "joy in the work for its own sake" and there is nothing better than to dig in one's own small piece of earth.