Do you recall that about ten days ago I wrote a note to a nearby gardener to congratulate him on what lovely gardens he had? Well, today Elegante Mother and I got to walk through those gardens.
\nMy gardening friend called when he received my note. He invited us to come see them first hand, so this morning I called to be sure that it was convenient. The day has been gorgeous, one of those beautiful, warm days with intense blue skies, and it was perfect for strolling through the gardens. We went to visit at 1:30, and were there for 90 minutes.
\nMy note to my Gardening Friend (GF) came about because I had watched him create a shade garden under some pine trees over the last decade or more. I wasn’t prepared to find that in addition to that splendid garden, he also had 90<\/b> varieties of roses, two kinds of raspberries (BIG beds), rhubarb, and tomatoes. And about a million other plants.
\nI didn’t know that you could grow holly here! Or bamboo!
\nI saw plants I recognized, and plants I’d never seen. I saw plants that looked familiar, but the names wouldn’t come to me. I discovered that there is a variety of lily in the valley that blooms pink, and found out that I’m not the only one who has trouble with beetles eating the leaves of the hollyhocks!
\nGF is 84. This is the first year that he’s hired a lawn service, and had them edge the garden for him. I was astonished at the amount of land he has under cultivation that was 99% weed free. It seems we like the same plants and shrubs, but he’s much more focused on his gardening than I am.
\nI asked if he gardened every day, and he shrugged a shoulder and said he got out when he felt up to it. He must put in 8 hours a day 7 days a week! His gardens are fabulous! We’ve been invited back to see them at their peak.
\nI can’t begin to tell you the names of all the plants, but the variety was incredible, and GF mixes shrubs nicely with perennials and annuals.
\nI didn’t expect to have such a pleasant afternoon as a result of writing that note, but I sure did!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you recall that about ten days ago I wrote a note to a nearby gardener to congratulate him on what lovely gardens he had? Well, today Elegante Mother and I got to walk through those gardens. My gardening friend … Continue reading