The Garden Experience

I own an oil painting, thick with strokes of greens and blues, rose tones, and golds. It was done in the impressionistic style, reminiscent of Monet, and only after gazing at it for a moment does one realize that two women are standing in a meadow of flowers. One is wearing a white dress and the other a long blue one. Both have on wide-brimmed sun hats, and they seem to be gathering flowers. It is the idealized garden experience. What woman gardener hasn't fantasized about walking through fields of blooms, wearing a beautiful gown?

Reality is a bit different. Whenever I am in my garden I am likely to have on baggy pants and a loose cotton or linen shirt. It's not a bad outfit. (When my neighbor Betty works in the garden, she wears old rags, held together with safety pins.) A sun visor protects my eyes and keeps curls off my forehead. I like the kind of sun visor that has a built in sweat band, because I am going to sweat. Sweat is not lady-like, but most of the things I do in the garden aren't lady-like. Digging and pulling, shoveling and cutting and hauling, mixing and squishing and pouring and spraying are activities that get me dirty and damp, unlike the ladies in my painting. I bet they had servants to do those kinds of things. 

But I know my garden. I took these shots while walking around the front garden.I know the soil. I know the plants. Close-ups of some summer flowers blooming in my gardenThe Lady in Red hydrangeas offer interest throughout the summer.

I can't say how much I am enjoying my Red Banana plant! The foliage is very photogenic.

Many plants have interesting seed capsules.

I am familiar with its wild inhabitants. This Haploa clymene moth looks like a crusader's shield.

I usually leave red wasps alone, but I recently rescued one from inside my car. This one let me take his photo.I know when things go wrong and when things are good. I listen to the orchestra of sounds in my garden, the music of the day and the night.  I am always aware of the weather. I know the sun and the heavy humid air, and I know the cool touch of a breeze on my hot skin.

Every day my eyes are on the horizon. I can tell when dense clouds are coming, charged with lightning and echoing with thunder, sending rains that may bring sorrow or joy.

I don't have a garden experience so much as I experience my garden, and there is an elemental difference. I think it may be what separates a gardener from someone who merely owns the space.

The Midsummer Garden

As June comes to a close, a mellowing of the garden has occurred. It is midsummer here. Greens predominate, with gold tints and purple and pink accents. 

In the Front Garden:

I really love my Lady in Red hydrangeas. According to the acidity of the soil, the blooms may originally be blue or pink, or a combination of both, but as summer progresses they all take on rose tones:Above: In May, this Lady in Red, located down from the patio, was predominantly blue.This is the color of the same shrub today.I painted this birdhouse to reflect the Lady in Red behind it.

My voodoo plant, located in the front garden in a talavera pot, is growing. My original two have multiplied to five! Who knows how many I will have in a couple of years when it is mature enough to bloom. Next year I will have to put some of them in another pot. If you are unfamiliar with this weird plant please read my original post, Under the Spell of the Voodoo Plant, to see why I will be holding my breath when it flowers!

The Woodland Garden is a nice retreat from the hot sun. One can feel the aging here too, with softer, more hushed tones of green:

Have a Happy July!