A hidden treasure found inside my hanging fern… I am watering it carefully these days!
By Karen Hendricks
As I’m writing this, a gentle spring rain is falling… music to my ears, because it means my garden is being watered. How many of our Off the Merry-Go-Round readers also maintain gardens? I’d love to hear from you! Let’s compare notes and exchange tips…
Every spring, I love rediscovering one of my favorite hobbies all over again–gardening. Through the long winter months, I enjoy dreaming about and planning my next gardening adventure, but it doesn’t turn into reality until I pull on the gardening gloves and actually start digging in the earth. What is it about gardening that draws me back year after year? There are many wonderful reasons, but one underlying and main reason: it feels good for the soul. There is something that resonates within me, deep down. And it’s certainly time spent “off the merry-go-round” of busy, hectic days.
I’ve compiled a free-form list of words, triggered by brainstorming about gardening and why it’s so good for the soul:
- nature
- peaceful
- God’s creation
- therapeutic
- exercise
- weeding
- planting
- nurturing
- rewarding
- earthy
- healthy
- beauty
- green
- growth
- discoveries
- wonder
- sunshine
- outdoors
Come with me and take a tour of some of my gardens, through photos, below… I hope it inspires you and touches something within your soul too.
Nothing says “spring” like a pot of pansies by your front door. This is one of my favorite spots to catch a cup of coffee or tea.
“Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.” – Shakespeare
The vegetable garden… a (mostly) blank canvas, waiting for this year’s crops.
My husband built me this little “greenhouse” from our home’s old windows. The top window is hinged so that it can be opened. It’s the perfect place to grow spring lettuce!
Nothing tastes as fresh as lettuce straight from the garden… Can’t wait for it to grow some more!
Spring onions!
Parsley in a pot, beginning to grow from seed. I can’t live without fresh parsley for summertime dishes, and growing it in an pot makes it versatile because I can move it right to my kitchen doorstep.
This little bed features white tulips and a thick bunch of mountain bluets… a very unique flower that’s one of my favorites.
A closer look at the mountain bluets… they remind me of bright blue firecrackers.
Several of our bloggers have recently written about family ties. These irises are very special to me, as they are the same ones that grew in my great-grandmother’s garden. A wonderful reminder of her!
“Since Iris is the Greek goddess for the Messenger of Love, her sacred flower is considered the symbol of communication and messages. Greek men would often plant an iris on the graves of their beloved women as a tribute to the goddess Iris, whose duty it was to take the souls of women to the Elysian fields.” -Hana No Monogatari, in The Stories of Flowers
What does gardening mean to you? Do you enjoy tending a vegetable garden or flower beds? Any gardening “secrets” you’d like to share? Thanks so much for stopping by for a tour… and perhaps I’ll share photos of my garden again, later in the season!
