 The sun sets early now as daylight shortens. It’s still my favorite time of day. Watching the plants backlit by sun during the ‘golden hour’ is a simple pleasure that fills me, even on a day such as this. Ornamental grasses wave in the breeze, trees out the window release their golden leaves one by one. Another day, another week, another season . It's been a challenging season. Can you relate? What do we do when we receive one more diagnosis, another life limitation, or suffering that lingers? What do we say when God asks us to carry one more burden, or we wait another day for direction, a sign, an arrow? How do we keep going without losing hope? We pray, and we seek, hunting for the simplest of blessings - like golden hour sunsets, the laughter of children down the street, this warm cup of tea in my hand . . . the gratitude list begins again. I know each is a gift, and this really is a life of abundance, but easy to lose sight of when overwhelmed with life. And we trust - God’s wisdom, His faithfulness, and His plan for us. No matter where He leads,we can follow with that assurance. In Deuteronomy, Moses blesses the tribes of Israel, and when he came to Zebulun, he said, “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out . . . feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand.” Deuteronomy 33:19 God always provides in abundance. It may look different than what we ask for, and it might be hidden like those treasures in the sand, but its so worth digging for them right where we are. May grace and peace be yours in abundance (I Peter 1:2) 
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#3 JANUARY 2025 A Garden I Once Knew  She was a haven, she was a friend, she was a source of creativity, and she was work. It’s been two years since I said goodbye to my garden. I’ve put off writing this because I knew it would be emotional, and I was right. Funny how a garden can bring such strong emotions to the surface - even now. I know some of you will understand. I’ll admit that I write this mostly because the photos have been sitting on my phone for far too long. I see them as I scroll, rushing past them, but today they call. I need to honor all the work and the wonder of what I was given to steward. So heads up, this one will be mostly photos of my favorite plants and plant combinations. Photos of where my kids grew up, spending hours of their childhood exploring and playing. My grandkids discovered some of the joy there, too. It’s where my husband dug a thousand holes and spent just as many hours weeding. It’s where we hauled and spread a crazy amount of mulch. It's where friends came to weed as we prepared for the garden walk one summer. It's where I grew as a gardener - where I got to play with ideas and inspiration. It was my living sketch pad and lab where I practiced what I learned in horticulture classes, then applied in garden designs. I am forever grateful for it all. So come along with me as we walk through this garden I once knew.    Most of my memories of the garden are good ones, but this photo reminds me of the weeds. By the end, each spring brought with it a carpet of chickweed.  This redbud was one I started from seed in one of my classes. In the summer, the heart-shaped leaves created a huge canopy - perfect for a secret spot for the grandkids to play. It was hard to say good bye to this one.      Viburnum carlesii - Korean Spice Viburnum   Polygonatum - Solomon's Seal    Clematis alternifolia - Sweet Autumn Clematis  Early on in my time with the garden, I fell in love with potager gardens (kitchen garden). So I designed one in the front yard. I loved this space where vegetables, herbs, and flowers grew alongside each other.       Bridal Wreath Spirea remind me of my grandmother's garden, so they found a home in mine, too.  Ajuga reptans - Bugleweed in full bloom  Syringa 'Tinkerbelle' Dwarf Lilac   Alliums & Sedum    I definitely am a collector of plants. One of my favorite plant obsessions was and still is Hellebores (Lenten Roses). I had 20 different cultivars that lined a path in the back gardens. An expensive perennial, but so worth every penny.      Hydrangea quercifolia - Oakleaf Hydrangea. Either 'Snow Queen' or 'Alice'   Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku - Coral Bark Japanese Maple Its foliage in spring was just as fascinating as its fall color. A gorgeous tree that I wish I had brought with me.    Japanese Anemone I hope its not giving the new owners too much grief as it likes to spread.  Excorda racemosa This shrub is a Pearl Bush. Gorgeous white flowers in the spring.    Magnolia stellata         These winter shots were some of the last that I took of the garden. Thanks for coming along with me as I walked through her once again. I'm reminded of the joy she gave me, but also all the work. I'm grateful for my time there, but I had more energy then. I'm just as grateful for my small garden now with her own challenges and opportunities. And I'm looking forward to spring with new ideas to try and new plants to grow. Lessons I have learned: a garden is an expression of who we are, that we are stewards of the earth we've been given, and the garden isn't only for us - it supports so much life - but especially ours. I believe that's why we have such a strong emotional connection to plants and the garden. The heart & soul of a garden is the gardener.   From the Green House #2 October 2024 - I Guess I Like Purple Designing a garden is such a personal thing. It reflects your taste, your style, and your personality. That's why I enjoy walking through someone else's garden. Not only can I gain inspiration from someone else's ideas, but it tells me something about the gardener. Well, when you see my garden on the east side of my house, you will know that I like purple. You will also see that I like plants to intermingle and be a little bit wild. I hope you'll also see something beautiful in it no matter what time of year it is. My Instagram feed is full of inspiring gardens from around the world, but the one that I kept going back to is a garden designed by Evely Ustav who lives in Estonia. (I had to look that one up. It's a country in Northern Europe next to Russia.) She posts pictures of this border throughout the year, and it is beautiful in every season. I knew that's what I wanted, too.   So I began with a list of plants - some that she used in her design, and some that were must-haves for me. I knew purples and whites would play well off of the green color of the house, so that was a given. Then I got a little nerdy and created a mashup of the plants on my list. It's a design trick I passed on to my students when I was teaching Intro to Landscape Design a few years ago.  Shown above are: top row: Hydrangea 'White Diamond', Nepeta siberica (a tall form of Catmint), Miscanthus gracillimus (the ornamental grass), Perovskia atriplicafolia (Russian Sage) bottom row: Clematis 'Arabella', Agastache 'Golden Jubilee', Echinacea purpurea 'Ruby Star' (Purple Coneflower), Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake Master), the existing purple Iris, and Salvia 'Caradonna'. By the way, a mashup is simply made on Google Slides using images of the plants and mashing them all together on one slide to give you an idea of the colors and textures of the plants in that bed. It's easy and fun to do, and I find it extremely helpful when trying to visualize the plant combinations. Ok, here's where I get really nerdy in the details of design, so feel free to skip ahead to the next paragraph. The next step was to determine bloom times of the plants, creating a list for each of the seasons as well as a mashup for each season. Then time to draw it out on paper. I must have tossed those initial sketches or they are buried in a pile somewhere, but I remember spending a lot of time on it. I wanted a garden that I can walk through and become immersed in, so I knew there would be a path through this garden. I started with a curving path, then drew nebulous shapes where plants would go. Next step was to think about plant heights placing 12-36" plants in the front part of the border, and 24-60" plants in the back. Using different colored pencils to represent bloom times, I began to fill in plant names, spacing them out to carry the bloom color through the whole bed.  I planted in groups of threes to create a bigger swath of that color, then repeated it two or three times down the length of the garden. In addition to all of this thought that goes into color, bloom time, and plant height, it's important to think about texture, flower form, and how the plants will grow. It's more complex than you might think. This garden isn't perfectly designed, and it will continue to evolve. But whether by luck or by all the thought put into it, I'm really pleased with how it has come together. And I guess that's all that matters. It's expression of me, of my style, my favorite colors, and my personality. However, living on a corner lot, I am very aware of the garden being visible to my neighbors, so I also want it to be something they enjoy seeing, too. How about some plant combinations in this garden?  Above is Nepeta siberica and Veronica 'Kiss the Sky'. Below is Miscanthus gracillimus, Perovskia (Russian Sage), Echinacea 'Ruby Star', Eryngium (Rattlesnake master), and on the very left is Sanguisorbum 'Plum Drops'.  The photo below was taken on July 1 this year. I'm still amazed at how quickly the plants filled in. I love how the shorter catmint is so blousy. I repeated the grouping of daisies, catmint, summer alliums, and lavender along the front of the border. The tall upright grasses are Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' and act as living punctuation marks.  There is much more to share, but that's for another time. I'll close with this quote that I heard yesterday and it resonates well with me: "The pleasure (in gardening) has been the becoming rather than any kind of finite end" - Monty Don Isn't this why we do it? Isn't this why we love to work the earth, plant a seed, and watch it become something beautiful? The joy is in the becoming, and that goes beyond the garden. Blessings to you, friend.   From the Green House #1 September 2024 I'm always amazed at how God knows what we need better than we do. When we were looking at houses two Septembers ago, I had my heart set on an old craftsman-style bungalow with an attached greenhouse. I toured that house three times because I loved it so much! I had plans for the greenhouse, too. I could visualize how I would use it, the plants that would fill it, and how it would benefit my mental wellness and more importantly, my husband’s health. It seemed like just what we needed. So imagine my disappointment when our realtor told us that she had sent in our offer, but the seller had just accepted another offer. Shortly after, we found ourselves writing another offer on a different house. It was small, on a corner lot, and had no attached greenhouse. I felt like I was settling because we HAD to find a place to live since our house had already been sold. Now, after being here for almost two years, I can see how God was working. He knew that this house would be just what we needed. I’ve come to love this house and enjoyed making it a home. I have also had so much fun creating new gardens on our corner lot which is much bigger than I had originally thought. And it just so happens that the color of the house is a deep green - actually Sherwin Williams Garden Gate green. So in a way, I still got my ‘green house’.  The following spring (2023), I started thinking about the yard and visualizing what it could be. When I stared out the windows, I could see existing mature trees and a mishmash of smaller ornamental trees and shrubs in odd places. It needed a major overhaul - kind of like me. The stress of health problems were beginning to take a toll on me, so by giving this yard a makeover, I was giving myself time to heal. We all know the benefits of gardening, and for me, it was the best therapy I could ask for. As a garden designer, it has been an invigorating challenge to design and garden in a smaller space than what I haven been used to. I started with the garden on the east side of the house. I knew I wanted a deep bed that I could walk through. And the olive green color of the house was the perfect backdrop for my favorite color purple in all its shades. Thanks to plants that were shared with me, I was off to a good start. We mowed the grass extremely short and sprayed the area killing off what was there. I try not to use glyphosate but realistically knew that this is what would work the best. Can’t imagine what our neighbors were thinking when they saw our lawn half dead with orange lines drawn on like a puzzle.  At planting time, we amended each hole with a triple dose of goodness: Espoma’s Biotone Starter Plus, Nature’s Blend with Alfalfa and Humates, and root stimulator. We used leaves from the big silver maple in the back yard to mulch it all. At first I wasn’t sure I liked the look.  We’ve been trained to think that a topping of brown hardwood mulch looks the best and is the best option. But I didn’t cave, and I’m glad I didn’t! After being in the ground for only one year, the plants have grown and filled in beyond my expectations, and I can’t even see the leaf mulch! The spring rains earlier this year definitely helped give them all a good start.  Next time I'll share specific plants in this bed and how I intentionally thought about bloom times to achieve a continuous show. Each month it looks different, with something new at it's peak.   This garden has brought me so much joy. Seeing it filled with pollinators - especially bumblebees and hummingbirds along with flocks of finches - makes my heart so happy. God really does know what we need more than we do. We just need to trust him.   Out the kitchen window, the sky slowly awakens. From darkness to soft pinks to bright blues. I love watching the sunrise. Every morning a new painting. Days begin early for me, and that is by design. The fullness of my schedule is heavy, but rising before the sun, I have an hour for me. Starting the morning this way helps me navigate the rest of the day. But it's not always enough. Life can be a bit much at times. The schedule too full, the demands too great, the news too depressing, and time moving too fast. . . So this morning, in darkness, I light a candle. Sitting quiet, I breathe in deeply, exhale slowly. Then I listen. The beautiful words of Psalm 23 fill the room . . . The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. I meditate on this. What a peaceful picture that is painted - green pastures, quiet waters. Images of a flower-filled meadow and a nearby stream come to mind. I feel the stress begin to melt away. The words so calming, I listen to the entire Psalm three times. Yes, this refreshes my soul. It’s the lenten season and I know this rhythm well. The familiar songs sung from grateful hearts, the cross-focused words draw thought and at times tears. But Sundays in lent hold a lighter tone - islands of refreshment as someone coined them. That’s what this moment is. An island of much needed refreshment. Many of you are walking through a valley right now - losing a loved one, carrying for aging parents, weathering a storm of illness. Remember, you don’t walk it alone. Our Good Shepherd walks beside us, guiding us along right paths, and refreshing our souls. Some find refreshment in traveling to an actual island, escaping the stresses of life for awhile. But these few moments of quiet meditation can refresh the soul. It’s the end of the psalm that puts life back into perspective . . . You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Instead of stressed, I feel blessed. My life overflows with blessings and the hope of heaven is best of all. This soul refreshment is more urgent and more important than anything else on my schedule. When life overwhelms, I hope you’ll make time for yourself - to find refreshment. If you’d like to practice a little meditation like I did, all you need is a quiet room, a candle, and a heart ready to be still. You can listen to Psalm 23 here. Praying for you, friend.   I’ve long been amazed that seeds hold a bit of the miraculous. How can such a tiny thing become food for the table, a tree stretching shading branches, a field of flowers. Each seed holding potential, but its more than just potential. We plant in faith - that it will grow. We water in hope - that we’ve done our part. The rest is up to God. And he always provides. How many times have I read the following and breezed past: “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.’“ Genesis 1:29 NIV This was the first gift he gave to his creation. That such a small, unassuming seed could produce food that would sustain life? An impossible gift that required wild faith and still does. He turns seeds into harvest, food for our tables to fill hungry stomachs. But his provisions are greater than this. He gifts us with small, unassuming things that don’t look like enough. Everyday moments, seeds of grace, that become a life that is full. Looking back at the year that has just passed, it has been full of hard moments, hearts spilling tears, and nights whispering prayers, but also moments of joy and wonder. I can say it was a good year because I can see his goodness, his nearness. The seeds that have grown look like friends and family who support and murmur prayers for us, for healing. Something impossible that required wild faith. And through it all, God’s goodness was the gift. January, the beginning of a new year, planting new seeds in a fresh Eden, while watching other seedlings still growing. All this, the dreams, ideas, goals, are humble seeds that we plant, and we trust that God will provide, growing them into what we need. The abundance of his gifts and his grace is feast for the soul. And that is more than enough.  |
AuthorHi, I'm Tracy - a horticulturist, beauty-seeker, Word-lover, and blessed to be the owner of the beautiful Bella Botanica boutique. I also love to write about plants, gardening, and about my faith journey. Thanks for reading! 
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