Tags
A Writer's Garden, flowers, Gail Kittleson, Garden blog, Spring Garden, Until Then clean romance, World WAr II Fiction
Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing. Today’s writer/gardener guest is Gail Kittleson, who is sharing her North Iowa spring garden.
Welcome, Gail!
Right now, our North Iowa garden resembles a manuscript that’s underway but certainly not near completion. That’s the way of gardens—nothing is ever truly static. The good thing is, every day offers beauty, even if the plants or the weather take peculiar turns.
In May, the lilacs took precedence. Everything else remained brown most of the month, and looked pretty bleak. But the enticing scent of lilacs in bloom broke in, and their blossoms won our winter-weary hearts as they do every spring.
When we moved here fourteen years ago, the house had sat empty, and the previous occupants paid no attention to making this place pleasant to the eye. One of the first buildings in our town (1873, pretty old for Northern Iowa), the house was more of an eyesore.
An addition, a fence, and some planting created a courtyard. There, honeysuckle flowers’ sweet aroma attracts birds and bees right now.
A long narrow area along the south side has now evolved into a space that makes us smile. For the first few years here, this low area held puddles and weeds.
I honestly never foresaw making a path here, but the growing lilacs and spreading ground cover narrowed the space, and our trips back and forth to the garage created a natural one. Then a friend about an hour away showed me her lovely back yard, with limestone steppingstones. I brought the idea home and a couple of years later, voila!
Still a work in progress, and the secondary story of this manuscript is being written by the birds. They’ve taken over this new habitat and offer raucous cheer at five a.m., plus robins’ nests to watch.
Ever changing, beauty in every corner…that’s our garden in early June.
About the Writer/Gardener:
Gardening “grew” on Gail Kittleson, who writes World War II fiction. She’s always dabbled, but having lived long enough to see the consequences of planting a sprout or seedling, now spends more time thinking through her gardening decisions. Since victory gardens became so vital during the Forties, they play a role in several of Gail’s novels. She awaits the release of her first WWII non-fiction book, “The Food That Held The World Together.”
Connect with Gail at:
http://amazon.com/author/gailkittleson
www.twitter.com/GailGkittleson @GailGkittleson
@gailkittlesonauthor (Instagram)
While you wait on Gail’s newest release, check out her other books. Until Then is her last release.
Buy Link
Catherine Castle 
My lilacs and honeysuckle are both opening now too. Love this time of year!
Gail’s having trouble getting WP to accept her reply. So I’ll pass them on. Pegg, she says it’s her favorite time of year, too.
Writing as an experiment…hope this works!
Your garden is beautiful. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you–we’re finally feeling content with it…mostly!
Gardening is hard work. Always something to plant or move. But it’s so rewarding. 🙂
That is so true! We’ve been at this one for 14 years, and you’re right, there’s ALWAYS something we need to move and definitely plenty to weed!
I enjoyed reading your thoughts, Gail. I especially loved your photo of the robin’s nest. Robin’s Egg Blue is my favorite color. Even though we have loads of robins in our neighborhood, I have yet to find a nest on our property. Thank you for your post.
Well, I told this mama she was putting her nest WAY too low…and this morning, there were no little cheeps from the nest. Unfortunately, she learned (I hope?) through this disaster. Makes me sad, b/c the babies were just a couple of days old.
Reblogged this on Supporting Writers.
Enjoyed your guest post, Gail, and looking at the photos of your lovely garden. My hubby found a nest in his garden shed. Seems he’s been leaving the door open for hours and mother bird made a nest there. So now he’s keeping the door open all the time so she can get in and out. Problem is we also have 4 outdoor/indoor cats.
Oh my!! Those cats spell t-r-o-u-b-l-e! Do you live in the country and need them to control the mice?