A Writer’s Garden–The Healing Garden by Christa MacDonald

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A Writer’s Garden, Christa MacDonald, flowers, Gardening blog, plants, Redemption Road, romantic suspense, roses, Sweet romance, the healing effect of a garden, tomatoes, vegetables

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 Christa MacDonald who will talking about her garden and its healing and calming effect. I’m sure we can all relate. I know I can. Welcome, Christa!

Tomatoes in Grow Bags

It’s June and my garden is already overgrown. I have not been attentive this year. This is more of a problem than usual because I added two additional beds. Also complicating things, I decided to put my tomatoes in grow-bags. It’s my anti-blight experiment. For years I never had blight issues, but the last two summers have been pretty brutal so I’m seeing if the grow bags can solve it. So far, I’ve only seen the impact on my water bill. Yikes these things dry out quickly!

The roses have been outstanding this year. Is anyone else having a rose year to end all years? It’s a balm to my tattered soul.

• 

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After a very rough few months managing a job heavily impacted by the pandemic, I went into this gardening year a bit ragged. This was followed by the sudden loss of my 17-year-old daughter, Eden, to an undiagnosed, asymptomatic intracranial brain hemorrhage. The shock, the struggle to save her and the devastation knowing we couldn’t has nearly finished me off. Grief is an angry ocean, and I am tossed about on its waves, struggling to keep my head above water. Sitting in my garden, especially in the evenings, is a way I’ve found to calm the seas. 

Gardens are healing places. I’m not sure if it’s being connected to God’s creation, the smell and vibrancy of life all around, or just the quiet and peace of it that does it. The garden offers a safe place to be your wounded self. Weeping is entirely acceptable with the plants, and so is staring off into the distance, lost in thought. And if you’re feeling the rage coming, take it out on the weeds. They won’t mind. 

Eden’s Rose

In my family, I’m the only gardener. Eden hated gardening, although she loved plants, specifically bright, vibrant, unusual ones. She even kept a moss terrarium up in her room. But the act of digging in the dirt, dodging bees (she was allergic to wasps), and dealing with the heat – not her thing. Every Saturday, though, we’d watch the BBC program Gardeners’ World together. I even planted a rose because it shared her name. 

As it happens, that rose was in the front yard and took a beating this winter. It looked close to death, so I transplanted it to my herbaceous border in the back. At first, things were looking grim, but it hung tough, and a few days ago, just after Eden died, the rose with her name gave me a bloom. It was as if the garden knew I needed to see that proof of life. I, of course, wept. 

But our family has something better than a bloom as proof of life after death. Eden was a child of God, saved by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Our souls are eternal, and it’s a comfort knowing that hers is with the Father. 

Sitting in my garden tonight, in the gloaming, I can’t help but think that those of us who garden, who hike forests, who farm, who seek out God’s creation, we are the lucky few. God is the original gardener; we are His apprentice. Time spent tending his creation is time spent with Him. What is more healing than that? 

About the Writer/Gardener:

Christa MacDonald is a lifelong gardener and writer living in New England despite its terribly short growing season. She’s the author of the Sweet River Redemption contemporary Christian romance series. All three books are now out on Amazon and the first in the series, The Broken Trail, is on audio at Audible

Connect with Christa on her Website.

Redemption Road

By Christa MacDonald

It’s redemption that he needs, and she’ll pay any price to help him find it.

As the new game warden in Sweet River, Alex Moretti is focused on enforcing Maine’s wildlife laws and little else. Moving from tragedy to a fresh start, all he wants is a way to fix his life in the tranquility of the north woods. Until he meets Annie Caldwell at Coffee by the Book. But his own bitter, dark life is a threat to Annie’s sweetness and light. It’s better for him to stay away.

Annie doesn’t know how to label her relationship with Alex, but she is determined to figure it out. After a few false starts and a kiss under the Christmas lights, their romance goes from fiction to fact. Annie has fallen hard. Then trouble shows up. Someone is stalking Alex, seeking to punish him for a mistake which ended in deadly consequences. When Annie becomes a target, he tries to push her away, but she won’t abandon him. Alex is desperate to keep Annie safe while he attempts to reconcile the past, but what he really needs is redemption. And she will risk her life to help him find it.

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A Writer’s Garden–Gifts from the Garden by Wendy L. MacDonald

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A Writer's Garden, Bird photos, flower gardens, Gardening blog, Girfts from the Garden, WEndy L. MacDonald

 

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 Wendy L. MacDonald, who will be sharing her garden experiences and exquisite  garden photos.

Welcome, Wendy!

Recently, something unexpected happened to me while I sat in my garden. Not all gifts from the garden are tangible—in fact—the best gifts are often ones you can’t put in your mouth or place on your table.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve rediscovered the garden magic that’s great for the soul. While many of us are staying home a lot more than we’ve ever done before, I’ve been spending extra time enjoying my garden. Yes, I’m doing some weeding and other spring chores (My oldest son is doing most of the work.). But more importantly, I’m allowing my garden to gift me with joy.

One day, I took my after-lunch coffee outside and sat on the cedar bench my husband made. I noticed some chickadees flitting from branch to branch in the rhododendrons next to my brick patio, and just as I was breathing thanks for the privacy these lovely bushes provide, a hummingbird darted towards me. I froze while the flying emerald jewel tugged at the sleeve of my brown wool sweater.

I was too mesmerized to move. And I couldn’t have cared less that my camera and phone were in the house. I just stayed still and soaked up the moment.

The hummingbird poked and pulled at four different spots on my sweater, and then she hovered eye-to-eye with me as if to say, “Whoops. I didn’t realize someone was wearing this.” Then she zipped off to the front garden.

I believe she may be the hummingbird pictured below. All I know for sure is, they normally collect nest building material from my lawns, dryer vent, and mossy trees. Perhaps I should hang an old sweater on the clothesline for them too?

I recently unwrapped another gift from the garden. One day in March, when I was feeling frightened about leaving the relative safety of our garden, I stayed home and hoped I would find enough to photograph. This has become more of a ritual and routine than ever before because of the need to social distance ourselves during the COVID-19 pandemic. Again, my garden gifted me by allowing me to notice how ordinary flowers can look extraordinary when showcased in the right lighting.

Yes, life is like that too, sometimes we need to look for the light in our dark places. Sometimes the sun shines more magically when it breaks through our storm clouds to reveal special gifts, ones we may have otherwise taken for granted. Gifts like sharing your garden with nature.

I’m nosy-to-know if you’ve been enjoying gifts from the garden too?

About the writer/gardener:

Wendy L. Macdonald is an inspirational writer, blogger, and podcaster who also loves to photograph nature on Vancouver Island. Besides writing and gardening, Wendy also enjoys hiking with her husband. She homeschooled their three children, and she believes years of reading classics aloud developed her love of storytelling. She hopes you’ll visit her “Daily Bread” style Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Her byline is: My faith is not shallow because I’ve been rescued from the deep. Her main website is https://wendylmacdonald.com/ where she enjoys interacting with readers. She’s currently editing a memoir and a romance/mystery.

You can find her on Twitter   Facebook and Instagram

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Faith as Carrots by Amy Anguish

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A Writer's Garden, Amy Anquish, An Unexpected Legacy by Amy Anguish, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Faith as Carrots, garden devotional, Gardening blog

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 gardens—aka their books.

Today’s guest is author Amy Anguish who is talking about faith and carrots. Welcome, Amy.

 

Faith as Carrots

“Mommy, it’s hard to wait.” My three-year-old daughter leans over to look into our garden at least once a day and tells me something along those lines.

Yes. Waiting is hard. And gardening seems to come with its own special kind of waiting. Not only do you have to wait for the weather to cooperate, then you wait for a plant to grow, then bloom, then turn to fruit, then ripen. Is there anything more frustrating than staring at a green tomato in search of the slightest hint of red?

This year, we’re adding to our waiting exasperation. For the first time in years, we have a nice big sunny backyard, just perfect for planting and hopefully reaping a crop of veggies. When we were plotting in the spring what we might grow, we asked our daughter what she would like to plant.

“Carrots.”

Have you ever grown carrots? I had not. I knew a little bit about them, but honestly, the thought scared me. How do you grow something you can’t see growing?

However, Easter morning, in her basket, there was a packet of carrot seeds, and they have been planted in her own little corner of the garden with the hopes of getting to eat at least one in a few more weeks.

Slowly, but surely, those little green sprouts are popping up, hinting at something underneath. How big are they? Are they even growing the way we want or is it just a little scraggly root holding down the frilly green top? Is anything eating them under there before we can pull them up for our own table?

See the tiny sprout?

It’s hard to wait.

But wait we must. And trust. After all, this is God’s design, whether it makes sense to us or not. In a few weeks, we’ll gently dig around one and see what’s been going on. Until then, we have to have faith.

Isn’t faith a bit strong of a word for something so simple as carrots? After all, a bag of them doesn’t cost that much at the grocery store. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if nothing came of this 50 cent package of seeds.

And yet, there’s something so satisfying in pulling something out of your garden, knowing your hard work helped produce something you can enjoy. And with the pleasure my three-year-old will surely get from it, that makes it all the sweeter for me. So, yes. I use a word as strong as faith.

I want to have faith not only that my plants are growing down as well as up. I need to apply that faith to all parts of my life. Because having faith in the unseen is always harder … but it also always reaps the best rewards.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

That’s definitely something worth having faith in. How about you? Do you have faith enough for carrots and other unseen things?

About the Gardener/Writer

Amy Anguish

Author of An Unexpected Legacy

Amy Anguish grew up a preacher’s kid, and in spite of having lived in seven different states that are all south of the Mason Dixon line, she is not a football fan. Currently, she resides in Tennessee with her husband, daughter, and son, and usually a cat or two. Amy graduated with a degree in English from Freed-Hardeman University and hopes in all her creative endeavors to glorify God, but especially in her writing. She wants her stories to show that while Christians face real struggles, it can still work out for good.

Follow her at http://abitofanguish.weebly.com/

An Unexpected Legacy

By Amy Anguish

When Chad Manning introduces himself to Jessica Garcia at her favorite smoothie shop, it’s like he stepped out of one of her romance novels. But as she tentatively walks into a relationship with this man of her dreams, secrets from their past threaten to shatter their already fragile bond. Chad and Jessica must struggle to figure out if their relationship has a chance or if there is nothing between them but a love of smoothies.

 

A Writer’s Garden–Adventures in Gardening with Sandy Nadeau

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A Writer's Garden, Adventures in Gardening, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Gardening blog, gardening in Minnesota Colorado and Texas, Sandy Nadeau, Texas Bluebonnets

Sandy Nadeau is the featured gardener on today’s A Writer’s Garden blog. She’ll be talking about her garden adventures in several of the USA’s great states. Welcome, Sandy! And I have to say I love the field of Texas bluebonnets pictured below. Beautiful!

Adventures in gardening

By Sandy Nadeau

Being a native Minnesotan, I used to be able to grow anything. I spent the fall canning, freezing and admiring my bounty.

Then we moved to Colorado with all its magnificent beauty. We lived in the foothills and I foolishly thought I could still grow anything. I tried. Lord knows I tried. We tilled up an area behind the house that seemed to get most sun and planted everything from radishes to squash. Not even one little red wonder made it. And there was no way anything would grow from seed unless started in the house. Best to buy established plants, but even then at 7,000 feet in elevation, the growing season was short-lived.

I did have some luck with flowers. One just had to be picky about the variety. I had a beautiful forsythia bush, a gorgeous spread of Snow on the Mountain, irises, mint and daisies loved to make their home in my garden. Chives and table onions were successful every year as well.

Now I find myself living in Texas to be closer to our grandkids. I knew I was back in a place that could grow anything when the former owner of our new home showed up to see if I wanted “his guy” to till the garden plot. Dumbfounded, I reminded the elderly gentleman that it was February. February! That’s like winter.

He chuckled and said, “Yep. Gettin’ kind of late. You best hurry and get that garden in.”

Having only been here one month and hearing that bit of news, we thanked him and said clearly we had a lot to learn before taking on a huge garden like he used to have.

Now this February came along, and I needed to garden. I added some western charm to a garden ring around a tree with an old wagon wheel and driftwood and the pop of color of pansies. It turned out great. We’ll see how it holds up to the Texas heat.

We do enjoy a field full of bluebonnets that I don’t have to do a thing with.

I wasn’t quite ready for a full garden, but we dug some large pots out of the wooded area to the back of our property, filled them with dirt and planted some zucchini that I started from seed outdoors!

In February! I added some peas knowing how much my grandkids love peas. A basil plant and a red bell pepper. And then I planted some lettuce in some planter boxes. It’s pretty small-scale gardening, but still gets my hands dirty. Not finding good sweet pickles yet in the stores, I also planted cucumber in a back garden by the house. It’s all experimental so far.

Our purpose for moving here was to be a part of our grands lives and watch them grow. To be able to share with them the growth of veggies they’ll get to eat someday soon, is a real treat for this gardeners heart. I look forward to next February when maybe I’ll have a better plan to grow a bounty.

About the Gardener/Author

Sandy Nadeau has been writing for as long as she can remember. She’s also tried gardening in three different areas of the country. Minnesota, Colorado and Texas. All three providing interesting challenges. Sandy loves to write about adventurous things whether mystery or romance from a Christian perspective; good, clean stories with a Spiritual message. Enjoying life in Texas near her three grandchildren, she hopes to share her love of digging in the dirt with them. She has two published books out and can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Pelican Book Group.

Visit Sandy at her website http://www.sandynadeau.com/ 

See her books at:

http://pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_47&products_id=742

 

In A Writer’s Garden with Tina Susedik

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a new garden in the city, A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's gardening blog, author/gardener Tina Susedik, Gardening blog, lilacs, roses, tulips

Today gardener/writer Tina Susedik is visiting A Writer’s Garden. Let’s see what she’s been up to since her visit last year.

I believe the last time I posted was last summer shortly before my husband and I were ready to move. We are now settled in our house – in the city. This is new for us as we haven’t lived in a city in thirty years. Even though it was an adjustment, I’ve enjoyed the change. It seems nearly everyone on the block enjoys flowers. I love being able to talk with other gardeners and exchange plants and information without having to drive for miles.

Last year we moved in the middle of summer. Before we left, I dug up plants from our old place and got them in the ground at our new place in between trying to get settled. One thing I didn’t think to do in my rush to get my flowers in the ground, was to mark what I planted and where I planted it. Guess what? I have no idea what should be coming up this spring. A friend also gave me plants last fall and – you guessed it – I didn’t mark anything! So, my gardens will be a surprise. I did plant tulips and daffodils, which came up and were easily recognizable.

One thing we inherited with the house was a beautiful flowering crab in our front yard. Last weekend there was a major marathon that ran past our house. So many runners took the time to comment on the tree – and my tulips. That’s how gorgeous it was. Unfortunately, the blooms have run their course, and as I write this, it’s raining pink blossoms outside.

My husband dug up some evergreen bushes that weren’t doing so well. He then planted some bushes that have some color to them other than green. I look forward to seeing them bloom. I finally have a lilac bush, which is blooming. The city I live in is filled with lilac bushes. At times, that’s all you can smell as you go for walks.

I’ve been slowly adding perennials in the flower bed in the back yard, but since I don’t know what I planted last year, I’ve been rather hesitant to plant too much – if there is such a thing as too many flowers. Not in my opinion, anyway.

My neighbor across the street came over one day as I was planting rose bushes to tell me how excited she was that I was planting them. She said she has a black thumb when it comes to roses and hopes to see mine blooming. So do I.

Moving is always an adventure. Seeing what nature has provided and others before me have planted has been fun. I just hope we live here long enough for me to figure out what I planted.

 

About the Gardener/Writer:

Tina Susedik has loved flowers and gardening for as long as she can remember. Wherever she has lived, and it’s been many, many places, she has tried to make her surroundings filled with flowers. She is a multi-published author in both fiction and non-fiction, covering children, military, history, and romantic mysteries. In June, she will begin hosting her own radio show with Authors on the Air Global Radio Network. She will be interviewing authors in all genres. The title of her show – what else – “Your Book Garden.”

Her newest book is a The Trail to Love, which is part of The Soul Mate Tree Collective. The Trail to Love is a medium heat level romance with open door love scenes.

An ancient legend spanning eras, continents, and worlds. To some, it’s nothing more than a dream. To others, a pretty fairy tale handed down through the generations. 

For those in critical need of their own happy ending, a gift.

 Jack Billabard, mourning the loss of his wife and baby in childbirth, vows to never to love again. After their funeral at Fort Laramie, he rides into the Wyoming hills beyond the ranch he built for his wife. Through his grieving tears, an ancient tree appears, giving him the hope he doesn’t believe is possible. For the next four years, he acts as a guide on the Oregon Trail, taking families to a new life while his looms lonely and stagnant.

The night before her abusive husband’s death, an ancient tree appears in Sarah Nickelson’s yard as she agonizes over how to survive her marriage. The tree gives her hope she can’t help but reject. After all, a tree doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. After her husband ‘s death, and with no options as a widow in Independence, Missouri, Sarah decides to travel to Oregon City as a Mail Order Bride.

During their trek west on the Oregon Trail, Jack and Sarah encounter one another, each afraid of being hurt again. Can they survive dogs and puppies, wind and rainstorms, Indians and unfavorable fellow passengers, while their love blossoms? Will the tree fulfill its promise?

Book available at Amazon

 

Connect with Tina at:

http://tinasusedik.wordpress.com./

Twitter: @tinasusedik

Website: TinaSusedik.com

Facebook: Tina Susedik, Author

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1754353.Tina_Susedik

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tinasusedik/

 

 

Through A Writer’s Garden with Erin Bevan–Black Thumbs and Roses

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A Writer's Garden, contemporary sweet romance, Erin Bevan, Gardening blog, roses, Wedding Day

 

Black Thumbs and Roses

by Erin Bevan

I’ll be completely honest. I’m not much of a gardener. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy pretty flowers as much as the next person, but when it comes to making them grow and thrive, that job is best left to someone else.

My husband and I have owned two houses in our life. Both have come with enormous amounts of flowerbeds. Living in our first house should have tipped me off not to buy our second home. Our current house has fence-to-fence flowerbeds, and we live on a corner lot. Pretty much every single side of our home, and all the edges of our land are covered in flowerbeds. The only things I can keep alive are our roses, and we’ve gotten several compliments on them. Maybe there is hope for me yet!

Everything else is left to God. If it survives great, if it doesn’t, well let’s just say I keep some of the local landscaping services in business.

But, despite my black thumb, I turned my spare bedroom upstairs into an office, and I positioned the desk just so I can see out the window and into the garden. Our kids love to play in the small garden path in our back yard, and there is something about sunshine and flowers that is medicine to my soul.

 

About the Author:

Erin Bevan is a wife and mother of three. She enjoys filling her kitchen with fresh flowers, and loves the inviting and sweet aroma they release. An avid reader, one day she decided to try her luck in writing stories of her own, and the idea paid off. She spends her days deep in the heart of Texas, fighting mosquitoes, cleaning dirty faces, and writing contemporary romances when the kids nap. The heat levels of her books range from her super sweet book Text Me to sensual romances. Wedding Day, an edgy, sweet, closed-door romance, with some mild language, is her newest release.

 

 

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Through the Garden Gates with Wendy L. MacDonald

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A Writer's Garden Through the Garden Gates with Wendy L. MacDonald, Author Catherine Castle's blog, cottage gardens, Gardening blog, inspirational/mystery romance author Wendy L. MacDonald, pictures of cottage gardens

Welcome to My Cottage

I’d like to invite you to step through the gate and join me on a tour of my cottage garden. It’s both a refuge for me when I need to be alone and a welcoming place to share with special friends and family. Today I’d love to share it with you.

English cottage gardens are my absolute favorite; therefore you’ll find most of my perennial borders are characteristically unpredictable (I adore surprises). The blending of herbs, flowers, and even vegetables adds a charm and flavor I can drink in for hours. Our property is also divided into rooms. Rooms for privacy. Rooms for growing vegetables. And rooms with sunny spots for reading a favorite book (or hosting tea for two).

In the especially cottage looking areas of my garden I’ve allowed flowers to reseed and spill over onto paths and lawns. Some classic English garden flowers, such as Foxgloves, like to choose their own place to bloom—usually it’s outside the edges of a flowerbed. And this happens to reflect the changes that have happened within me over the years. I’m a recovering perfectionist who used to grow everything in a predictable and linear fashion. But my journey on earth has been as unpredictable as our coastal weather, and I have become more flexible due to the ebb and flow of life’s tide.

A more relaxed approach to landscaping has washed up on the shore of my cottage garden. I’ve embraced the casualness of allowing fern fronds to age and fall to the earth as a cozy skirt around each plant. This helps conserve moisture and keeps down weeds (and labor). Even autumn leaves are left to blanket the perennial borders while the lawnmower and my rake gather the ones from the lawn to feed my compost piles. There’s no room in a cottage garden for green-thumbs with control issues.

When my husband and I first viewed our present home, while shopping for a new place to live six years ago, the landscaping was the first thing we looked at. The house would have to have been a derelict to scare us off once we’d been smitten by the trees, shrubs, perennials, and overall ambiance of the property surrounding the forties-something house.

It’s one of the original homes on our road. At one time it was considered a farm house and was encircled by fields of cows and trees. It’s now down to ¾ of an acre and is walled in by a subdivision and retirement complexes. The homes around us have teeny tiny lots with gigantic homes planted in the center of them. Our old magnolia tree, alone, would take up most of one of their backyards. And that’s one of the joys of older gardens—they have room for plants to roam, grow, and flourish.

My creative heart definitely flourishes here, and I hope I’ve inspired you to appreciate anew your own garden space. To tend a garden is a gift, to tend a cottage garden is a joy.

Blessings ~ Wendy

 

About the Author:

Gardener/writer Wendy L. Macdonald has been gardening since childhood. Her favorite thing about gardening is fragrant old-fashioned flowers and fresh vegetables. When she’s not gardening she’s writing poetry and inspirational mystery/romances. You can learn more about her at http://greenlightlady.wordpress.com Her twitter and Facebook links are listed on her blog.

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Through the Garden Gates with Kathy Bryson

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A Writer's Garden through the garden gates with Kathy Bryson, author Catherine Castle, Gardening blog, gardening in Florida, sweet romance authors

Penta

I have a treat for our garden readers this week. Due to an overzealous scheduler—ME—I have not one, but TWO A Writer’s Garden features. Kathy Bryson will start us off, followed by the regular Thursday post. Double the pleasure this week! Kathy’s going to talk about her Florida garden. Take it away, Kathy!

 

Last year, I decided to go organic in my garden. I’d been reading about the problems with honeybees and butterflies and came across an offer for free butterfly weed. What gardener can resist free plants, even if they are called weeds? Without chemical sprays though, I ended up with long, spindly St. Augustine grass taking over all my flowerbeds.

 

This wasn’t the disaster it might seem. The backyard was barren when I first laid out raised beds of compost over cardboard. I was stunned to see the compost actually sink into the ground. Turns out the previous owner used white sand to level the ground for her kid’s swimming pool, trampoline, and swing set. On top of Florida’s naturally sandy soil, it acted like a sponge, sucking up 3 years of composting before supporting anything other than a burst of annuals.

 

Besides sand, gardening in Florida has the unique challenge of hothouse conditions all summer. Perennials become leggy biennials, tropicals thrive and take over unless they’re cut back ruthlessly, and everything from saw palmetto to the aforementioned grass seems to send out runners! One queen palm in the corner grew taller than the house before I realized it was there.

 

Blanket Flower

Wildflowers, however, love Florida’s heat and humidity. Last year’s butterfly weed was annuals, so this year, I seeded the central bed with both annuals and perennials. The cosmos and poppies grew 1^st, long feathery stems with bright pink and orange blossoms. They’re drooping as the summer heats up, but the perennials are starting to push up around them, penta, Indian blanket, and coneflowers. Ginger and lily of the Nile add more color.

 

I don’t worry about the pesticides. Left alone, spiny-backed orb weavers or kite spiders spin giant webs from the eves to the bushes. They’re dapper little spiders, tiny tuxedoed mites in black and white. They have competition for the flies, moths, and mosquitoes from the brown anoles, lizards originally from South America that have overrun the place. I rescue the lizards occasionally from the cats and they’re feisty, flashing orange dewlaps, hissing, and even biting though they haven’t got nearly the teeth to harm anything, most definitely not the cats!

Anole lizard

 

The St. Augustine grass is taking more work. I gave myself tennis elbow weeding, so while the central flowerbed was resown before the summer rains, the beds along the perimeter are still getting cleaned out and mulched. Melaleuca mulch has become my go-to mulch. Not only does it slow down St. Augustine grass, it’s helping to clean an invasive species out of the Everglades and prevent overharvesting of native cypress trees. I’m gardening on a mission!

 

 

Gardener/writer Kathy Bryson has been gardening since she put a pot out on her 1^st apartment balcony. Her favorite thing about gardening is the anticipation, the surprise of seeing what will actually come up. When she’s not gardening, she’s writing sweet and funny, fantasy romance. You can learn more about her at https://kathybryson.wordpress.com

A Writer’s Garden–Through the Garden Gates with Pegg Thomas

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A Writer's Garden through the Garden Gates with Pegg Thomas, Gardening blog, Gardening Up, gardening without kneeling, trellis gardens, Vertical gardening

Gardening Up

Seated on a paper-covered examination table, I told the orthopedic doctor, “Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. I was shearing a sheep…”

He hadn’t, but he had seen plenty of my type of injury, normally in football players, not a hobby farmer pushing 50. With tears in both my anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, I feared surgery was the only option. The MRI showed the tears were not large, so he sent me to physical therapy instead.

I’ll admit it. I was skeptical. But after nine weeks of exercises, the difference was amazing. I sat with the physical therapist at the end of my last appointment, ready to hear that I was cleared to carry on with my life. That’s not what I heard.

“No kneeling or squatting. Avoid those and you’ll probably avoid surgery all together.”

What?! Are you kidding me?! I’m a gardener. Kneeling and squatting is my life.

Not anymore. I dragged myself home in a funk, weighing the benefits and options of gardening verses surgery. I was seriously coming down on the side of taking my chances with surgery when my gray matter (that’s brains – not my hair!) kicked in and I started thinking.

I could still garden. But I needed to find ways to garden up.

It was mid-winter so I had plenty of time to plan. I researched everything I could find on using trellises and what type of vegetables could be trellised. Turns out, it’s pretty much everything except the root crops and brassicas. I was back in business!

Being thrifty (which sounds so much nicer than cheap), I cut poles of ditch willows and built teepee supports for growing pole beans and cucumbers.

 

Sections of cattle panels secured to t-posts make great trellises for tomato plants. An old gate with 2”x 4” wire is perfect for climbing peas.
And a simple box-like structure, covered in 2”x 2” wire, works slick for supporting squash or melons.

It took a couple of years of trial and error, but I have a system of trellises and supports that work for me now, and a garden that feeds my family all year long.

I still have to squat or kneel a little bit at planting time, but it’s minimal and my knee is just as good today as the day I left the physical therapist’s office.

Don’t let anything stop you from gardening until you’re ready to lay down that trowel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gardener/writer Pegg Thomas is never happier than when pottering around in her garden. She loves the whole process, from pouring over garden seed catalogs to canning that final batch of applesauce before the first snow. When she’s not gardening – or riding through the fields on her trusty old Trooper – she’s writing historical fiction with a touch of humor. You can learn more about her and her books at:

 

http://quidproquills.com/pegg-thomas/ – writing website

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden–Through the Garden Gate with Gail Kittleson

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a courtyard garden, A Writer's Garden through the Garden Gates with Gail Kittleson, gardening anticipation, Gardening blog, gardening in Iowa, vegetable planters

Anticipation

A few days ago, I recruited my grandson, eleven, and granddaughter, nine, to help clean out leaves from my garden, refill planters, and do other pre-season tasks. We have a courtyard effect behind our house, and two summers ago, our daughter and her children installed a brick walkway in the middle.

The area doesn’t look like much right now, but isn’t this what gardening is all about, sowing and weeding, waiting and watching?

 

Remembering the spectacular lilies and dahlias in last year’s photos urges me on and gives me hope. Those images, often taken by the grandkids, live in my memory, and thanks to them, also in my phone every time I open it up.

 

 

Last fall, we constructed the vegetable planter at the end of the garage, so this will be an experimental year for the tomatoes, beets, green beans and carrots in their new home. Last year, in space recently converted from plain old Iowa grass, they didn’t do so well.

The wheel rims back by the fence hold my herbs and spices, dill, spinach and kale, and were a Mother’s Day gift one year.

 

As you can see, these workers are happy to help. (It doesn’t hurt that they’re always saving for something or other!) And since I grew up on a farm, it does my heart good to have them out there with me, getting their hands dirty and being involved in an ongoing project. Getting back to the simple joys always refreshes me.

 

Our grandson Eli, a pretty techy guy, had fun analyzing water flow issues and digging pathways, while Cora filled the wheelbarrow umpteen times for the planter. Come summer, she picks her own salads for lunch, and especially enjoys the arugula and mesclun.

 

We still need to do more work around the red oak we planted last spring, right in the center of the courtyard. So, welcome to my dream world. Like many of you, I’m anticipating how this will all look, smell, and taste in a couple of months.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gardener/writer Gail Kittleson has been gardening just about everywhere she and her husband have lived, including Senegal, West Africa. Her favorite thing about gardening is the survival of plants over harsh Iowa winters, the anticipation of new growth, and eating fresh salads. When she’s not gardening she’s writing memoir and women’s historical fiction novels and teaching a creative writing class. You can learn more about her and her books at http://www.gailkittleson.com.