Chaotic but happy..........
I have spent more years gardening than I care to remember.
In the first few years of marriage, there was no time to garden.
Working and children were top of the list, the garden a very poor second.
My first garden was manicured to within an inch of it's life.
Everything orderly and neat. Looking back, was I truly happy with it..............no.
We moved, another garden...............this time just grass.......children and dogs took centre stage.
I always had a longing. To create a garden for wildlife..............a garden like my Grandma's, chaotic but controlled.
When Dad was alive we would chat every day about the garden. A quick call, a simple "How is your garden today." Oh how I miss those calls.
I now have the garden I dreamed of. Am I happy, yes, more than I can say. The beautiful thing about ageing is that you do not worry so much about the detail. If colours clash because mother nature takes a hand here and there, you just enjoy it :)
Dad never worried about colour schemes.............he just enjoyed the flowers. I think I may be turning into my Father. Slowly over the last few years, I am taking a more relaxed attitude to this garden.
It works for me.............I have never felt so happy.
Wonderful pictures of your garden again and I fully agree with you, through the years we change and take it easier. Love that chaotic style! When I started gardening I was painstakingly orderly, had borders with rows of annuals like marigolds and ageratums or red Salvias and blue lobelias. Lateron I had a garden with gardenrooms with different colour schemes. And now.......I'm fond of old fashioned shrub roses and Delphiniums, all in a chaotic way planted, but I'm very happy with it.
ReplyDeleteWish you happy gardening!
Our gardening styles in the early days Janneke were very similar.
DeleteEverything I planted had it's place :)
The combination of roses and Delphiniums is beautiful. I love both.
I can just manage roses in large pots, where the rabbits cannot get to them.
As for Delphiniums they always seem to get serious slug attacks.......and also grow so tall in this fertile soil........
I shall visit your blog and enjoy your displays :)
Happy gardening Janneke...........
My garden started as a neat and tidy garden but evolved quite quickly into a cottage/country garden which suits me fine. I'd still like to get more splashes of bright colour into it though, it's mostly blues whites and pinks and needs the odd pop of brightness.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Rowan,
DeleteI have crocosmia Lucifer waiting in the wings.....I really love it when it blooms and there are splashes of red all around the garden :)
I'm nodding away,and smiling with your every word, you have me missing your dad! I have had the same problem too...dogs, full-time job and a kid....and I now love the gardens I have, dogs wrecking them and all...but colour schemes go out the window for me...if the pollinators love them I do too....I even let the nettles grow just for the butterflies...my parents didn't garden, they let me though... lovely post 1xxx
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely...this garden is full of pollinators. I have worked hard to encourage them here.
DeletePlanting host plants for the butterflies.......bee and butterfly borders..........homes for the bees and birds. It is ongoing, my love of nature will always come first.
They need all the help they can get.
No ladybirds this year............so strange. I normally have dozens but I have only seen two ??
BTW have a huge patch of nettle in the copse for the butterflies :)
I haven't seen many ladybirds either, lots of blackfly, greenfly and whitefly, the ladybirds would have a field day....maybe that's why there's so many, no ladybirds!xxx
DeleteI don't worry about color schemes either. I am usually worrying about just finding a spot to plant a new plant I want in the garden. You have so many tall plants. I think they look great. I don't have enough tall plants. Hmmmmm now where can I put some???
ReplyDeleteOh Lisa, if you knew how I struggle with tall plants you would not want them.
DeleteI buy a plant that says 3ft and it gets to 5ft without a problem.........the soil is fertile here.
Of course, rabbits living in the garden are constantly fertilising the soil .
I never feed plants, just mulch but still they grow tall ...........
You should be very happy with your garden, it's absolutely beautiful. I'm just at the stage where my kids have grown and only this year the trampoline has been dismantled and disposed of. I've got a very small border and the rest of the garden is grass and paving, half and half. It's a very small garden so there won't be dramatic changes but I've already planted the trees I had growing in containers at the side of the grass.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what the size Jo, it is our space for this moment in time.
DeleteI believe every garden needs a tree, big or small, fruiting or ornamental.
Wonderful addition...........
What ever you are doing you are doing it right, photos look wonderful, I am still working on that proses and it still might take a few more years till I find what I am looking for in my garden...
ReplyDeleteAmanda xx
You have plenty of time ahead of you Amanda....your ideas will grow, along with your garden.
DeleteThis, I am sure, will be my last garden. I don't think I have the energy to start again :)
But, who knows.................
Nice to see such a happy post, Cheryl. I agree with Nature's hand in "colour coordination" Doesn't exist. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI can understand missing chats with your Dad. I too miss my gardening chats with my mother (among other things). But we do carry their legacy within us, and forward to the next generation.
Sending hugs your way.
We do indeed Wendy. Sometimes I am doing something in the garden, and I realise that my Father taught me how :) I have indeed passed many things onto my Grandchildren.....this is what we do...........
DeleteBest wishes always.........
Oh, I love your header too! And the rest of your photos of course.
ReplyDeleteHappy is such a wonderful place to be. We travel often to the Biltmore House and enjoy the perfectly landscaped and manicured gardens. But sometimes when we go we see a sight that always bothers me. The walled garden will be filled with workers removing every single plant and replacing them with the next seasonal ones. I know it may be necessary for commercial reasons but there is something within me that doesn't like to see how artificial it seems. Not at all the way I think a garden should be. I so agree with your concept of "chaotic but controlled." That's what a real garden should be. And I love that you are sharing this happiness with us.
ReplyDeleteI love the story about the walled garden. I understand your feelings, I am much the same.
DeleteAs you rightly say it is necessary for commercial reasons.............
What a wonderful post, Cheryl! Sometimes I come home after touring other people's gardens and think what a mess mine is. But then I think some more and realize that I'm really not interested in perfectly manicured gardens; I like the different blooms, and I like seeing what little creatures visit the garden. If it makes me happy, then that is all that matters. I know I would be right at home visiting your "chaotic" but happy garden!
ReplyDeleteI loved your garden Rose..............the fact that it lived happily amongst surrounding farmland was so beautiful. I know it has changed since I visited, so I can imagine it is really special.
DeleteCheryl, a lovely post ... my dear Gran 'taught' me you should always make room for a flower fairy in the garden, and I've tried to do that and now the grandchildren have too in their garden - wonderful to see these generations on.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Cheryl, a lovely post ... my dear Gran 'taught' me you should always make room for a flower fairy in the garden, and I've tried to do that and now the grandchildren have too in their garden - wonderful to see these generations on.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan