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May 01st, 2022

5/1/2022

You are as welcome as the flowers of May. -- Charles Macklin

Our Garden

For years, my husband and I worked at creating a series of gardens on our four-acre lot in a rural, Texas subdivision west of Houston. I have to say, it was a fantastic experience. Now, I have a pocket garden on a golf course.

And I am busier than ever. Gardening in southeast Texas can be brutal.

I plot and plan. I work under dangerous conditions. I am frequently under assault. At times, I might drop everything and run for cover. I strive to work towards the greater good.

I plan my garden beds and seasonal rotations, but I also know to expect the unexpected -- from the weather, nature, even, perhaps especially, from myself.

Heat, humidity, and potentially disease-carrying mosquitoes are problems for more than half the year and a dangerous combination in summer. That’s to say nothing of fire ants and other biting, stinging insects.

Snakes, too, although they only make a rare appearance in my little garden. Poison ivy and oak love it here and birds sow both generously.

Speaking of unwelcome plants, we have some seriously persistent, aggressive weeds like Bermuda grass and nutsedge.

Despite some uncomfortable conditions, I feel very protective of the wild in my garden. It’s important to know friend from foe, for example, venomous from nonvenomous snakes and even then, it’s often not necessary to engage.

As for the bugs, it is not fine with us to hurt the good with the bad. Pesticides are banned. So are herbicides. Our beds, whether food or ornamental, are organic. And while our garden isn’t entirely native, we do have plenty of native plants that please the local wildlife as well as ourselves.

I’ve learned that a small garden is as much a balm to the soul as a large one and can keep the gardener just as busy.

It took me a while to adjust, but I love it. While every garden is different, they all offer challenges, pleasures, time with nature. Much like people, they have their good days and bad days, high seasons and low; and they can all be fun and beautiful if you love them enough.

Garden Warrior
Be like the flower, turn your face to the sun.
-- Gibran Khalil Gibran

May 01st, 2022

Our Garden

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Garden WarriorBe like the flower, turn your face to the sun.​-- Gibran Khalil Gibran

May 01st, 2022

Our Garden

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Garden Warrior
Be like the flower, turn your face to the sun.
-- Gibran Khalil Gibran