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“A Beautiful Garden is a Work of the Heart”

Welcome to This Month in the Garden! I have been feeling a bit nostalgic and with the craziness of the world have been thinking a lot about life in general. It seemed like a good time for some reflection on how I got into gardening in the first place, the events that lead to this blog fifteen years ago this past February, and how writing this blog eventually lead to becoming an author. It all started a long time ago at the age of five and the paths of life led the way. 

“They who Plant Gardens Reap Happiness”

I grew up next door to with a family of five children that became like siblings and their mom had been an avid gardener all her life. She would take me on tours of her collection of blooms and teach me about each one. One day I returned home and asked my mother for seeds and pots so that I could grow some flowers. That lead to future plantings, the planting of my first tree with my dad and a love of gardening and respect for horticulture that grew even more pronounced as I aged. You would find me digging in the dirt planting annuals, perennials and eventually shrubs and trees, and watching them grow as I nurtured them. In my adult years, I had been teaching high school science as a first career and in 1996, I decided to return to school for horticulture and then started up a landscape design business. After retiring from teaching, landscape design has became a second full time career.

“Plays in the Dirt!”

So, how did the blog and books come about? It was after a movie called Julie and Julia back in 2009 (boy that sounds long ago) about a woman who followed Julia Child’s recipes and shared her experiences on what she referred to as a blog that blogging soon became popular. After watching the movie, I decided to create my own blog sharing a love of gardening and A Guide to Northeastern Gardening was born in February of 2010. My friends, family and clients would often ask me,” How do you remember everything about each plant and how to grow it?” I would reply, “It is a passion, so I remember things.” They all insisted that I write it down and kept encouraging me to perhaps write a book for others to learn and to pass along my knowledge. It was in 2015 that I started to write down thoughts as they came to me. 

It all Started a Long Time Ago

In February of 2016, my first book (with a name you will recognize) A Guide to Northeastern Gardening came to be, which expanded the information I had written about in my blog to teach new or experienced gardeners about the basics of garden planning, design and care. Once the first book came out, and with a second career as a landscape designer, I wanted to focus strictly on the concept of landscape design and my second book, Landscape Design Combinations was born. My love of gardening continued to grow, leading to four more books dealing with garden planning, plant selection and maintenance, including one with garden musings and folklore and one all about indoor gardening and houseplants. 

“A Garden Brings Hope”

Gardening both outdoors and in and helping others with their gardening endeavors has become a major portion of my life, is what defines me, and I hope to be able to garden for as long as I am able. I hope you enjoyed my story and I invite you to share your gardening adventures in the comments. As a lifetime gardener with a passion for all things green, there are words that I live by (and which I even named a book after), Dream, Garden, Grow!

I hope you enjoyed This Month in the Garden! Are you a gardener? If so, how did you get into gardening? Have you been a gardener all your life?  I would love to hear your story!

As Always…Happy Gardening!