I Love My Garden

My poor garden.  Like many things in my life right now (friends, family, my marriage, my house... the list could go on and on) it is suffering from some serious neglect.  And yet, like many things (friends, family, my marriage, my house...) it continues to reward me even as I turn a blind eye to all the attention it needs.  Yes, it is full of weeds.  And yes, I didn't even feed it this year.  I barely have to time to sit and look at it.  And yet - the roses are blooming wildly right now - hundreds and hundreds of amazing, fat, seductive flowers , the honeysuckle is perfuming the entire yard, the lilies are getting ready to open, all the clematis is winding its way through canes and branches and completely showing off, the nepeta has made a blue haze that the bees can't get enough of, the peonies are healthier than ever, the foxgloves are tall and elegant, the hollyhocks are shooting up everywhere.... I could go on and on.  I built my garden from scratch six years ago.  It used to be a big empty swath of flat lawn.  And I learned everything I know about gardening in this garden.  And I have to say - it is one of the things in my life I am most proud of.  I stand in that garden every day-  and breathe deeply, and look around, and my heart just swells.  It is not unusual for tears of gratitude to spring to my eyes.  It feeds me.  Even when I don't seem to have the time to do more than admire it from afar.