To Dream the Impossible Dream

My Dream

Courtesy britsattheirbest.com

My Reality

This is one of my gardens, taken two days ago.

What is going on here?

I added this Forsythia to the yard five years ago.  It only
blooms on the very bottom.  This year I got a tiny bit
more up on the sides.  Suggestions?  Anyone?


I love gardens, particularly English gardens.....all types.
I'm fond of the messy, cottage gardens
the kitchen herb gardens
the formal gardens with hedges and topiaries.

I wish that I could say I loved gardening.
"Oh, it's so therapeutic, etc. etc."
I've tried.
Oh, yes I have.

BK (before kids) we lived in an
old Victorian house outside of Chicago.
It had the best soil.  Ever.
Clematis and morning glories
climbed the fences.
There were peonies and lilacs
and an herb garden.
There were peach trees.
I learned to can!
I had bundles of herbs and lavender
hanging upside down in my kitchen.
That was a good yard.

Source:  Country Living Magazine
Our back yard looked a lot like this!

 I haven't had a yard like that, since.
No good soil.  No clematis growing over the fence.
{Although I do have Miss Kim lilacs and peonies.}
Oh, you are thinking,
Privet and Holly, you can amend the soil!
You can add manure and other nutrients!

Hmmm.  I'm not loving
that
kind of gardening.

This is what I'm dreaming of....
Me, holding a wooden trug,
strolling through my cottage gardens,
my formal rose garden,
my herb garden,
scissors in hand.

barbersbaskets.com

I'll stop and smell them, admire their beauty.
I'll cut the prettiest flowers for bouquets
and the most fragrant herbs for cooking.

Perhaps I'll press some of the tiny ones
into a book, to admire
once winter holds us in her grip once more.

jwwaterhouse.com
My Sweet Rose 1908


Yes, that would be therapeutic!


Since there is no head gardener
on this little plot of earth, except myself,
I will
grudgingly
forge ahead.


Luckily, inspiration for my
garden dreams abound
in Blog Land.

Image from Architectural Digest


Check out the gardens in progress
in my neighbor's yard at Sea Cottage.
{The post she wrote last weekend....lovely!}


Or, let Sarah-Jane Down the Lane
take you on a magical garden tour
of a gorgeous garden in England
that she has visited over the years.

garden-fountains.com


Time to gather my gardening tools.
And to dream.


In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. 
 My garden of flowers 
is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  
The thoughts grow as freely
as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.
 -   Abram L. Urban

Posted in beauty , dream , gardens