My Secret Garden

At first people refuse to believe

that a strange new thing can be done,

then they begin to hope it can be done,

then they see it can be done ~

then it is done and all the world

wonders why it was not done

centuries ago.

~ Frances Hodgson Burnett,

The Secret Garden

Have you ever longed 

for a secret garden?  

A place where you could

just sit and be

or read a book

or pen notes in a journal

or sip tea or perhaps

a glass of wine?

I did.

When we moved to Minnesota

from Chicago ten years ago,

it was February and our new

yard was sleeping under one 

of the heaviest snowfalls of 

the decade.

I knew that the previous owners

had kept a vegetable garden, but

it wasn't until the snows melted

that I really saw it.

16 feet by 24 feet.
White picket fence.

Pitter patter went my heart.

In my mind's eye I saw a 

neatly laid out garden with flowers,

herbs and veggies.  My daughter,

nearly six at the time, would have 

a corner for a tiny fairy garden 

and  I would teach my son, then  

two, how to plant a seed and 

watch it grow.....

Hold on.

The wild weeds

What my mind's eye didn't see was

mosquitoes

no water source near the garden

a daughter who didn't see weeding

this wild patch as fun, even with the

bribe of little tiny plants and little tiny

furniture for the little tiny fairies we

were going to lure to this jungle ~

working around a two-year old's

nap schedule

wild woods and marsh that border

the picket fence and would wage a

war against this plot of earth that I

didn't have the energy to win

did I mention the mosquitoes?

The wild woods

In an attempt to support my dream

of a secret garden, my sweet hubby

arranged to extend our irrigation 

system to this outback, er, 

distant, corner of the yard.  

That's as far as it went.

Oh, I gave it the good college try

a few times over the years.  But the

indigenous flora {weeds} and the

native fauna, aka rabbits, deer and

{did I mention} mosquitoes, kept

the whole operation very elusive.

Until this year.

I met my own garden fairy.

Her name is Sandi and she started

helping me tame my overgrown yard

 last summer.  Last fall I mentioned the 

secret garden of my imagination and her 

eyes lit up. We agreed to ponder the

idea over the winter and touch bases 

come early spring.

We touched bases.

We made a plan.

She brought in reinforcements.

She turned a dream into a reality.

Think cutting garden.

Think raised beds, bordered

by salvaged flagstone.

Think cocoa mulch.

Think re-purposing the kid's playhouse

and moving it into the secret garden.

Think Craigslist $20 table and 

flea market mismatched chairs.

Think iron candle chandelier!

Think mix of annuals and perennials.

Think daisies, zinnias, cosmos and

more well into October....

Think happy, happy me!

This was the fledgling year,

but the perennials seemed to

thrive and the annuals were quite

content.

I am planning to give the table

the Annie Sloane paint treatment

over the winter and I want to

find a cute bench to go with it, in

 addition to my mixed up chairs.

Every time I pull into our drive 

and see my secret garden off in the  

distance, flowers nodding over

the fence, practically calling me

to come make bouquets,

I have to smile.

I guess it's not really a secret

garden, anymore.  I loved sharing

it with you, all the same!

What secret projects are you

holding close to your heart?

Let's grab our warm drinks and 
head out to the table for a good 
natter, as my English friends 
would say!

I'll even let you have my 

favorite blue chair : )

xx

Suzanne