Garden Season
the rush to plant everything before it's WAY TOO HOT
It has been a stormy and wet month here in Oklahoma. So much rain! Storms have been rolling through, there have been evenings watching the weatherman and going into the basement when the tornado sirens wail into the night. It has been scary, and we have been lucky. But, my garden seems to have loved it. Things are growing wildly and the textures and heights have all filled in so that I can’t see any dirt left at all. I’ve been very lucky to work on three new gardens this past month and the wet and cloudy weather has been a blessing for getting new plants into the ground.
I was so grateful to get to work alongside my dear friend Katie, who runs Pollinators and Prairies, in assisting her on a garden that I would classify as a “rewilding” project (Oh the controversy! I am here if you want to talk about it!!). Her vision involved using the native plants that were already present on the site and bringing them closer into the house, cutting up the lawn to bridge the line between the human world and the natural world. She grew hundreds of plants for the project and the result is already amazing. I cannot wait to see it next year.
In addition to that, I was excited to do two town gardens. These were smaller projects, that involved bringing colorful and resilient plants to liven up spaces that had become less diverse with time. The result should be floriferous and full of bees, butterflies and birds in no time.
I know I have said before, but I will say it again. I absolutely love my work. I have also mentioned how it takes a lot of work to do the work you love, but I wouldn’t trade it. I feel good when my body is tired from the work of digging, hauling, pruning, harvesting and arranging. And it makes me feel really excellent to make people happy!
When you come home and your yard is blooming, or there is a butterfly dancing in the air, or you hear birds… these all contribute to your well-being. Having a garden improves our quality of life, not to mention the quality of life of all the species we don’t even see on a daily basis, but who are there all the while. I like to think of there being a mutual benefit when I garden. It can be a collaboration with nature. This is not exclusive to people who have a budget. It can be easier for them, but it is not necessary. Several things in my front garden I grew from seed that I pulled from wild things that I found on walks. The larkspur that fills the front garden took me four years to get going! Many of my milkweed are from seed and haven’t bloomed yet, but they will eventually! Gardening is a long game sport.
There is a famous quote by Audrey Hepburn that I think about all the time, “to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”
When the world feels completely unhinged, when the news is full of genocide and suffering and war and fascism and a capitalist society that feels completely broken- gardening may seem like a self-absorbed, head-in-the-sand sort of thing to do. But, I disagree. I believe planting a garden, tending a garden, watching things grow and age and die and need more room and need cutting back is a good dose of realism. It makes me feel like I can keep going, it recharges me. It keeps the depression at bay and also means I usually sleep really well because I am beat at the end of the day!
OK, OK. Some of you are here for art and art lately has looked like garden design plans. But! I made some funny doodles of flowers, saying the things I feel most of the time and have turned them into stickers! You can head over to my shop and get one or all of them. I have made them free to ship if you add them to any other order!
I still have some spring weeds prints and get ready for a new round of prints for summer!
Thanks for being here!!
Roshni
These are beautiful and really making me wish for summer to come back, Roshni. To me the standout one is the last one you shared—flax.
Wow! The rewilding project and your own gardening are so beautiful and commendable from someone who hates weeding (hence no gardening). "it takes a lot of work to do the work you love, but I wouldn’t trade it." Absolute truth. I try to convey the same love I have for running but the work can only be experienced to be appreciated. BTW I gave my wife the earrings and print I got from you and she absolutely LOVES both...she hasn't taken the earrings off since Mother's Day. I'm sure I'll be perusing your shop again. Thank you for all this, Roshni.