Saturday, April 24, 2010

Witch's Garden Anyone?

Little in bloom so far
Sometimes, it is just the simple things in life that make you exhilarated to be alive. Last year there were several articles written about me and the garden. One article focused on the garden of a Philadelphia Flower Show judge and the other article focused on my garden being environmentally green. Out of these two came interest for a major spread in NJ Monthly Magazine. Because of the lead time required for proofing, layout, and most importantly plant photography my garden was photographed after Mother’s day last year for an article that has already been received by subscribers and will be in the newsstands in May.

The article entitled “Another World” relates some of my garden philosophy and practices and Laura Moss did a phenomenal job on photography. I hope my garden lasts as long as the fabled soap opera with the same name that ran for 35 years! The double spread photograph of my garden walkway that you often see on my blog was taken at a time in the afternoon that can only be described as “enchanted”. It is a treat to see the garden so beautifully described and photographed, but what exhilarated me was a phone call that I got from a lady named Elaine.

Woodland Garden with Viburnums in bloom

Elaine does not have a computer and will not probably ever read this blog. She is infirmed and limited by age and sickness, but not by will or good old fashioned values. She did some homework and found out where I lived and my phone number and called to see if I opened the garden to the public. I was cautious at first, but soon realized that she is someone who would have enjoyed visiting the garden. She explained that she had gotten the magazine and was so thrilled to see it and realized that I lived in a neighboring community. I explained to her that it was photographed last year and the level of flowering depicted in the images has not yet taken place. I offered her an opportunity to visit me when we can enjoy it together later in May when she will hopefully see it as pictured.

To my surprise, today in the mail I received the pages from Elaine’s magazine that she removed as best as possible to send to me with a lovely note. I had informed her that I do not subscribe to the magazine and it is still not on sale. Even though the proof reader from the magazine had promised me a copy, it has still not arrived. I called to thank her and we started on another nice conversation that concluded with me reminding her that when she can arrange a visit she is more than welcomed in May.


The original witch's garden!..so I am told

Yes, this exhilarated me! It was an act of kindness from one stranger to another. It also exhilarated me because in contrast, it vindicates a comment, by someone else, that it looked like a “witch’s garden” because of its shaggy and overgrown natural state. The lady went as far as to say that maybe the reason I could not get work was because of the way my garden looked. I knew the validity of these derogatory comments were worthless, given the source, but it still hurt and caused my otherwise rhinoceros hide a sting when it came from the mouth of a supposed friend. Don’t get me wrong, I make mistakes just like everyone and don’t take all the positive comments as gospel either. I found the webpage version of the article: http://njmonthly.com/articles/lifestyle/homeandgarden/another-world.html and explained to them that certain matters accredited to me were incorrect. So what else can I tell you? It is unfortunate that I could not state in those beautiful pages that this talented man is still unemployed. So keep gardening, the results will maintain your spirits going in tough times and give your life a lift. In the process you may even meet a nice person or two to share that passion.

2 comments:

  1. Whoever utttered such nonsense is a blockhead and deserves not one blossom but many thorns. You are still unemployed because something wonderful is a'coming your way and you need to be free from all ties in order to receive it and accept it. Your garden is a masterpiece and the neighborhood is a better place because of it.

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  2. I think I'd also inspired with this garden because look at the garden is huge and it has a lot of vegetation, I'd like to have a space like that to plant different roses and other trees.m10m

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