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Saintpaulia ionantha (African Violet) cultivar, a No-ID variegated, grown under glass inside the house. |
When most people think of gardens, they're thinking of a vast variety of places. They think of bright flower gardens with tulips and sunflowers in the sun, and hostas and bleeding hearts in the shade. They think of kitchen gardens full of herbs & vegetables and occasionally their mouths start watering. Rarely, they think of death-defying New Mexico desert gardens.
When most people think of "different gardens," they think of different places in space. I think, also, of different places in time. The garden I kept seven years ago was not at all the garden of last year. Even the garden of 2010 was much, much different from that of 2009. This last garden of 2011 is sure to be as unique as all those that came before it, with one important difference. This fall, I will be leaving this space, and all of these gardens that I've had within it, probably for a very long time.
No one will take care of this garden after I leave. I almost find it hard to imagine no one doing all the things I do every year, nearly without thinking about them, but I can still see my garden beginning the long, slow decline of those gardens abandoned to fate. It seemed very sad to me that my family and friends & I were the only ones to benefit from this garden's beauty. In that vein, I present this blog, The Last Garden. This year, I'm going to try to photograph and record as much of my garden as I can and post it here. It will be full of gorgeous photos & occasionally helpful tidbits.
Let's go.
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Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum 'Valerie Finnis'), forced last winter. |
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI just approved a post on an old post on one of my old blogs by you. Anyway, I came here and I'm intrigued by the premise of the blog. Most people start blogs about their gardens at the beginning, so I'm curious about your starting one about the end of the garden. Hopefully, in subsequent posts you'll clue us in as to why you're leaving the garden.
Ha! Yes, I actually spent most of this garden's winters contemplating starting a blog, but I know that I can barely keep up with the garden, the job, the friends and the family as it is, so I've never done it. This year, things are going to be less hectic, so I know I can accomplish it, even if my posts are a little more spaced out than other blogs' posts.
ReplyDeleteAs for why I'm leaving... Well, I've decided to keep mum about that, at least for now. On May 1st, I think you'll get your answer. For now, it's enough to say that it's not a sad reason.