A Garden Design All By Myself

Gardening to me is like painting, where each brush stroke adds a new dimension and a new, different meaning to the canvas. Each layering of plants, and any addition of a gardening element of any kind, adds a new texture as well as a new picture to the garden.

There is an old saying that a garden is never finished. So each day when I pull into my driveway and I look at the water fountain, I started to get this idea that it would look better if the fountain appeared to be suspended in the air. I achieved this effect by planting a row of wheeler's dwarf around the base of the fountain. It was a joy to see that every little idea added to the garden transformed the entire look of the garden.

I must say that working so close to nature in a beautiful garden setting has renewed my life, day in and day out. This realization encouraged me to repeat these successes in every small area until I had accomplished all of my visions throughout the entire property.

Every spring is a time to join nature in its freshness and newness. The miracle of spring season is in the sudden burst of life. New foliages from the branches flush out from dormancy. This is the time to join in this celebration of new life. There is a spiritual magic that takes place in nature around us about this time of the year. I especially love to be in the garden center in springtime. While others may love to be in a shopping mall, I would rather be in a garden center. It gives me an opportunity to admire and enjoy hundreds of other plants that I might not be able to plant in my garden. This is yet another therapeutic aspect from the love for gardening.

While in these garden centers, I habitually just admire garden enthusiasts whom I observe as they meticulously study plants they want to add to their own gardens. I oftentimes see that these people are completely in their own world with nature. From my observations of their demeanor, I sense the quiet stillness in their minds as well as the positive energy they send out into their surroundings. This glorious springtime feeling starts for me in April. I get my helpers to prepare the flower bed by adding new soil if needed. I usually have all my favorite annuals planted, which consist of impatiens plants of different colors.

After many years of experimenting with colors, I have come to love the violet color. I have used violet as a border in my front yard, where other mixed color borders on the side of the yard, alongside the beautiful birds of paradise and Phoenix date palms, create a little sense of the tropics in my yard. And at the back of the yard all along the base of rows of Leyland cypress, I have layers of brilliant white impatiens to lighten up the area from the shade that cascades down from the rows of the tall cypress trees. I love to create these kinds of intensified effects by multiplying my choice of plants within a given space.

After my last touch in the spring, it is a delight to watch the miracle of nature unfold right before me as the garden beds and borders take on their summer attire. All those dormant plants spring out to compete for space in this “show time” drama by nature. Among them plants like the cannas, caladiums, elephant ears, lilies, and potato vines all show up for this spring parade and the dance of flowers and shrubs now taking place in my garden. So as not to be left out, the evergreen trees stand guard, clapping on to welcome each annual and to lend beauty and grace to all other flowers. This show lasts all through the summer months. Springtime is when nature tunes and retunes its melodies in my garden, as it does in the gardens of all garden enthusiasts around the world.