Uncanoonuc Mt. Perennials new season photos

I'm heading to Uncanoonuc Mt. Perennials today to hang 4 new photos for the season. These images show a range of seasons at the garden center from spring through August. I chose images that demonstrated the beautiful pairings in the Uncanoonuc Mt. Perennials gardens. I also chose single closeups of flowers using my wide-open macro lens. (My favorite way to shoot images.)

The fairy flowers that seem to dance on the green background are about the size of my thumb and were a sensational purchase last year for my daughter's own fairy garden.

I shot the cover for the Uncanoonuc catalog this year as well. I'll try to get that posted soon too.

Spring!

I hit the garden today...just a little spring cleanup. The snow has melted from the majority of my beds. I don't think I've ever been out this early in the season before. But I've got big plans this year. My decade of gardening, interviews with fellow gardeners and last fall's publication of my book have inspired me. I feel like I have hit a pinnacle as a gardener. I'm ready to really trust my instincts and to run with my ideas.

I've got two pathways that need a lot of work and this is where I'll start. I've mustered the courage to try the mint in these areas, despite their invasive tendencies. I want pathways that my daughter will smell when she walks on them. I want the scents to trigger her memory all her life. Whenever she smells mint, she will think of gardening with mom.

We returned the fairy objects to the fairy garden today. My daughter has big plans for this garden. Mainly, she plans for the fairies to return. Last year they brought her a shiny pink marble that resembles a star sapphire. They also brought a necklace of tiny sea green glass. She wants the fairies to come back early this year. She worked hard for two hours laying out marble pathways to the two fairy houses that remained standing despite the ravages of winter snows and wind. I'm sure those fairies will return.

And this year, last year's vegetable garden will become a pumpkin patch. This is my third year vegetable gardening. The vegetables will return to the bed they originally occupied two years ago and will also be spread among perennial plantings. A gardener friend of mine lets her vegetables run wild -- tomatoes especially spread to unlikely wildflower beds and beyond. I like the idea of walking among the flowers and finding a surprise edible along the way. We'll see how well planning out "random" vegetable plantings goes.

Growing season spreads before me with grand opportunities. I hope that the snow melts faster!

Peonies

The greening is in full swing! Yesterday, I looked out the window and saw it. That beautiful spring yellowy green color dotted the sky. The leaves are popping, which of course means the peonies are dashing through the soil.

Our fairy house, intended to welcome the fairies who favor peony, fell over in the spring winds the other day. We will need to build a new fairy house fast. While walking in the woods this week, we saw a strong fairy house. It was obviously built by a kid who knew what she was doing. We are newbie fairy house builders, but we will model our new attempt on this more advanced house. I feel like the pig who built his house of straw. We need to focus on raising the standards to the piggy who favored brick. ("King Piggy" lives in my daughter's reading garden. He is originally from the "Little People" toy farmhouse, but he wanted a new residence. We took the bricks that were pulled up when we had a drainage system put in last year. We built his new house with these under his supervision. We should invite him to come supervise the fairy house. I'm sure he could advise us how to make it stand, even under heavy winds.)

Peonies remind me of ants. My mother had a white peony near the raspberry bushes when I was young. I remember their soft petals all over the lawn, the heavenly smell, and the ants. For this reason, I do not favor the peony. At least I'm not a fairy who has to live in one. I think I'd prefer to live in a rose. The thorns would provide protection from unwanted guests. I'd still get the heavenly smell and the soft petals.

I recognize that the peony is beautiful. We have three well established ones, planted by the previous owner. I wouldn't plant one myself. Not only do they have ants, they fade fast. Then, their brown leaves scatter on the ground and the stalks look icky. They are beautiful, but I'll visit the numerous varieties at my favorite local garden center rather than buying ones that require my care. I have no sympathy for their ways, so I think adding more to my brood just wouldn't work very well. When I cut back the peonies early in the season when the bloom fades, there is a great big gap in the garden. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Maybe there is a way to plant so that something follows on the tail of the peony when it's done with its show? Maybe I should ask that fairy when she gets here.

Personify Your Muse

Thanks to my daughter's influence. I now think of the muse as a fairy. We built her a house near the peonies and we wait for her to come. I noticed that the peonies are finally pushing through the soil today. The muse is near.

When I interviewed other gardeners last year for the book I have written, I learned that the muse brings a variety of riches to those who are open to it. For some, the muse sharpens the creative spirit. Working in the gardens stirs the soul to spread creativity throughout one's life. Many are inspired to channel energies toward artistic endeavors, unrelated to gardening, pursuing the fine arts to express how nature makes one feel.

In Greek mythology, the muses are the Greek goddesses, daughters of Zeus, who presided over the arts and sciences. Though today we usually consider the muse as one who inspires a fine artist, the muse can be a source for inspiration and influence other parts of our lives too. The muse helps others find a sense of calm that they can use to help others in work that requires it. The gardening muse inspires doctors to be more open to alternate treatments or ways of thinking. It helps people think outside of themselves, to better feel a sense of compassion for other living beings. The muse encourages us to transfer what we learn thinking outside of the box to others. I think of one gardener I met who shares her love of nature with her students, bringing seed pods to school and telling stories of butterflies in far-away lands. Surely she is inspired by a muse. It is a little voice in her head that tells her that what she is thinking is "cool" and inspires her to go further with her ideas.

When I"m not thinking of fairies, I think of my own living fairy. Since her birth, my daughter has served as a muse for me. Her presence helps me find new channels for my ideas. She encourages me to create wonderful garden spaces, to reach for new artistic challenges, and to share my love of nature with others.

It may help to think of the muse in some lifelike form - a fairy, a child, a forest creature, a long-lost relative. Whatever or whomever comes to mind as you work is appropriate. This identification with another living creature can help propel you to new levels of magnificence.

To see the muse in rare form, visit Ming with Esther in the Garden .

It's Time for Fairy Houses!

A month ago my daughter informed me the Elina lives in a peony. "Ah..." I responded, "Doesn't she know about fairy houses?"

I had seen the fairy house series by Tracy Kane when I visited my local Audobon Center a few years back. So, I knew a little about fairies. I knew the time would come when I would need that book and it seems that today is the day. Elina is a much loved Barbie fairy in the Fairytopia series. My daughter is also reading about Tinkerbell's Disney fairy world. In case you are not up on your little girl contemporary literature, I should tell you that Tinkerbell is now a star unto herself. She doesn't need Peter Pan. She's got her own little world in Neverland and is surrounded by fairy friends. Then, finally, my daughter is reading about the lesser known Rainbow Magic fairies. In the Rainbow series of books, nine year old girls one day discover that they are fairies. So, you can see...If I hadn't known fairies were going to be a hot topic in my garden this spring I would have had to say that I was not paying attention.

Near our peonies, which are just starting to poke out of the ground, we piled sticks together in a teepee shape, tied string around the top, and covered it with pine branches.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, dear."

"How will Elina find our fairy house?"

"She'll smell the peony and come looking for it and since our house is right next to it, she'll find it. That's why we need to do a really good job and make it so pretty that she'll want to live here and not in the peony."

We took last year's dried flowers that I clipped from the yard to make the house "pretty."

Now, my daughter is only four, but she's a pretty bright kid. I'm know that she knows that fairies aren't real. Yet, four is that magical time when reality and make-believe mix so beautifully. We amuse our little ones imagining if the Easter bunny is tiny, but super strong so he can carry an Easter basket. Or, maybe he is big, like Daddy? (I wouldn't want to meet that bunny in a dark alley) Santa comes down the chimney to get in the house. (I like to now picture him using flue powder like they do in the Harry Potter books. And then, of course, there's the tooth fairy. My daughter has had a special pillow for this magical fairy since she was born. One day, when a tooth falls out, she will tuck it in the pillow flap so the little lady can easily find the tooth and leave my daughter a treat instead.

But the magic goes beyond the age of four when it comes to fairy gardens. Almost every true gardener I know has some kind of fairy in her garden - a statue, a doll on the windowsill looking out at, a fairy presence that she says she can feel. And why not? When we garden, the magical feeling of nature is alive all around us. A fairy is just a personification of the garden muse we feel on our shoulder when we are out in the yard deep in our own thoughts, beautifying our surroundings. I like my four-ear-old reminding me that I may be tidying up for a little fairy to appear. It's nice to think of my handiwork and cooperation with nature as part of a fairy story. I hope that my daughter never loses that innocent spirit that allows her to believe in fairies. I'm so glad that she brought them to me too.