From Sunlight to Warm Rich Color

I love this time of year, as the last of the early fall sunshine fades to warm rich color. New Hampshire is past its "leaf peeper" peak. Many of us live in New England to experience this transition every year. The last pink buds on my fairy rose are in bloom. The mums are beginning to dip and the asters are fading to brown. I bought a new perennial sunflower this year that has happily lasted well-beyond my intentions. Its flowers now kiss the ground under the weight of the cool autumn raindrops. The intense reds, yellows and oranges of the beeches and maples around my property are now a burnished russet, reminding me of the colors of warm baked pie crust or caramel apples from our recent harvests. These warm satisfying earth tones will soon be gone, replaced by bare trees and then white crystals. But, for now, I feel warmed inside by these rich colors. Pumpkins sit on stoops, waiting for kids to ring nearby doorbells for trick-or-treating in a few days. And then it will be time to prepare for my favorite holiday and I reflect upon how thankful I am that nature has given me this feast for my soul.

Thinking Books...

I found this great quote while looking for ways to publicize my new book online:

"I was reminded of the neatest thing about writing a book in the first place: the author’s obsession, developed over years and often nurtured in solitude, finally becomes a shared point of reference through which readers can look anew at some aspect of the world."

While interviewing the gardeners for my book last year, I felt that I had learned to see the world in new ways. My love for gardening grew. I better understood my place in nature. I am excited to share my views and those of my new gardening friends with others. I set out to write a book with a positive spin that showed the peace we can find when we connect with nature. I hope that I have accomplished that and will help others look anew at their gardens.

The Gardener's Soul

Published at last! I've taken a break from blogging to finish up my now published book, "The Gardener's Soul: Nature's Path Toward Inner Peace." Information about the publication is available through Createspace, an affiliate of Amazon.com.

I hope to be back to my garden blog on a regular basis! I've missed everyone.

The Meaning of the Details

Today I began a brick path leading to my gazebo. As storm clouds and thunder rolled in, I also outlined my gazebo shade garden with brick edging. The garden now has more definition. As I gardened, I began thinking...the beauty is in the details. Containers with pretty pots; a rustic wooden fence as a backdrop; stone paths; arches covered in vines; fairies tucked under hostas -- the details are what make the garden special. Beyond color schemes and plant varieties, the man-made elements of a garden call attention to the gardener's handiwork. I will finish out this season further defining pathways and tucking visual elements into the setting to put my stamp on my landscape. After all, showing our unique talents and viewpoints is part of what gardening is all about.

There is an area of historical study called "material culture." I was speaking to a friend about this yesterday. Material culture involves the study of the symbolism and hidden meaning of man-made objects. It involves looking at artifacts to determine what a culture or individual meant by the creations they left behind. One can examine a garden for its beauty. Or, one can dig even further and seek to understand the gardener through an examination of her style and the incorporated elements in her garden.

While researching my book, "The Gardener's Soul," I was especially struck by this method of understanding the gardener when I met a woman with very high end artistic taste. Her garden was tastefully peppered with fine art sculpture such as a bench by a well-known local artist. Tucked in one corner of the garden was a little gargoyle. He seemed out of place amidst the expensive stone artworks. He seemed an ordinary piece of garden whimsy. I wanted to know what this little piece of sculpture said about this gardener. Her garden was meticulous. The plants were in neat rows with neat pathways and few weeds. In conversation, I learned that this woman liked to feel in control of her surroundings and her life. Yet, I could feel that this deeply organized and image conscious person had a wild side that she kept close to her. When I mentioned the seemingly disparate gargoyle, she gave me a sly smile as if I discovered a little secret.

Faces on my trees; a sign that reads "If you are a fairy princess please come in"; a cat weather vane, Buddhist sculptures; curvy pathways -- all reveal different aspects of my personality. I wonder how people would read me if they ventured upon my gardens without a tour. Mom? cat person? Buddhist?

What secrets do your garden objects reveal about you? Or, are you conscientiously shouting a message to the world about yourself?

How-To Garden Party

photo one - gardeners relaxing on the deck
photo two - my daughter watches as gardeners scope out what others brought to share (note the fancy dress. She hears the word "party" and goes all out)

I had never been to a literal garden party before, so I was excited when Karen invited my daughter and me to attend hers. She meets once every three or four months with like-minded women from all over New England whom she has met in her travels. The women share plants, tour her garden and chat. We had a lot of fun. Here are some thoughts and ideas for your own garden party that I picked up from attending Karen's festivities.

- Don't pick the hottest day of the year for your party if you can avoid it. My daughter was pounding down V8 juice like no one's business. (I love to take her on gardening adventures with me because I love her company and I think it's a good learning experience for her. But I think the most important thing she learned on this trip is that she loves V8 juice. Does anyone else have a five-year-old who goes for this stuff? I can't stomach it myself.)

- Encourage everyone to bring plants in pots to trade. Label the pots with as much information as possible. Lay the plants on the ground for attendees to peruse and choose what they would like. Karen is extremely generous and had dug quite a bit out of her large gardens for us. She was also willing to dig more if there was something we wanted. She ordered us to make sure no pots were left! I brought four items, but will try to bring more next time I attend a function like this.

- Do talk about your gardens and give the full grand tour. (My father used to call it the nickel tour, but I think with inflation these days it would be about $5 now.) People want to hear about what you have, where you found it, how it grows, etc. etc. I tend to be shy about speaking up, but people really do want to hear all about your gardening habits. Listening to others is one of the best ways to learn. Sharing stories with other gardeners is also a great way to pass the time. We all love to hear about others experiences in the dirt!

- Encourage others to bring food and drink and stay around awhile. Provide your own refreshment. Bring it out in stages. Karen's party was scheduled for 6 hours so people could drop in and out. Food was to be made available all day.

- Supply chairs that provide a great view of your garden spaces. Create a perfect outdoor atmosphere. Karen had up wind chimes and bird feeders that I know are there all the time, but they were perfect for our relaxing party.

I am hoping to have a party at the end of the summer to celebrate the upcoming publication of my book. (I am being positive that someone will pick it up by then.) I would love to hear more ideas about garden parties. Have you ever hosted one? Please let me know what made it special for you.

Garden Envy

I have garden envy and I've been sitting here trying to decide if that is a bad thing. I wouldn't say that I'm jealous or "green" with envy. I just sometimes admire others' gardens in a way that makes something stir inside of me. I want what they have. I don't want to give up what I have though. I'm not dissatisfied with what I've got. I just want to make what I've got better or different.

When this feeling stirs inside me, I want to run from the admired garden and start planting furiously in my own. I get filled with ideas that are ready to pour out. I feel creative. I have a realization like "AHA! All I need to do to add this atmosphere to my garden is to plant (fill in plant of the moment here.)" Or, "AHA! All I need to do is hang more wind chimes, build a trellis, etc. etc."

When I walk into a garden that inspires me, I feel like I walked into a great story that someone else wrote. (Have you ever gotten so involved in a reading a narrative, that the fiction felt like it was your real life?) I have become one of the characters of this other story. I have become the GARDENER . But, when I finally do get home, I realize that this alternate world really doesn't fit mine.

I have realized my propensity to project other people's garden taste onto my own space for a while. I began contemplating this phenomenon in earnest yesterday after my daughter and I attended a "garden party" hosted by two of the gardeners I interviewed for my book last year. Their gardens are amazing. They spend a great deal of time in their spaces, have a lot of knowledge, and have transformed their lands into gardeners' paradise.

I walked among the first garden, which was created by Karen, and felt transformed. Her fields are already blooming furiously. My colors are just getting under way. I said to myself while admiring her lupine, "This is missing from my space. I must plant lupine!" My mind wound around the realization that lupine is a missing character in my story. "And anemones! So, this is what you can do with anemones! And listen to those wind chimes in the warm summer breeze. What a wonderful idea to hang them from all the trees." My main source of envy for her garden is of her large space between horse fields and fruit trees. Here she has a garden just stuffed with all kinds of wonderful perennials. At first glance, the space looks like a field of wildflowers, but when one looks closer, one can see that it is a well planned space bursting with color. After viewing this, I then moved on to the second gardener, Emily's space. Her gardens wrap around her house, leading one around the yard to reveal a rolling country landscape in her backyard. Her gardens are very different from Karen's, but equally enticing. "AH! primrose. I don't have those! And her columbine steals the show back here!" My mind furiously wove the gardens into my own story, trying to think of them as the backdrop for my activities in my own yard.

When I arrived home, something felt wrong as soon as I started up the driveway. My property is slanted. It doesn't resemble the spaces of either Karen or Emily at all. Everything is terraced. I can't create a large square, flat wildflower field. I have no rolling hills. The back of my house stares at trees. I sighed as I began pulling my mind out of someone else's story. Then I began admiring my little rose garden and the way I have fairy roses wrapping around a fenced area of the yard. I smiled at the daisies, running along the first terraced wall that welcomes me home. I looked for my favorite plants that feel like old friends. They are characters whom I know quite well and with which I can personally identify.

This works for me. With each bout of garden envy, I learn how to weave another person's creative ideas into my own garden spaces just a little bit. Gardeners have different landscapes that we mold based on our knowledge, experiences and tastes. The landscape, like the gardener must also be the central character of the story, for it can only be molded by the gardener so much. I realized that there were many things about the others' gardens that didn't excite me. I will not be recreating Karen's rock garden for example. It is beautiful, but I don't have rocky crags requiring this kind of gardening.

So, all in all, I think a little garden envy is not a bad thing. I think I have now come to terms with it.

(blogger isn't letting me post photos at the moment. I'll try ot put some up of the gardens later)

What's Inside Your Head?

The other day I had the honor of judging the art work of students from the Manchester, New Hampshire area. My local art association offers a scholarship each year to the student we deem the most talented, who plans to go to college with a major in the fine arts. I was blown away by this year's winner. Her use of color, composition, and medium were superb, but all of the judges agreed that what put her over the top was her subject matter. She has the ability to take a central idea, manipulate it, and let her imagination run wild to realize a fully developed story in a single image in every single one of her paintings. She got me thinking about fully realized creativity...

I am fascinated by human creativity. Whether the outlet for our creative efforts is the fine arts, gardening, dramatic arts, music, or writing, human expression is a wonder. How amazing it is to me that we can take what is in our heads, use an appropriate medium to get it out, and allow others to see our thoughts. Effective communication can help others see things in a new light. Our creative efforts can even make people feel our emotions.

One student showed a picture of her version of heaven. The painting was done in all golds. We saw the back of a girl's head, looking over a stone fence at an expansive castle-like building. This image was done for a class assignment. The object was to paint something that could not be expressed with words. From the painting I garnered a feeling of wonder and beauty before the artist identified the subject. Very effectively, she communicated her vision of something larger than herself, something that brings her peace and happiness. Immediately, I felt her emotions when looking at her painting.

In my garden photography, I aim to point out the beauty and wonder I feel while in a garden. There is no place I feel more at peace with myself and my place in the universe. My husband (who is not a gardener) once told me that I make flowers more beautiful than they really are. I don't think that is true because I see the beauty that is in my photographs when I look at flowers, but I'm glad he feels that way. I know that he looks at flowers twice now because he sees something that he didn't notice before I took up garden photography. I have helped make my vision his. I have helped him feel my sense of wonder and my happiness in the garden.

Though I am usually showing a beauty that is there, sometimes in my imagery I try to show things that are not there. One of my favorite things is to visit a field of flowers and imagine a newly formed landscape. It is a form of meditation for me I suppose. I'll sandwich fields of photos together to show my alternate vision of the landscape. The images that begin this post show samples of this type of work and creativity.

While choosing the landscape and appropriate planting for my own garden, I am out to accomplish the same thing. I have a vision of my yard. In my mind's eye, I know what the finished product of my gardening efforts will be. One day, I will realize the vision and finally get it out of my head for all to see the true potential of my landscape and the comfort I gain from it. And with this realized final product one will also be able to see a part of me, melded with with nature, at its my most peaceful self. This is what I have deemed "The Gardener's Soul." It is the creativity inside a person or a person's inner self achieving a melding with the world around her and expressing itself in the garden.

Clean Up

I have been making a concerted effort to clean up my yard this year. I have vowed to go out at least half an hour every day to perform my cleanup, but am finding that I am out for longer periods more often than not. Usually in the spring time, I run out to the garden center to get something to plant before the clean up is complete. Then , the cleanup is never completed. This year, I have focused on raking leaves and amending soil before I allow myself the indulgence of planting. It feels nice. After a decade of gardening, I finally feel like I have a big picture sense of the activity. Every part of the yard has been swept. Every plant has been examined and pruned. Each separate part of the garden is a separate room, waiting for its turn to be cleaned.

I planted pansies today. It was a present for all of the hard work. The final "room" outdoors was cleaned. The shaded space out my back door is a brick patio, generally covered with dirt, pine needles, weeds and moss. It felt lost and hopeless for a couple of years. Today, I set on it to scrub it clean. I raked the small spaces of dead dirt surrounding the brick, hardened by the time I neglected it. I even added manure and by the time I was through, the space felt new - a special find like when one scrubs a gray floor to find a white sparkling shine beneath. I have a vision of a real garden surrounding the patio now. The pansies I planted felt like decoration, as the flowers do when I place tulips on the counter. I feel like my gardens are cheering me on. I am ready to make the rounds again, starting with garden one and working my way around the yard.

I have new gardening friends to thank for showing me the way. The interviews from "The Gardener's Soul" breathed life into my own gardening habits. We gardeners learn a lot from each other. Gardeners are such generous people, willing to share their tips. There is so much to learn. There is always the opportunity to rethink our gardening styles and habits. And as we change, our gardens bend. How many times does a gardener have a breakthrough in a lifetime? How many times have you changed or refined your habits? What has led to YOUR breakthrough moments?

A Sense of Place

Emily's gardens are enhanced by a backdrop of ruins. Contoured greenery rolls from her house, down the hill, to where the old hotel once stood. Her gardens lace her backyard with waves of yellow. We looked out together at the scene. As an historian, I was entranced with the place. I pictured train loads of city dwellers traveling up to rural Lyndeborough for weekend get-aways. As the United States left the Victorian era, heading toward World War One, flappers, and Depression, Americans sought comfort in the New Hampshire mountainous regions.

I interviewed Emily last year for my book, "The Gardener's Soul." I spent this morning working on a small footnote for the book related to her hotel ruin. At the Manchester City Library I found two local history books referencing the old place. I also read that many of Lyndeborough's records have been lost to time. Typical. Fire, neglect, and misplacement often create great gaps in the historical record. As an archivist, I spent many years trying to fill the gaps to assist my patrons with their historical searches. As a writer, I know enough to expect the gaps, but am disappointed nonetheless. I shall call the town offices in Lyndeborough and the NH Historical Society on Monday to see if they have additional information, but I am not hopeful.

I know who built the hotel and when it burned down based on the local history books, but do any original records about this place exist? How much of our sense of place is based on historical fact? How much is based on legend? Emily told me what she knew, but where did she get her information? How much of our sense of place is based on what we feel when we stand there and what we see with our own eyes? Why should a gardener care about the history of their landscape?

In "A Place to Remember: Using History to Build Community," Robert Archibald discusses how history is a unifying discipline that can help us understand who we are and how we got here.
He states:
"So, there is a point to history, for history is a process of facilitating conversations in which we consider what we have done well, what we have done poorly, and how we can do better, conversations that are a prelude to action. If the past has enduring meaning and implications, then we as historians must become active conservators: of artifacts and stories and community, of life on this earth and thus implicitly of this earth that sustains life. As we face the past, we are also facing the future." (p.24-25)

So, my two seemingly disparate interests in history and gardening come together naturally as I learn other people's gardening stories and read about the gardening practiced by our ancestors. Though gardening is easily recognized as a scientific discipline and often as an artistic one, and though all gardeners can relate that gardening makes them feel "good," the history of the landscape is overlooked. It should not be. Recognizing that mankind's history is tied to his surroundings makes the cycle of life and nature more poignant. Science, art, history, and the ethereal all play a part in the gardening experience to bring alive a sense of place. We should recognize the benefit of combining all the disciplines. Together they help us make sense of our surroundings and round out the gardening experience. A place like Emily's where history smacks you in the fact with the historical remnants of buildings is magical, but we should see that all landscapes have a historical past to be valued.

The Gardener's Soul

What is the "Gardener's Soul?"

The Gardener's Soul is the creative energy and natural sense of peace the human spirit feels in a garden setting. The act of participating in garden activities helps an individual develop the ability to better identify with nature and to seek ways to protect it. No matter one's personal background, becoming a gardener helps the individual achieve a oneness with the entire living world. By reaching out to nature, we reach back to the essence of what it means to be human and recognize how we are just a small part of the natural world.

I have mentioned in this blog a number of times that I am working on a book, but I have not discussed it in detail. "The Gardener's Soul: Nature's Path Toward Inner Peace" is now a complete manuscript and I am seeking a publisher for it. The work focuses on fourteen female gardeners from the New Hampshire and Northern Massachusetts area. It discusses their gardening styles, why they garden, how gardening inspires them, and how the garden fits in their lifestyles. Last summer, I found these women by advertising the project in my local garden center. I then photographed and interviewed them in their gardens. The women include doctors, artists, housewives, a writer, salespeople, retirees, an art dealer, a psychologist and teachers who all feel that gardening plays an essential role in their health and happiness.

The book includes stories of the women's gardening experiences. For example, there are funny side-bits such as the woman who thought she heard monkeys in her backyard in the middle of the night when she was awakened by a raucous "hoo, hoo, ha, ha." She found raccoons whooping it up, getting drunk from fermenting pears on her fruit tree. There are also poignant life altering insights such as the woman who bought a small cottage after her divorce and after overcoming cancer. She says that these negative events encouraged her to volunteer at the local hospital with her "therapy" dogs to brighten the patients day and to take up gardening so that she could be closer to the most meaningful things in life.

So, there you have it. This has been my project, my baby for the past year. I'll keep you posted on how the publisher search goes. I have sent out numerous query letters and book proposals and I am plugging away on a little more every day. I've had a number of rejections thus far, but a few of them have been"positive" rejections. They've told me that the book has merit, but is not right for their publishing company. So, I'll keep plugging away. I keep telling myself that I have heard J.K. Rowling had twenty rejections before someone took on her masterpiece. I have to be at least that patient!

Advice, insights into publishing, and especially any publisher interest is appreciated! ; )

Going Natural

For me, last year was all about meeting other gardeners and learning how they garden. This year it will be about going completely organic...or as much as I can as I learn how to do it. (I already missed the organic seed bandwagon - buying hybrids and then learning about heirlooms and seedsavers. DOH! But learning is a process.)

Last year I set out on an adventure to interview fellow gardeners. I've written about it a few times in this blog. (See postings related to my book "The Gardener's Soul" if you would like to read more.) One day, I stood in the garden photographing flowers thinking about my own gardening and art. I love flowers. I garden for the sheer joy and comfort of it. Flowers to me represent everything good about life. They make me happy... I had an epiphany. Others must spend a lot of time in their gardens thinking about why they do it too! I decided to ask. I posted a notice in my favorite garden center, asking gardeners to contact me if they were interested in participating in a project that would lead to a book and exhibit. I photographed and interviewed 14 women in their gardens and spent the winter writing about the experience.

In the course of writing, I also did a lot of research. I read about women gardeners over the history of time. I read about spirituality and gardening. I read many musings on gardening, gardener's correspondence, books on ecology, books on growing your own food. Above all, my readings and my meetings with gardeners last year impressed upon me the importance of conservation. I have always leaned toward organic gardening, but I think I have crossed a threshold. I am currently reading "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson, which in my opinion should be required reading for all high school students. It took me until my thirties to read it. I am moved to do something about man's abuse of the earth. Starting in my own backyard, I will change things.

Creativity and Inspiration

Tonight I will be speaking publicly for the first time about my upcoming book The Gardener's Soul. I will be presenting to the local Craftworkers Guild. I am focusing my talk on creativity and finding inspiration. The gardeners whom I interviewed for the book all find inspiration for their lives in the garden. Many are artists who also find obvious creative inspiration for their artwork. Others find creative inspiration for other aspects of their lives. One teacher brings what she learns from nature into the classroom, such as the milkweed seedpods she found in a field of wildflowers. They reminded her about her trip to Mexico to visit her brother and the waves of monarchs that hung from the trees there. She shared this with her students. Another gardener brings the meditative peace she feels in the garden to the troubled teens she counsels as an adolescent psychologist, teaching them about how to connect better with themselves and their world.

Creativity and Inspiration go hand in hand. When something excites us, a passion is ignited inside. When we connect with that passion and allow it to propel us we can release a burst of creativity. Creativity is expressing our passion to others. I see it as using your inspiration to try to ignite a passion in another soul no matter what the means. The arts, education, and even politics can offer a creative release. When something influences me I want to share it because I feel lucky (or wealthy) every time I discover something that gives me pause. If I am creative enough, I can find a means of expression that will allow me to share my insights in a profound way. I often use photography or writing as my means of expression. But I also garden, teach or talk publicly to announce my creative views.

Most of the craftspeople to whom I will speak tonight are not photographers. I imagine they are textile artists, seamstresses, knitters, and painters. Perhaps there will be a few gardeners (I hope.) We are all bonded by this desire to reach for our creative selves and to find inspiration. If my audience is not made up of gardeners, perhaps I can convince them that this is a worthy avenue for their creative expression. Or to at least, I can encourage them to look to nature for additional creative inspiration for the current work that they do.

Creativity is assisted by camaraderie. As humans, we learn from each other and are motivated by the things our fellows have to express. I have been motivated by all of the gardeners I met last summer for the writing of my book. As I plan my gardening season, my thoughts about my space are very different from what they were this time last year. I have previously written about the new vegetable and herb gardens I have planned, my new clover lawn, and my children's sunflower patch. All of these creative ideas were born from the things I learned from others over the past year. Their gardens and their views are my current inspiration. I hope to spread the wealth.

Presenting.....ME

One of the things I love to do is to stand in front of a crowd and speak. This was not always the case. I once dreaded getting in front of people. My voice would shake because I would forget to breathe. I'd forget what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it no matter how many times I practiced. When I was through making a presentation I couldn't remember if I said what I had planned. I wouldn't know if my audience enjoyed the talk. I would just know that I had not and that I made a complete fool out of myself.

The first talk I clearly remember giving was at an undergraduate research conference at CalTech during my Senior year of college. The wonderful thing about it was that we were all cut a little slack. At least that is what I told myself. (It's all about the little voice that you play over and over again in your head.) We were students after all and this experience was meant for learning. I made it through just fine. But the next few years of presentations were not so easy. After schooling, as a professional, I told myself that I was getting paid for my talks. I asked myself what would happen if people hated what I had to say. I never answered that question. The open ended query reverberated in my head leaving me nervous and certainly not at my best. Perhaps I was worried that they would shoot me on the spot. Maybe they would fire me? Maybe no one would ever show up to hear me talk again? After one presentation I made with a colleague at another institution a man in the audience (who was one of the biggest supporters of the library where I worked told me) "Don't quit your day job." That surely did a lot for my confidence, but I was not fired nor did they shoot me on the spot. But maybe he never returned for another one of my talks.

It wasn't until I began teaching that I started to enjoy speaking. First I began teaching computer classes to small groups of three or four at the library. Then, I moved on to teaching computer to Seniors at a local college. I became a young adult librarian and led book discussions. I then became a self-employed archives consultant and had to speak to large groups about all things related to historical records. The little voice in my head started saying, "They are interested in what I have to say!" Instead of screaming negativities that little voice edges me on. I love the art of "presentation" and like to think of it as a forum to exchange ideas with others. I am now asked to speak at many professional conferences in my field. Feedback on what I have to say is usually good. (Nobody's perfect.) I have often been told that the passion for my subject comes through and this is most important to me for I am nothing if not passionate.

So...what does this have to do with gardens or the arts? (It took me long enough to get to this point today didn't it?) This morning I was writing a presentation for the local Craftworkers Guild who have asked me to speak at their upcoming meeting this month. I will be presenting The Gardeners Soul for the first time. Someone was interested enough in the topic to invite me to speak so that's a good start. I am a little anxious about revealing my idea to the world, but I think I am more excited than anxious. That is what I am trying to get the voice in my head to repeat anyway. I am passionate about this subject. I am passionate about my work. I am passionate about nature. I am passionate about the act of creating, whether it is crafting or making "fine art." I am excited to share my passion with other to help elicit their passions. Maybe the audience will have a lot of ideas to share with me.

Now I need only to get over me fear of sending manuscripts out to publishers...

How Does Gardening Soothe Your Soul?

I finished the second draft of my book proposal for The Gardener's Soul: Nature's Path Toward Inner Peace this morning. I am ready to send it on to two new readers. (These are innocent friends who have agreed to take a look without knowing what they are getting themselves into. Or, perhaps they do know, but are too kind to refuse?)

I sat down with a cup of chamomile tea at my side and felt the jitters of possible rejection. Yet, as I dove into my subject I could feel myself relaxing. Was it the chamomile tea kicking in? I think rather it was the thoughts of warmth and the garden calming my soul.

My book's central focus is that the garden is a place to commune with nature and soothe your soul. I know how it soothes mine and I met fourteen other gardeners last summer who expressed how it soothes theirs. Here is what I know:

• Being out in nature reminds me of a bigger picture and helps me reflect on what is really important in life.
• Gardening helps many acknowledge a higher power and/or to seek spiritual enlightenment.
• Feeling the warm sunshine on my face makes me happy. There is no need to explain this further. The sun just makes me feel happy.
• The vibrant colors of the garden also make me feel happy. I have always been attracted to color.
• The act of creating a personal space in the garden makes people feel content and boosts self esteem.
• Gardening encourages creativity in the garden and provides inspiration out of the garden.
• Growing our own food makes one feel closer to the natural world and more in touch with what we put in our bodies.
• The sights, sounds and smells of the garden refresh our spirits.
• The creatures we encounter in the garden also soothe us and make us feel closer to nature.
• Experimenting in the garden feeds our natural curiosity and encourages more curiosity about the world.
• Gardening encourages a nurturing instinct.
• Gardening encourages a playful spirit.
• In the garden we often feel connections to loved ones and many generations past.

How does gardening soothe your soul?

Weeds

I'm going to grow weeds this summer. In Gardening by Heart, Joyce McGreevy takes a chapter to extol the benefits of weeds as garden fillers and edibles. She discusses how plants generally regarded as weeds, such as the pale blue flax, sometimes have colors that are difficult to find in catalogs. She also discusses how weeds such as dandelions can be used in salads or made into teas for consumption. Many weeds help protect other plants in the garden by warding off bugs, encouraging beneficial wildlife, or offering shelter beneath their foliage for tender seedlings.

I'm going to be choosy about the weeds I let flourish. I am not a fan of violets. These thrive in my garden. I remember as a child digging them out of a neighbor's garden as an afternoon chore. Perhaps if I did not have that memory, I would favor the violet, but I forever have WEED and violet imprinted on my brain. And, despite the temptation of tasting a dandelion salad, I will not be allowing any dandelions in the yard for obvious reasons. I take my daughter to the local farm, which has a big field, to grab stems with puffy white heads that take flight when she blows on them.

To me, there are also flowers that others do not consider weeds that are weeds in my yard. The long stemmed variety of phlox are a big no-no in my gardens. There was a barrel full of blighted phlox when I moved to this home three years ago. I have been pulling out the stuff ever since. I see its tiny leaves poking out of the ground and I pounce on it. "AHA! OUT, OUT! You are not welcome here!"

I found it funny this past summer when some of the gardeners I interviewed for The Gardener's Soul ranted about ridding their gardens of weeds. The funniest part was that they knew they were ranting and found it funny themselves. I learned that some gardeners attacked the weeds with military might and deliberation. They could not stand to see the weeds in their gardens. And yet, other gardeners were perfectly fine with weeds. Gently removing ones that weren't to their tastes. Some would even leave a whole garden to the weeds for one season, knowing that they could always return to that patch of land to work it the following year. I realized last year that I had been removing "weeds" for years that if left alone they would have turned into something glorious - tomato plants to add interest to the perennial garden or Queen Anne's lace to add a delicate backdrop to my handpicked specimen plants.

Two of my big planned projects this year are to plant a wildflower garden and to introduce a clover lawn to the yard. My daughter and I began our wildflower garden last year by spreading seeds from milkweed pods. I am anxious to see if the plants come up. There is nothing more heavenly than the smell of milkweed and the sight of the monarchs they attract. There is also nothing more luxurious than the clover lawn a gardener showed me last year. (I think I'll write about clover lawns another day.) I am figuring out how I can fit weeds within my garden scheme and I'm changing my perspective about them.

My favorite local garden center Uncanoonuc Mountain Perennials offers many native plants. One great benefit is that they are easy to grow and quickly fill your garden space. Last year I got on the native plant bandwagon and purchased Joe Pye Weed. (I'm sure I have other natives in my gardens that I could name if I thought about, but these I bought with the intention of buying native.) These native plants (aka weeds) should thrive in my yard. They deserve some appreciation for that alone. If I can prize my choosy roses, why should I not prize my less fussy (better tempered?) plants as well? These natives don't demand attention, I should be proud to show them off as one would show off a well behaved child.

Gardening by Heart

I am reading Joyce McGreevy's book Gardening by Heart: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Garden. the book encourages everyone to garden and discusses the benefits of gardening for one's well-being. It offers advice for how to become a gardener, how to learn to stop and "smell the roses" so to speak.

McGreevy's directions and observations make me think of the gardeners I met last summer for my The Gardener's Soul project. McGreevy discusses the same themes that have come up over and over again with my gardeners:

• A garden brings happiness.
• Any plant you tend can be your garden.
• Gardening is a way for us to connect with nature and find respect for the earth.
• Gardening itself is a process. It is the act of gardening that brings us joy.
• A gardener's character is seen in the garden he/she creates.
• Our lives are filled with gardens. We just need to open our eyes and look for them
• Experience is important in the garden. We need only to pay attention to nature to be a good gardener.
• Bring all of your senses to your garden to really experience it.
• "Find what thrives for you and grow it."
• Find the corner of the garden that speaks to your soul and cherish it.
• Find a connection to nature every day, even if only for a limited time.
• We connect to generations in the garden.

When in the garden, I work hard. I sweat. I step back and take a quick look. Then, I dive in again and work some more. When I am all through, I grab my little girl and we walk around the yard together, just like my dad did with me when I was a girl. We examine plants, smells and design. We frolic. (Isn't that a lovely word? Just made for the garden...) For me, the cap on the gardening experience is writing about what I've planted or grabbing my camera to take photographs of my work. From seed to photo completes my gardening experience. The camera helps me stop and smell the roses. I remember the experience better when I had a camera in my hand to record it.

Fruit Photography and Eating Clean

Food is on my mind today. I'm still in the process of ordering my summer seeds. I've got the bio-dome picked out for my vegetables and have vowed to order it today! As I was footnoting my book this morning, I realized that I had referenced produce related topics a number of times. I am also back on the Zone Diet, which helps regulate my hormone levels and really make me a much happier person. So food seems like a good subject for the days writing...(My friend Regina is also taking me out to lunch today and I am getting very hungry!)

But what does food have to do with garden portraits? Well, beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables can be just as photogenic as colorful vibrant flowers. Strawberries are my own personal favorites for photographing. You can't beat the bright red color, the way the light plays off their sensual form and the bright green tops to cap (no pun intended) the whole thing off. When I plop down a strawberry in the middle of some flowers that really gets my creativity flowing. Slice open the fruit for another view of your fabulous subject. Apples, corn, raspberries, and kiwi are some more favored materials for my artistic endeavors. Pile them high in a bowl or let them stand on their own. Play with lighting - natural or artificial. Make pleasant shadows mimicing nature's enticing forms.

And after you photograph it you can eat it! Check out the work of my friend, fellow gardener, and photographer Lisa Allen. She is the author of Eating Clean (which is available on her web site.) She offers lots of tasty ideas for what to do with fresh from the garden produce. Thanks Lisa! (Lisa is also one of the gardeners who posed for my upcoming book The Gardener's Soul. She is a lovely and fascinating individual.)

Have a great day everyone! I'm off for some Thai food!

Secrets of a Natural Gardener

My book proposal has been edited by a friend and I am busy re-working it now. My mind today is wrapped around chapter summaries. In the proposal I write about each of the individual gardeners I visited last summer. I learned so much from them. Despite the fact that I have been gardening on my own for ten years, there is so much I don't know. Learning in the garden is a never ending process. Everyone has a different method. A good gardener is always experimenting - moving things around, playing with new methods. Here are some of the "secrets" I learned last year. As I start to plan for this year's garden, I am trying to keep all of these things in mind.

- Clover lawns are healthier, easier to care for, and greener than grass lawns
- There are many sources of natural fertilizer from horse manure to sludge from the local waste plant.
- You can dry seeds from your vegetables in the sun and plant them next year.
- Elements of whimsy make a garden special.
- Seating areas encourage others to enjoy your gardens and make them more homey.
- A vegetable garden mixed with flowers encourages more wildlife and makes the garden more beautiful.
- Vegetables can be grown for food and/or for beauty.
- The garden can serve as an inspiration for all creative aspects of your life. You can mimic nature's beauty in paintings, photographs, and decorative arts. You can bring bouquets into your home or dry flowers to decorate your living space.
- The garden should serve as an outdoor room to enjoy in nice weather. Encourage this kind of living by providing decks, walkways, and sheltered spaces. Think of your outdoor space this way and create niches with different atmospheres to enjoy at different times during the day.
- Think of children when creating your space. Make the garden a place to play.
- Add bright colors on a shed, arbor, or other outdoor element to make the space more fun
- Consider all of the space in your landscape. Plant around a mailbox and in out of the way corners to make your space a real nature haven.
- You do not have to save every plant. It is okay to give up on the ones that you have trouble growing no matter where you put them in your yard.
- Phlox can survive disease free in some people's yards.

I think that I am going to order my seed starter kit from Park Seed Company today!

The Gardener's Soul

"Gardeners approach their landscapes with passion and purpose. We garden because the aroma and sight of fresh colorful flowers make our senses tingle. The taste of fresh vegetables eaten as soon as they are plucked from the vine makes our mouths sing. We plant because the feeling of dirt between our fingers soothes our spirits. Our flexed muscles from tilling the earth and hauling rocks feel strong and vibrant. Gardening is exercise. It is relaxation or a chance to be out in the sunshine. The garden is a place to meditate, to party, to sit and read, or a place to enjoy with our loved ones. Gardening is a way to commune with nature and to explore what it means to be human. It is a way to form a bond with our surroundings and the living beings in it. In the garden we learn to gain an acceptance of whatever life offers. The act of gardening gives us time and inspiration to ponder about ourselves and to explore our own souls. It makes us feel more alive...."

And so I begin my book, The Gardener's Soul: Nature's Path Toward Inner Peace. I finished my book proposal yesterday and a friend is reviewing it today. Last summer, I visited 14 female gardeners and took photographs of them for the project. I found these women through my local garden center and was very surprised how enthusiastic everyone was about the project. I continue (is it okay to quote myself?)...

"In this book, I present fourteen stories about diverse women with very different personalities, occupations, and gardening styles. The common bond is that the women are all strongly tied to their gardens and their identities as gardeners. They are also deeply respectful of, or attuned to, nature. Each gardener has her own unique style that is reflected in her handiwork. Each finds inspiration for her life from her garden. Tales of creativity, peace, simplicity, energy, beauty, strength and deference are woven throughout this book."

I have spent the past autumn and winter writing about these women and my visits with them. I wanted to write a draft of the book before I wrote the proposal just to see what I had to say. This is my second book, but my first in this field. Additionally, for my first book I was approached by the publishing company to write it. I was working as the archivist at the Waltham Public Library and Arcadia Publishing Company was seeking to publish a local history about the City as part of their Images of America series.. I controlled the records. They wanted access. It worked out well...but it was a very different experience than what I am going through now. After spending so much time on this book, I feel like I am now putting myself out there to see if anyone likes me or my writing. A friend reminded me yesterday that it took J.K. Rowling about twenty submits to publishers before she found one willing to take her on. So, I'm plugging away and remaining hopeful.

I have also been doing a lot of garden reading this winter. One topic that has come up a few times in book reviews I read relates to garden writers. They say that anyone who gardens and also writes will one day eventually try to write a gardening book. I hope that I become one in a line of writers who actually gets her book published...though I think if need be, I will consider self-publishing. (Does anyone have experience with either publishers or self-publishing?)

Meeting my fourteen women gardeners has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. There is such a feeling of camaraderie among gardeners. I am very grateful to these special people who shared a little bit of their passion and their soul with me by sharing their gardens. Each of these women let me into a very personal space and helped me to see that my little garden is part of something much bigger.

I hope to share more about my book and experiences with it in the coming months. I am including a few photos from the project for you to see.