I have not written much on The Garden Frog
I realized that I need to fill you all in on what has been happening in my life and garden. This year (2016) will go down in my memories as one of the toughest times in my life. Why? Because my youngest son graduated from high school last June, my husband and I separated, and I had to dig up my flower beds to create a simple mulched landscape for a new family.
I am dreaming of my new garden because it is the one thing I can do to keep me from crying. For anyone who is a gardener, you know that feeling of happy- the happy when you walk out to the garden and see a new bloom beckoning you to wander over to admire its color, the aroma, and the beauty…
Gardening is not just about blooms- it is the circus of bees, birds, and butterflies that flitter and buzz around chirping and tweeting the songs of nature. The beauty unfolds as the flowers open in the morning to unveil a smorgasboard of yellow pollen for hoards of pollinators to visit and devour.
I am a gardener without a garden right now
I am dreaming of my new garden
Garden beds filled with the blooms of my favorite flower- Iris and the sea of Black eyed Susans, Salvia, Confeflowers, and Daylilies that color my world in the heat of summer. I fill with the excitement of watching the finches land on the seed heads and swaying to and fro as they enjoy the bounty of their find and spilling and sowing the seeds for next years blooms.
I have not sold the house yet and continue to scour the internet sites morning, noon, and night for a new home with lots of space for flowers. I am staying in Virginia, zone 7, where the seasons change and where I do not need a winter coat very often. I will be buying a fixer upper on my very small budget and I have to have room for 2 dogs, 3 cats, and the hundred plus perennials I have stashed in the back yard hidden from a buyer’s view.
Dreaming of my new garden after digging up my flower beds has kept me going at times when I wanted to cry. Cry? Yes because as a gardener I am lost without digging in dirt and cultivating my green thumb. I am lost without my blooms, without the birds, and without all the bees flitting about my garden. I cannot buy plants. I cannot plant. I can only check on my stash of Iris, hosta, ferns, and hydrangeas that fill an area under the canopies of the mighty Oaks.
I am a gardener without a garden. I am a woman lost without the color of nature. I am worried that I will not be able to find a new home where I belong and where I can grow along with my garden. I cannot put in to words the feeling of euphoria when a plant fourishes in the soil that I tended with my hands.
How many of you have purchased a wilted plant that struggled to survive on the racks of the garden center?
Then you know the feeling that wells up inside when it blooms for the first time. The excitement that makes you explode and tell everyone and anyone who will listen how you saved a plant from the dumpster.That is the feeling that I have experienced over and over for many years. As I post the pictures here, I could tell you a story about how it came to be (and one day I should share?) That is what gardening is about- the memories of working with nature to create your own slice of heaven in this chaotic world.
Want to talk about gardening or have a question?
Thanks for stopping by and reading my story. And do not forget to visit my other blog- The Garden Frog Boutique.
Creating. Inspiring. Gardening without the rules!
2017 copyrighted material C Renee
I am so sorry to read everything you are going through. I want to share that I know what this journey is like as I have walked through it also. My husband of 24 years was an assistant fire chief killed in the line of duty by an arsonist set fire. I had to move to a new home and leave behind my beautiful flower garden too. I want to assure you that you will find a new home and begin again. I, too, left a full yard of flowers I had worked so hard to make beautiful. I had to move in November so I wasn’t able to take any with me. I started over and now have a new garden with new flowers and they are beautiful also. I also want to share with you that I also have “rescued” many flowers from store shelves that I knew was on their “final breath” and I am so excited to share each of their “histories” to my friends! I will be saying prayers for you and may God bless you as he has me!
Thank you. It is hard starting over and I am so sorry you lost your husband. Gardening is a part of me which I have felt the loss for the past few months. I sold many of my plants and it was like a piece of me went with them. I worry all the time about what will survive the move and your beautiful response has helped me today (it has been a rough day). Thanks again your words mean a lot to me
I hope you find your dream garden soon. I have a feeling you will! I am so sorry you are going through all these changes in your life. I am just starting my life with a garden, as most of my adult life has been spent living in the southwest, where the gardening is limited and I have learned so much from your blog. Thank you so much!
I am so sorry for what you’re going thru. I have been there myself. I wish I was there to give you a place to come sit and talk and get the voice and support you need. But since that can’t happen because we live far apart let me give you this.
For you in real life: Fiind garden or divorce support groups. You need real life contact, friends who you can talk too, have a drink with and let the tears or even laughter fall with. Lean on them. Also, start a diary. Write in it daily about everything! Once this journey is over and you go back an read it? You will be amazed at how you handled it and you survived. I know I was when I read mine.
For your blog: Start sharing it with “Link parties”, and share it on google plus, twitter. Visiting link parties and adding your blog posts into them and then clicking other blogs and leaving comments is the best way to gain blog friends. I have been friends with so many women and they are some of the most supportive people around. Joining link parties is a great networking tool also and gain a bigger following.
I know some days are incredibly hard and it’s hard to even get out of bed. Try and get a part time job, even a seasonal one. Not for the money but the time and the opportunity. Time away from the divorce and opportunity to make friends and get a break from the sadness. Don’t surround yourself with what you don’t have.
Surround yourself with what you want and CAN have. I believe in you and I know you WILL get through this with dignity, respect and love. For every man a woman gives up…..one that’s 3 times better ALWAYS comes along. Always!
thank you for the words of wisdom and advice. I know I need to get back to being social and living how I want to live. Thank you for the time and pushing me…starting over at 50 is scary but I know it is doable!