I’ve dug up our lawn in a strip along the sidewalk leading up to the front door. Why? It’s my experiment to do a seasonal cutting garden propagated only from seed. For you see, I habitually harvest my own seeds each year: cosmos, larkspur, poppy, bachelor button, and globe amaranth. In addition, I supplement with mail order zinnia seeds.
I started this venture way back in January before the virus pandemic crept into our communities. I began by digging up the grass in pallets and transplanting it to thinner spots around the yard. Secondly, I amended the soil with my own home-brew compost as well as bags of cotton burr. By February, I was ready to sow my first wave of seeds including larkspur, bachelor button, and poppy since they needed to be in the ground asap in anticipation of a spring show. When these first blooms play out by the heat of May, I will pull them up, harvest their seed pods, and plant the summer seeds of zinnia, cosmos, and globe amaranth.
I realized today, as March rolled into April and we are smothered by this pandemic quarantine time, that this little experimental strip has become my hope garden. I hope that we survive this scourge and can enjoy the upcoming summer blooms. I hope that this path leading up to our bright red front door will again welcome guests. I hope that our grandchildren can again delight in running their hands through the scented border as they race up to us for hugs. I hope that I will have so many blooms, that every guest who pops by can leave embracing their own take-home bouquet.
What hope is sustaining you this season?
Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized.
LOVE the connections you made between planning/creating your new sidewalk strip flower garden and HOPE during these unsettling times we’re all trying to navigate the best we can. I especially enjoyed the image (and hope for the future) of the grandkids running their fingers through the scented flowers which will be so plentiful that friends/guests will be able to gather bouquets to take home with them. Thank you for this uplifting message and reminder that we all have the capacity for creating a garden (though it may not be an actual garden with flowers!?!)… a capacity for hospitality, generosity, and planning for a future where once again we WILL GATHER.
Can wait to see photos of your Hope garden! And a reminder that our hope can be fueled by so much that surrounds us!