Sunday, May 03, 2009

Garden Sharing

There's something about gardening that brings people together. It doesn't matter what the age or socioeconomic level, when a gardener is in the garden with another gardener nothing else matters. The beauty of a garden can be celebrated by sharing it with someone else. This may be by taking a simple walk together and looking at green growth and blossoms. Or it may involve giving away cut flowers or an extra plant or two. For those who grow herbs, tucking a sprig of sage, lavender, or thyme in an envelope with a card or letter is a great way of sharing your garden with someone far away. Inviting someone to lunch or dinner of your garden greens, thoughtfully prepared in your kitchen is a great way of sharing. Garden gifts in the form of bouquets, potted plants, or edibles make a wonderful contribution to a homeless shelter, church group, or food bank. There are so many ways to share! And gardeners are a very generous lot.

Garden sharing can also be a joint effort. Sometimes I buy tea roses in pairs, giving one to a friend and keeping one for my own garden. Although these roses all have their own official names, I always create a new and personal one for each as well. These names are a combination of my friend's name and my own. The LaGwen Rose in peachy perfection, or the LaKay Rose in deep red are subjects fun to discuss when we talk together. Friends and family have shared their garden abundance with me, and I appreciate these efforts so much. Right now the lilac hedge row is in an abundance of lavender and purple; plants that were started from starts that my mother-in-law gave to me. The snowball tree was a start from Karleen. And the pretty miniature irises were starts from my mom's garden. Each blossom reminds me of them and the beautiful characters their acts of kindness represent.

What ways have you been blessed by garden sharing? I'd love to hear your story! Please leave a comment and tell how you share from your garden, or how others share with you.

*Garden ornament shared with me from mom's garden. It just gets better and better with age.*

9 comments:

  1. Those moments with my children in the garden when they have an epiphany about the living. It is pure wisdom.

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  2. Just stopping by for a quick hello. We are still at the tea expo, but will leave tomorrow. As usual I love all your entries and pictures!

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  3. You have a lovely blog! I found it via Lovella's What Matters Most?

    When you wrote of garden sharing, it instantly brought to mind the beautiful perennials we have. When we first moved into this home over 20 years ago, a wonderful couple from church stopped by to welcome us. They brought us several different varieties of perennials. They all still bloom. Right now, I'm waiting for my lilies of the valley (my favorite). The 2 hasta plants they gave us are now at least thirty in number and border most of our gardens! I am always so grateful for their sweet generosity of time and garden sharing. Their act of hospitality has blessed our lives for years ... thank you for the wonderful post! *I also love your flour sack towel idea below... ~Maria

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  4. Isn't it wonderful that some things do get more lovely with age? Is that a bird feeder or is it truly only for ornamentation? I know this, I'd sure enjoy a walk through the garden with you and thank you for the suggestion to enclose a sprig of thyme or lavender or even rosemary in a letter. I'm going to try that.

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  5. I love to swap seeds..and recently was given a few seeds from a gal whose great grandmother brought these "mystery seeds" over to the States from Sicily..neither one of us know what these seeds are..but I plan on trying to help solve the mystery.
    I love sharing about gardening/growing plants with others. So fun to learn about new plants and to enhance ones surroundings in the process.Wishing you a lovely week.
    ~Tina

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  6. I enjoy getting starts of flowers from family in other parts of the states and planting them here. My garden has some flocks from my father-in-law's garden. They are multiplying and will be a nice grouping this year. He has been passed away for many years, but it is nice to see his flowers growing and thriving here at our home.

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  7. Everyone in Ray's family has a low-growing plant with yellow flowers. We call it Aunt Letha's flowers. We've never bothered to find out what its real name is - I guess we don't really want to know. :o)

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  8. Ruth Ann, I love it when families give plants and flowers unique, family names. Aunt Letha's flowers sound beautiful!

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Thank you for commenting on my blog post. I am always happy to hear from blog readers. Your words encourage and inspire me. I am glad you stopped by to share conversation, recipes, ideas, and thoughts on creating a welcoming home.