A friend gifted me a vanilla strawberry hydrangea (paniculata) three years ago, and it has finally grown taller than I am. I planned for this to happen someday. I purposefully planted it outside my kitchen window and near the patio so eventually I could enjoy the huge blooms while I make my coffee in the morning, and gain a little privacy as I walk to the raised beds.
I love this so much. I planted a Siberian hibiscus this week in front of a shared fence that often fails- this morning I reminded myself the cracks are how the light gets through.
I also planted a wild rose earlier this summer. Both of these guys sit across from my garden bench and I’m excited to watch them grow.
When I first started gardening I didn’t give as much thought to how things would need space to fill in and grow tall. I think of the future so much more now.
I have terrible luck with hydrangeas but I think it might be our climate. I am trying to be more careful with them. I am so much more careful now.
I dream big but I sometimes struggle with envy. This past week I was envious of my friends’ blooming garden in her new home. I couldn’t quite believe all that she had created in one year and I felt like less things were blooming in my garden which I have been cultivating for six years. I didn’t say this to her, instead I said how amazed I was by what she had created in such a short time span and that the act of doing that gives me hope. Which is true. And her garden reminded me that I could probably pay a little more attention to mine - and doing that put me back in myself and in my gratitude for what I had cultivated and for my hopes for what I want to create in the future.
Yes! Gardening has made me think about the present and the future so much more.
Yeah, sometimes I can feel envy, too--and it's usually when I think someone has something they didn't work for when all my life I seem to have to do double the work. But envy itself isn't all bad. It can let you know what things you want and help you question what you value. If it's coming from a competitive place, that could be a problem. I tend not to be competitive except with myself.
Most of the time, what I envy in others is their financial security and good health. But from what I know about my own life, what looks like a dream from the outside could be the result of a lot of stress, sacrifice, and commitment that I'm not willing to take on.
And envy that gives you hope? That's when you know it's something you'd like to incorporate the time for in your own life, in your own way.
I love this so much. I planted a Siberian hibiscus this week in front of a shared fence that often fails- this morning I reminded myself the cracks are how the light gets through.
I also planted a wild rose earlier this summer. Both of these guys sit across from my garden bench and I’m excited to watch them grow.
When I first started gardening I didn’t give as much thought to how things would need space to fill in and grow tall. I think of the future so much more now.
I have terrible luck with hydrangeas but I think it might be our climate. I am trying to be more careful with them. I am so much more careful now.
I dream big but I sometimes struggle with envy. This past week I was envious of my friends’ blooming garden in her new home. I couldn’t quite believe all that she had created in one year and I felt like less things were blooming in my garden which I have been cultivating for six years. I didn’t say this to her, instead I said how amazed I was by what she had created in such a short time span and that the act of doing that gives me hope. Which is true. And her garden reminded me that I could probably pay a little more attention to mine - and doing that put me back in myself and in my gratitude for what I had cultivated and for my hopes for what I want to create in the future.
Yes! Gardening has made me think about the present and the future so much more.
Yeah, sometimes I can feel envy, too--and it's usually when I think someone has something they didn't work for when all my life I seem to have to do double the work. But envy itself isn't all bad. It can let you know what things you want and help you question what you value. If it's coming from a competitive place, that could be a problem. I tend not to be competitive except with myself.
Most of the time, what I envy in others is their financial security and good health. But from what I know about my own life, what looks like a dream from the outside could be the result of a lot of stress, sacrifice, and commitment that I'm not willing to take on.
And envy that gives you hope? That's when you know it's something you'd like to incorporate the time for in your own life, in your own way.