Out in the Garden

Kathie Sawyer

My garden exists most completely in my
head. The planted spaces throughout my
property are mere attempts to recreate
whatl see in my mind’s eye. Each gar-
dener I know spends lots of time ex-
plaining what things will look like when
finished. I've heard stories of trellises on
order, walls to be built, ponds in the
planning. We all seem to live in our own
individual visions of a garden.

Last week I walked through the ever-
developing gardens of my friend, Craig.
He always seems to be building, creat-
ing, and planting three months behind his
visions. I often wonder how he lives
through the winter, burning with his
dreams of creating. I began to ponder the
differences, the unique personal themes
that each of us develops.

I welcome the spreading and self-sowing
to the messy abandon of my gardens.
The more the evening primrose re-
produces, the more I have to move about,
placing it here and there, welcoming the
bright cheery yellow of its flower and the
rosy warmth of the frost-changed stems
and leaves. My friend Rique speaks of
quiet Japanese gardens. He translates his
dreams into beautifully shaped bonsai. A
common roadside apple tree enhances
my rock garden, thanks to the beauty of
his dreams.

Time always shapes my garden. I con-
sider myself a gardener/hobbyist. To me

this requires only about forty hours a
week. I would gladly work at it full time
if it weren’t for my employment outside
the garden which is needed to pay the
bills. The gardener’s vision can cause
one to gaze on a friend’s garden and see

only coveted varieties and the perfection
of design and planning. This same vision
looks at one’s own garden and sees spac-

‘ es, weeds, deadheads, and imperfect mix

of color.

I am grateful for the dreams and visions
of gardeners. We join together in friend-
ship, exchanging plants and ideas. We
share thatspecial space to which we can
move when the cruelty and insensitivity
of the world wounds us. V

November 1991

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Lynn Goyette, M.S.Ed., M.A.C.P.

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