The garden at Church of Saint Luke-in-the-Fields
New York City
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New York was sunny, warm and full of blooms last week. There were manicured havens of colorful repose, wild patches of indigenous growth and tiny curbside gardens filled with tulips. Flowering trees were everywhere and Central Park was filled with pale white sun bathers and the summer sounds of children. Life returning - on all fronts!
Once again, I too will have a garden to grow and tend. Our new home has a terrific yard - albeit a bit more lawn than I would like - but it is a yard with great potential and, over time, if I have my way there will be much less lawn. There are 2 flowering dogwoods on the side and some very tall maple trees out front. Immediately upon possession of the house 2 weeks ago I began the spring clean up! I uncovered hyacinth, tulips, vinca, hostas, forsythia, iris, peonies and lilies. There are flowering bushes that I do not know (yet) and there are 3 hydrangea bushes that I have already moved to make way for an herb garden by the back door.
The plan is to expand the one dimensional "row of plantings" that was along the fence and the house to create a real garden of textures - with a small walkway through it. (Someday I hope the walkway will be something other than grass...) I will plant the herb garden, left foreground, at the end of May and finish edging and digging out the rest of the lawn area marked by stones. Then I will begin to add new plantings - shasta daisies, more lilies and tulips (of course), and some taller shrubs and plantings for along the fence. I am SO looking forward to the dirt days ahead - summer mornings spent weeding, planting and planning followed by the sunsetting ritual of watering, gazing and imagining. (with a cold beer in hand)
Life returning!
