Tottering in the Garden

My mid-winter vision of a pleasant summer garden in which I could work to create a small space of beauty, the kids could learn a bit about landscaping and gardening, and one could relax with a book or for a chat with friends, has been realized:

Seedlings were nurtured through cold winter months and as soon as the weather allowed, Active Son and Artist Son hauled in rocks from surrounding vacant lots to create a xeriscape flower garden in an area that was nothing but dirt and some fruit trees.

It blesses my heart to witness the inspiration Artist Son receives from the garden.

This year we have a garden cat. It is really very nice having a garden cat, and soon we'll have a few more as Kitty is expecting.

The Basil Garden provides enough basil for daily use--it's great on tomato, yogurt cheese, and olive sandwiches.

One of my favorite beds: salvia, petunias, bee balm, coreopsis, and lavender.

Tayta beautifully captured one of the many butterflies flitting around the Lantana.


Edit: A friend questioned my use of the word 'tottering' in the title as the word reminded her of toddlers or drunken people. Sure enough, an internet dictionary check yielded this definition:

a. To sway as if about to fall.

b. To appear about to collapse

I took the word from a favorite gardening memoir which I read years ago, soon after the gardening bug first bit:



Tottering in My Garden

The author, Midge Ellis Keeble, is Canadian so perhaps the Canadian use of the word denotes a meaning other than instability. Anyway, the her memoir is a delightful read as well as full of practical gardening advice. Highly recommended.