One thought that comes up all the time during garden tours is,
How (the heck) do people afford these expensive places?
And you know what? I suspect most can't actually afford them. If you consider how many people crank up the balances on their credit cards, making just minimum payments each month, and use overdraft protection, or rely on loans for new purchases instead of living on a cash basis, it becomes apparent that many who appear 'well off' are living in a state of deception, kidding not only other people about their wealth, but themselves.
That's quite an opening for a garden tour, no? Just had to say it. I see so many people each day burning a big hole in their futures, kidding themselves that they can have whatever they want now at any cost. It's sad. And if things keep going the way they are, this North American debting phenomenon will crash the entire economy, not just bankrupting individuals, but our society as a whole. Which I guess is already the case if you consider the foreign debt of the U.S.A....Ever see the movie Maxed Out? Wow.
Meanwhile, back in lovely la-la Land...
The homeowners of this place recently got married in the backyard just two weeks before the tour. This small town area is very interesting because it's just 1.5 hours south of my house, but a warmer gardening zone with very different, sandy but rich soil. The word lush comes to mind. The word lush is but a pipe dream at my garden.
I love this back garden because it's a celebration of green. Green. Green. Green.
The hypertufa pot-making craze of a few years ago has left some lovely containers to show for it:
This border had lovely jumbo proportions:
The edge of the property is surrounded by ancient (by our standards) trees. I could write volumes of love sonnets for trees. These ones were calling out to me. Me-liss-a! See? You heard it too.
I'm assuming the plants in the foreground (below) are elephant ears. Or else the rhubarb is on steroids.
I noticed a lot of statues of saints in the gardens this year. Always good to have a saint guarding the goods.
The next tour features a garden full of enormous plants. I mean ginormous. This whole area is so lush compared to my own, I wanted them tested for doping. But really, it's just great soil. Or so they say...
Until then, happy unshopping and have an unmaxed out day. :)
~~Melissa
6 nature lovers:
I know what you mean re: the debt issue. Lots of people looked at me funny when I said that I was getting a second job in order to put up a fence... apparently paying for something before you get it is not so much the norm anymore.
In any case, I do love that backyard with all of the green! That hosta in particular really pops.
House poor is what my wife & I call it. We decided years ago not to buy as much house as we could afford and have not regretted it. We know so many that work to pay the mortgages and commute from the 'burbs in leased SUVs and have no money left for vacations. There's something wrong with that.
We'll have to get you down here for our garden tour. It's as egalitarian and earthy as you can get. Postage-stamp size gardens of monumental creativity, Civil War-era cottages bursting in color, modest new-build Victorians and grand original Victorians with urban gushing lush gardens and community gardens planted by block clubs. We don't judge, there's more than 260 gardens and it's free!
www.GardenWalkBuffalo.com
My financial goals: I'm hoping to save up enough to move to a better gardening climate. My other half thinks this is ridiculous, but it's near the top of MY priority list.
Your post also twigged my interest about two other things - I currently have no garden statuary - it is interesting that saints are popular! Have you ever made your own hypertufa pot? I really want to make one - I hope I'm not out of touch - maybe all the cool people aren't making these anymore? What do I care!!!
When I first read your first paragraph I thought you were writing while on a garden tour. You know, those $10,000 tours of the gardens of Europe and I was massively jealous.
Then, I realized what you meant and can tell you that when our garden club had its tour, participants not only spent quite a bit of money, they worked themselves into a frenzy.
I'm in awe of the amount of commitment it must take because I just don't have that much drive to open my garden to the public.
Hooray for those who are high enough energy to provide a day of beauty for the rest of us.
these beautiful pics make me long for spring , amazing what great jobs people do gardening
I think the saint in the last photo is St. Fiacre, the patron of gardening. However, the usual saint seen in gardens is St. Francis, usually as a bird feeder. I don't have any saints. Maybe getting 1 would help. I also long for that lush look.
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