My Garden Sanctuary

Everyone should be so lucky as to have one place, one hobby, one technique that can conquer whatever ails them. For me, it is the garden. Just the mention of the word, "garden", brings me to a happy, calm place in my mind. I instantly see a colorful mosaic of flowers and smell roses and parsley. The garden sanctuary I have nurtured over the last eight years is the most important place on the planet to me. It is where I go to replenish my soul, to think, to heal. I am one of those people who just could not imagine a life without gardening. Rain or shine, my garden sanctuary is a welcome retreat. When winter arrives, visits from the birds and thoughts of my flowers provide sources of eternal optimism.

Every detail of the garden is important to me, from the beautiful, chirping birds that visit, to the moss covered rocks in the border around the multitudes of colorful, fragrant flowers. I live in a mid-sized city, so my garden is not enormous; it is more like a large garden room. That has not stopped me from having over fifty varieties of flowers, grasses and flowering shrubs. If a plant is colorful, especially in shades of lime green, red, or deep salmon, I have to have it. At one time or another, I have tried to grow every type of colorful flower and ornamental grass that caught my eye. Many of these plants are just distant memories in my mind's eye. For what ever reason, they chose not to survive and thrive in my garden sanctuary.

I love to plan and design and redesign my garden. I even gave garden landscaping a try as a business venture, but learned that I enjoy garden design and gardening too much as hobbies to make work out of them. I consider the task of dutifully digging dandelions out of my lawn (which gets smaller and smaller as my garden sanctuary grows), a labor of love, not a chore. I become melancholy when I can't attend to my garden sanctuary on a regular basis during the growing season.

The birds visit the birdfeeders in my garden sanctuary year round. I watch them out of the kitchen window in the dismal winter months. My favorite bird is the bright red cardinal that graces the feeder in the birch tree. When he and his mate fly into my yard against the white of winter, they remind me that spring will be here soon and my beautiful, colorful garden sanctuary will awaken.

I might someday add a hot tub to my garden, right near the back porch, and turn it into garden spa. It would be heavenly to be able to sit there relaxing while watching the birds and bees and butterflies go on about their business in the garden sanctuary we all so much enjoy.