Monday, May 24, 2010

Bittersweet and Remarkable

It's been a time of loss, new beginnings and change. In the last few weeks I learned that 3 of my friends will be moving away by the end of the summer. (This also means that Emma will loose her 2 best dog friends.) But, we've been adopted by a less-than-a-year-old cat, "Kitt." He walked into the yard and decided to stay. Emma was nearly instantly charmed by the wee beast, who was never overly concerned by Emma's 94 pounds. He purrs when I talk to him and likes to hang out in the garden while I prune and weed. I've had cats before but never one who likes people and trusts dogs. I think he may just be a gift.
I also had to face that oldest tree in my garden was dying and had to be cut down. I had to dig up a densely planted part of the yard so that the bucket truck could reach the giant maple. The tree's leaves covered the whole of the back yard and created a protected, shady environment. (The photo above is what it looked like last year.) Now the challenge will be to redesign the exposed space and work with the sun.
I've been pruning what's left to rebalance the strange new openness. Working with the paths and larger bushes, has been a challenge. Thirty years ago the garden started as a collection of plants I couldn't resist. Then I moved to bushes. I've been editing and moving things around, but it had gotten pretty wild. People politely called it a "cottage-garden." I've been simplifying, adding structure and creating vistas. Change is hard for me, but the back garden is going to look better than it did before!
Then, a week ago I went to a remarkable Garden Tweet-Up at the home of Margaret Roach. Gardeners and friends of gardeners came from CT, NY, NJ, NY, NH, MA, PA, TX to meet and talk together. I'd been tweeting and reading blogs by half of the 20 people I met there. Although I'm not a garden designer, or garden writer (most of the people were) I am a serious gardener. We all shared an interest in plants, color combinations and in creating spaces using them. Most of the group also shared an interest in photography and social media. It was fun for all to spend time, and get to visit with real people.
*The photo of me looking more relaxed than I've felt in weeks was shot by Lynn Felici-Gallant.

9 comments:

  1. "Bittersweet and Remarkable"
    WOW - that pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? And yes, I think Kitt was a gift. I'm looking forward to see what you can do with a little bit of sun! I'm sure it'll be amazing.

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  2. What lovely portraits of you and Kitt.
    A lovely reflective post on how life and people keep moving. That's why ephemerals or so special I suppose.

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  3. Lovely kitt who's befriended you. As for your sunny patch, many of the plants we think of shade plants are simply shade tolerant. Given enough water, they'll do just fine in sunshine.

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  4. @ Helen - Fortunately, most of the tree came down before everything was in full leaf. I expect the callicarpa will enjoy the part-sun, but I'm especially curious to see how the sun will effect the blue hostas.

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  5. Lovely glimpse into your life Kari, thank-you for sharing your beautiful garden and I love that new cat, Kitt!! What a gift and how beautifully she entered your life. In the end change is the only constant in life so better to embrace each changing moment w/ open arms, as difficult as that is, especially when dear friends (and trees) have to leave our lives.

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  6. Lovely Kitt-y. Sad to lose a tree, and friends, and to have that kind of upheaval in garden and in life. But so nice to have a dog-friendly cat to wander through your garden.

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  7. Kari,

    It was such a pleasure to meet you at Margaret's tweetup. I'm sad to hear about your losses and hope the garden project will keep you busy and help you miss your friends' departure a little bit less. In a strange way, the loss of your tree is a gift too, much like Kitt. It's exciting to have the opportunity to recreate a garden. BTW, I have 2 blue hostas planted in a location that gets afternoon sun and they are now a strange shade of green. I am thinking about moving them because I wanted blue hosta, not more green ones.

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  8. Ahhh change. In a life full of bumps and turns they seem to get more difficult to navigate as we get further down our own roads. Then one day, we come around the bend to face something of heart stopping beauty and joy. That's what makes the journey...for me anyway. It was lovely to see you again BTW

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  9. Sad to lose a tree, a friend which offered shade and shelter. Perhaps it is an opportunity to experiment and stretch your wings. The 'before' picture I can only dream of - lovely luscious planting.

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