How Does Your Garden Grow: A Garden Tour Series

 
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Last year felt isolating in a way I wasn’t prepared for, the likes of which I feel like I am still recovering from. Devoid of smiles and human touch on a grand scale. We were busy redesigning our cutting garden mid-late March 2020 and I remember a trip to a local nursery right before the closures and quarantining, when I bought my David Austin Tranquility roses. I was holding my breath. It felt like the end.

But really it was a new beginning in so many ways too.

Of course our minds were already outside, in the garden, but the extra time at home had spurred others to think similar thoughts. I read articles about neighbors building vegetable patches—distanced yet still together. I saw glimpses of wildflowers that had seemingly sprung up overnight and had to be shared on social media. We slowly began to transform our own growing space into something that felt really and truly special. With the uncertainty of living in the middle of a pandemic, I couldn’t help but wonder about these budding gardens. And dream about visiting more gardens someday.

On days when things felt extra heavy, we’d take drives. Winding through neighborhoods and down country roads. Spying what grew under a familiar tree, searching for details previously overlooked with fresh yet hungry eyes. Seeking inspiration not only in favorite books but also just a few doors down. If I could have, I would have watched Monty Don shows on Netflix for the fourth and fifth times, squirreling away morsels of wisdom for future projects.

One afternoon, the idea popped into my head in the rhyme of “Mary, Mary Quite Contrary” (a sad little thing that doesn’t have anything to do with literal gardens). I blame the 1990’s adaptation of The Secret Garden, that I still love, which materializes in my memory from time to time in clips and phrases. I started pondering, how does your garden grow?

I am so thankful for the flower friends who have kindly agreed to let us into their gardens over the coming months. Connecting with each other, returning to the earth on a personal level, celebrating the small triumphs of growing something in your own soil, with your own hands. Oh, there is so much beauty to behold! Gardens are such lovely reflections of the souls who tend them, from the style to organization to the actual varieties that are grown. I hope you feel inspired by our garden tours and come away with a few ideas for your own outdoor spaces.


Photo left: Maren and I near native plantings in the back of our property, June 2020, captured by Shannon Duggan Photography. Photo top right: New Dawn rose arbor in full bloom at the entrance of the cutting garden, May 2021. Photo bottom right: My mom and her younger brother in their backyard in Chicago, 1960s.