November 20, 2002
old garden new gardener
A little over two years ago I bought a house in San Francisco with large but clearly aging gardens. The previous owners had lived here for 50 years, and were avid plantophiles, especially interested in roses. While some plants were in good shape, many were on their last legs or beyond.
Touched with madness, I decided to rebuild the grounds with new gardens. Mad because I had never so much as lifted a trowel before in my life! My entire gardening experience was mowing my parents suburban New Jersey lawn over 20 years ago.
The projects I've taken on already are too numerous to list here. I'll write here about whatever takes my fancy in my current projects, and to chat with Briggs.
Here's a sample of the hodgepodge of things left to me from the previous gardeners. A foxglove, a rose, and a fuschia. What rose, I don't know -- some kind of floribunda, beyond that I'm unsure.
A neighbor told me she brought the foxglove seeds back from England as a gift many years ago. Over the years the foxgloves have seeded themselves everywhere in the garden. Just add water, and poof up come foxgloves. Happily I like them!
Posted by rich at November 20, 2002 01:46 PMIt is curious to me how some people get the gardening bug and others don't. Christian is content to swing in the hammock and admire the garden. He is very appreciative of it but doesn't see it in the same way I do. I feel like I have x-ray vision when I'm out there—seeing plants where none exist yet, re-imagining the space. What compelled you to buy those first roses? Did all the plants in the old garden appeal to you? Did you want something different? What are you looking forward to now in the garden?
Posted by: briggs on November 20, 2002 04:40 PMTwo things got me motivated to do some gardening. First, I saw all these beautiful flowers in my yard, and I thought how wonderful it would be if there were more of them. Second, I was motivated by the fact of ownership (as this was my first owned house). This is my house. Nobody is going to make it beautiful other than me. And if I achieve something, I (literally and figuratively) own it.
The roses had a lot to do with the fact that there were already so many roses here. Most were failing, but they got me interested. It felt true to the garden to work on roses. I inherited a rose garden, and wanted to improve it.
Now I'm moving past roses to a wider [...a wider what? –ed.], but they are still such great plants (beatiful flowers, smell, very long bloom season, extremely tough).
There's a LOT I'm looking forward to. My new perennial bed has got me very excited — that will be the subject of many future blog postings. Plus I'm eager to see if a new climbing rose (a Noisette — Jaune de Prez) blooms well next year. I'll try to remember to take a picture of it now and post it.
Posted by: richard on November 20, 2002 06:04 PM