The Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival has ended and I’m taking a deep breath of thanks and appreciation, while turning once again to normal garden maintenance. I’m grateful for everyone who opened gardens, staffed and promoted open gardens, created add-on events and organized this first-annual horticultural celebration. While there is always room for improvement, overall it was a huge success on so many levels. And like gardeners the world over, the current season hasn’t yet faded and we’re already planning for the next year.
But while I’m breathing in and out with thanks, I’m also turning my eyes toward the garden and continuing to tend, tweak and notice what’s growing right here, right now. Today we tamed the grape vines on the arbor, for example. They have been hanging over the sides and making overtures (if not downright groping) to the surrounding landscape plants…starting to show why so many people hate wild grapes in the landscape. But unlike in the wild, we are here to say, as my friend Wendy often remarked, “Nice try, pal,” and then restrain their growth. We clipped off the vines that hung down and grabbed surrounding shrubs, and trained others to continue covering the arbor.
This is how life proceeds, in and out of the garden. We move from one task to the next, building on our successes, correcting what is moving in unwanted directions, and reminding ourselves to appreciate it all.
This chair is filled with the vines we’ve pruned off, and just behind you can see that there are more hanging off the arbor that need to be pruned away. I appreciate the beauty of the vines, unpruned and cut.
The Angelica buds are ready to burst into flower and as I pull weeds, water containers and harvest veggies I stop to appreciate how beautiful this plant is. I inhale, and exhale, with a deep breath of appreciation for how beautiful it all is.
