•JUNE'S GARDEM'I
I've renamed my garden. I think it should
be called Saint Garden, not June’s Garden. It
dictates saint-like virtues: faith, hope,
charity, obedience, patience, forgiveness,
awareness, kindness and humility.
Every fall I practice faith and hope while
planning next year's garden, noting last
year's failures. Charity by sharing plants
and seeds with people in need, to fill the
empty spaces of their new gardens. Kindness
by informing them that if they desire some of
my Shasta daisies, day lilies, calla lilies,
Monbretia or other invasive plants that those
plants can soon take over their garden space.
There is a sphere of authority that is cast
down by the heavens above. It's called wind
and rain. One early July morning that
authority whipped up a dandy storm. Still in
my robe and slippers, I frantically ran
outside with twine, hammer and nails, to save
a newly planted rose bush from being
uprooted by tying it securely to the wooden
shingles on the side of my house.
The next day I noticed the strong force of
the wind had pulled the tied branches away
from the house, causing several shingles to
break away. 1 not only had to replant the rose
in a more protected area, but also had to
replace several shingles.
A lesson in obedience to the sphere of
authority, and to be aware, humble and
forgiving to the dictates of
who is in control. Mother Nature, not I.
Awareness. I was aware why my
delphinium didn't grow tall and bloom. An
army of slugs mowed it down in one night and
left their trail of evidence on the few leaves
left.
Humility and patience head the list. I m
forever humble if all the seeds I sow in May
sprout, and patiently wait for them to finally
bloom in August, or the tomato plant to
produce ripe tomatoes by at least the end of
September or before the first frost.
Usually I'm more rewarded with healthier
plants that self-sow or surprises that sprout
from the compost I add to the soil. A huge
plant of parsley 1 hadn't planted surprised me
by growing in one of my window boxes. It
became the star attraction, adding brilliant
green contrast to the orange and salmon
colored flowers of pansies and impatiens, blue
lobelia,, purple-leafed African basil and dwarf
marjoram. In the window box next to this,
laced leafed fennel and last year's dwarf
sunflowers sprouted accompanying the
planned plantings of variegated leafed red
fuchsias and coral flowered geraniums.
Those two window boxes were more successful
than others I had carefully planned.
1 am most humble and modest over this
success, giving full credit to my compost pile
for its added surprises.
Is perseverance or being orderly a virtue.
I hope perseverance is a virtue, as my
persistent nature continues to fill every inch
of soil in my garden with plants. I fail at
being orderly, letting Kenilworth Ivy grow
rampant in the hanging pots of begonias or
climb the shingled walls of my house above
the window boxes. A ground cover a visitor
called "Scarlet Pimpernel" (it does have
bright coral flowers) I let grow throughout
the paths, causing careful treading while
walking those paths. Blue- and yellow-eyed
flowered grasses pop up throughout the
garden. Some call all these plants weeds, but 1
think my lack of orderliness adds to the
cottage-style look of my garden and alas, I am
a romantic, as I think of the lines of a poem.
"What impulse stirs the feathery grasses,
And dips along their wavering line?
While, as the sudden tremor passes,
Two strange, sweet eyes look up in
mine
...O rare blue and yellow eyes!”
by unknown author.
Fftort f t
. ookv N c
Now that I've renamed my garden, I have a
good excuse to travel back to England to have
a new sign made! The day my friend and I
found the National Trust Garden Store in
London, we both decided we had to bring
home a’lasting gift to ourselves and our
gardens. I couldn't think what to have put on
the sign except for the wren that reminded
me of Oregon's winter wrens. The sales clerk
said, "What's your first name?"
"June," I replied. She said, "How about
June’s Garden?"
.
I want to go back to that clerk and explain
to her mv garden isn't June s Garden, it s
Saint Garden. I think Saint Garden is much
more appropriate.
Thank you, Readers, for the letters you've
sent with ideas for future writings. One of
the suggestions was to give a "tip tor the
month." Great idea
This month's tip: In the book, Language of
Flowers, it suggests to plant Blue Violet for
Faith, Snowdrops for Hope, a crop of turnips
for Charity and Broom for Humility. There
must be a lot of humility spread along our
North Coast, as Scotch Broom grows like
weeds.
If we all observed and practiced the virtues
our gardens teach us, it's possible we could
join the ranks of sainthood and maybe sprout
golden halos. I keep watching for that golden
light, but so far it's just a few sunbeams
shining through the clouds.
L ookout .
See. W fr
m
IL
l
HOUSE
DELI
B
CAFE
North Hvy 101
Nehalem, Or. 97131
(5031 3 6 8 -7 9 3 3
When the Great Father sent out men to
our people, I was poor and thin, now 1
am large and stout and fat. It is
because so many liars have been sent,
and I have been stuffed full of their
He s .
Red Dog 1870
Please send your comments, questions and
suggestions to June’s Garden, P.0. Box 74,
Cannon Beach, OR 97110.
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