secret garden

Most of the moves I've made in the last 10 years have revolved around the academic school year and fell either in May, June or August. When R & I got married we moved into a temporary situation which was cheap and 1 mile from my office, but we knew we'd have to find something more permanent by the new year.

Which made this last move different-no humidity or heat or beating out sweaty sophomores for rental trucks. We moved a week before Christmas to the house we have grown to love more and more. As I think I've said before it was the first place we looked at and we decided almost immediately without knowing all of its many advantages.

One of the hidden things I've loved about our home is the garden that has bloomed right before our eyes. As the months have warmed, our little plot of earth has yielded the most beautiful flowers that I probably couldn't even grow if I wanted to.

It started with tulips beside the mailbox in March. Then April yielded dogwood blooms and lovely Irises alongside our drive way. By May the hydrangeas I'd been anticipating finally blossomed.

Then a few weeks ago I couldn't stop thinking about how much I longed to smell fresh gardenias. They were planted all over our complex in East Asia and I loved seeing their delicate white flowers on my walk to class each day. I dragged R to Home Depot and we bought 3 of the smallest bushes we could. After planting them, I noticed an enormous gardenia bush (7 feet tall maybe?) right next to my beloved hydrangeas just about to bloom.

We've also enjoyed the orange day lilies opposite the driveway from the post-bloom irises.

It really has been a secret garden. I know there's a rose bush or two I've ignored in the back yard as well. Each new flower that appears makes me want to know the gardener who lived here before and thank him for all his hard work! Even after neglect there's so much joy these little plants bring forth. I'm hoping to learn more about how to care for them over the next season and maybe add to them.