Ms. Lynn's "Secret" Garden



 

Because my family lives from one end of the state to the other, I spend much of my time traveling the same highways. Each state highway is designated by a number, such as Highway 35 or 25 or 49, and almost everyone has a general idea where you are in the state simply by those numbers. However, for me, each highway is designated by hundreds of places where I want to stop, take pictures and hear stories.  I know exactly where I am when I get to the pastoral farm with the three white geese or the bed and breakfast that has been for sale for three years (that I want) or the whimsical garden with two storybook swings in the front yard.  This past Monday, I finally stopped at Ms. Lynn's whimsical garden!

I knew when I walked onto the porch that I had found a special place.  I knocked on the front door, and no one answered.  But I know how flower ladies think.  I walked around to the side door, and sure enough, it was open.  That's when I met Ms. Lynn.  I explained to her that I had admired her garden all summer, but the swings were the bait that I could not resist.  She was eating lunch, and I hated to interrupt; however, if there is one thing I know for sure, garden people cannot resist the opportunity to show off their blooms!

The blooms are everywhere, and every area of the garden is accompanied by a different story, such as the Louisiana Irises that bloom early spring, but serve double duty as an organic septic tank.  The irises boast beautiful dark orange and red blooms, while also providing a scent-sational treatment for what could have been a smelly (and costly) problem.

The garden is just as quaint and quirky as I imagined it would be!  Wrought iron, watering cans and wheelbarrows add to the fanciful feel of the garden, almost as if they grow magically out from the trees or vines or flower beds. 

 





Everything looks like it has always been there, from the yellow and red wheelbarrows that greet you as you enter the cottage garden to the bright blue bottle tree right in the middle!  No wonder the garden makes you feel like a child again with its captivating primary colors...and those enchanting swings.  

But, Ms. Lynn's garden has a secret.  I think all the best gardens have secrets; you just have to stop and listen for those secret stories.  Ms. Lynn has experienced more than her share of grief with the deaths of two husbands and three daughters.  Her whimsical garden is the natural solution to her emotional pain!  I know this connection.  I have read about a hypothesis called biophilia, which literally means a love of life or living systems.  Unlike phobias, which are the fears that people have of the natural world, philias are the attractions or positive feelings that people have to certain habitats, outside activities and natural surroundings.  Gardening is Ms. Lynn's form of therapy.  For others, this almost instinctive attraction is a means of survival. That profound bond with nature brings both calm and communion. I am a member of this group; when I am in a garden, I know I belong.



The subtle persuasion can come from a small wooden stool...



...or an empty wrought iron bench.



When our heart is sad, the garden beckons to us.  "Come and join me.  Get your hands dirty.  Plant something new. Be creative. I need your companionship today."  And so, like Ms. Lynn, we rise up early and face a new day, knowing that the flowers will be there to greet us.  We might even take our turn on the swings. 



Before I left, Ms. Lynn showed me a curious rose.  She said that she planted a rose bush, and the blooms had always been pink; however, a yellow rose is blooming from the bush.  She thought maybe she had planted the rose bushes too close together, which was the reason for the yellow rose.  The rose isn't a cross-breed or hybrid.  It is just a singular yellow rose on an otherwise pink rose bush.  Although I can not explain why that rose is there, I am still thankful for those rare blooms that ~ occasionally ~ just come out of nowhere!

 

At the end of our visit, a single petal seems to wave and say, "Come back again, when you're traveling this way!"

 

Dianne ; )