"Gardening requires lots of water--most of it in the form of perspiration." (-Lou Erickson)

We've planted lots of perennials and bulbs over the years. Initially, our thinking was that once you plant those, they pretty much take care of themselves: they pop up again every year, right? Pretty much gluttons for punishment, though, we dream up new concoctions every year for “what to do with the garden.”

One year, it was “let’s add an arbor.” Of course, if one has an arbor, one must have a climbing vine on it. And then, one must put a path beneath it. This year, we yanked out our pampas grasses and planted roses in their place. We’ve put a wall of stones along a walk, and we’re attempting to add a path along one side of the house. I've also come up with a new spot for another arbor as an entryway to a path I want us to do.

We tend to forget that in the middle of all that work, there’s still the weeding, dead-heading and cutting fresh flowers for inside the house. Gardening never really stops. There are always new ideas...But we love all the color and all the flowers from our own yard sitting here looking pretty inside. Not to mention the fact that all those flowers provide wonderful sketching opportunities. We basically just enjoy gardening…

“God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done.” (-Unknown author)