High Anxiety

Now that it's aired, I will confess that my little suburban garden was recently featured on Central Texas Gardener.   Months of freaking out with every deep freeze, every plant that suddenly died, every arbor destroyed by freakish winds - in other words, every event that might naturally occur in the garden with the changing seasons -  all that nervous panic is finally over and I can go back to simply playing outside. 

Why a "confession", rather than being pleased as punch?  Something about having my garden on CTG feels like bragging.  And in my eyes my garden is messy, my own personal playground - not something worthy of a segment on that wonderful program.  It's where I go to test out new skills, like digging a pond, building a rainwater harvesting system, creating an insect hotel, making a vermicomposting bin, or putting together a greenhouse with the help of a few friends.  

Having my garden "go public" temporarily destroyed its tranquility.

My garden doesn't feature a lovely design where your eye is drawn to the next focal point, with decorative elements artfully placed and given space to shine, structural plants pleasingly accented with others of just the right shapes and colors.   

It's messy.  It's imperfect.  It's a rain-collecting, insect attracting, herb growing, pollinator habitat.  It's my own personal playground and quiet retreat.  It's where I get to be a kid.  And now I can remember why I love it rather than worrying about whether or not you'll like it.  Of course, I really hope you do.

In spite of my grumbling, I do want to extend my sincere thanks to Linda (producer) and Ed (photographer) of CTG, for doing their darndest to make me look good.

Please leave a comment and tell me how your garden makes you feel.  

All material © 2014 by Vicki Blachman for Playin' Outside. 

Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.