FLOWER BED BEGINNINGS

The gardens and buildings of Green Hope Farm sit where the Angels wanted them, in the middle of a former hayfield. An old hay loader was the only structure on the property when we broke ground on the property. For my husband, breaking ground meant house building; for me, garden building.

Because the Angels knew what was going to evolve here light years before we did, they guided us to a basic plan of where to put each garden and outbuilding that has never conflicted with things that came later. Actually, the only thing we have had to move so far is the hay loader, which will have to be moved next spring to make way for a new Flower Essence building.

When I laid out the various gardens, I thought of them as outdoor rooms surrounding the farmhouse. Here we begin the project to put in one of the main perennial bed "rooms."

Okay, so some people were more excited about this garden project than others!

Elizabeth's snoozing results in this garden a season or two later.

The Angels love wavy lines, even in the perennial beds.

Except in the hedgerows of the farm and down at the bottom of the hayfield where we have pine trees, there were no trees on the farm when we moved here. As with the perennials and shrubs, every tree was planted by us per Angelic instruction. Each is a precious and beloved friend.

As Ben and Jim will tell you, these gardens are tricky to mow around.

The White Hawthorn at the left of this bed has done particularly well and is now a significantly larger tree. It shares its energetic gifts in the Flower Essence "Honeybees in the White Hawthorn."

Another view of the same garden in early evening.

The Angels had us put fencing around two of the perennial gardens. The field was so wide open that the Angels and I worked to create a sense of enclosure in each garden room so that there is a feeling of expansiveness even as one feels sheltered. The following photo shows the fences around the perennial garden. In the foreground is the very beginning of the rose garden, with four small roses. Now the rose garden has 30-40 shrub roses and is still growing.

Despite our windy site, delphiniums have always graced our gardens with their majestic purple and blue spires.

Back to Photo Galleries main page