I Got My GARDEN Feelings HURT....

I was out front fighting with my hose and sprinkler last week, when a nice lady walked up to me...she was the daughter of a elderly  neighbor on the corner. She asked me if my electricity was off, a power crew was down the street working on something.

I said , " Yes, but it should be back on soon. " 

She then stood there in my front yard, and we introduced ourselves to each other. She was a quintessential Southern lady, who's ancestors went back to General Lee probably.

I on the other hand am a Texas-born transplant dragged here to the Deep South, South Carolina, when I was a few weeks shy of 10 years old. My Texas heritage goes back about 5 generations or so, so I am more the brash-bold Texas style woman , living in the land of Steel Magnolias.

There is a point to me bringing that up, stay with me here...

Somehow we got onto the topic of her husband passing away from cancer at 55 yrs. old, I then told her about my mother dying of a heart attack 2 1/2 years ago at 65 years old.

We both commiserated and verbally discussed how you need to tell the people you love, while they are still alive...that you care , love and appreciate them.

You may not get a second chance.

She told me her husband was a landscape designer.

She then explained she was the president of a garden Club, and they were having a tea on Sunday would I like to come ?

I sort of froze a bit, it would be alot of Southern ladies , sipping tea and talking about everyone they knew, and I did  not know if I would feel out of place.

Actually , I DID know I would feel out of place...but I told her I may be able to come.

Then Mrs. Bright Idea said, " Would you like to come in the back and see my garden ?"

She said , " Yes, " and I took her down the drive in the side gate.

This is what she saw from that angle.

This..no wait, it was more this,

Here she stood, we both stood here about 5 feet apart.

This is how it went..

or how it didn't go really.

I looked at her,

she looked at  the garden,

she never moved,

she had a sort of smile on her face..

I became uncomfortable as she did not say ANYTHING about my garden !
This went on for about 5 minutes ( felt like 50 minutes ), I kept looking at her...and nothing.

I felt like a little kid showing my kindergarten masterpiece to my teacher , and all they did was stand there !

I was really getting my garden feelings hurt...then ...she finally spoke,

This is what she said..she pointed to a large old Camellia bush, past it's bloom time..and she goes, 

" I see you have some big Camellias back here. "

I looked at the Camellias, which by the way I did NOT plant as they have been here a good 50 + years, and said , " Yes, they've always been here. "

I waited again, she just kept looking around and saying NOTHING.

Then I said through my hurt garden feelings, " I need to finish this path, I need to fix my mulch, I need to sweep up, rake up..." etc. blah-blah I went about everything that I then could see was wrong with my garden and yard.
It all became magnified to me.

She listened to me some and then said with much smiling...I actually got my hopes up that she saw SOMETHING she liked.

She goes, " You know, you would like so and so's garden as she likes to find stuff and use it in her garden too."

My hopes were squashed and I felt like she had said, " Her garden looks like the city dump like yours does. "

Really, I swear I was allowing this garden club President to diminish my view of my own garden.

To change my perception of my little creation of plants and flowers and found bricks .

She never even moved from her spot, as this is the view I wish she could have seen, the way I planted it to look from the windows of the house.
Probably wouldn't have made her say anything anyway.

She then had to go, and I told her I may come to the tea if I could. She was very pleasant, and I said bye-bye.

I then went back into my garden and looked at it again, and again became very critical of what I saw. Then got mad at myself for allowing this sweet Southern Steel magnolia of a garden club President  to make me feel like that.

There is a sort of happy , unusual ending to this...I will write about it in my next post...

Stay tuned,

Oh !

Don't let anyone else's UN-REACTIONS to your gardens steal your joy.
Oh, and another thing...if someone takes you back to their garden..say SOMETHING nice about it. I say something nice about everyone's gardens that I see. Even if it is just a container of flowers on the front porch.

My lesson for the day,

Bless you !

Gina

" All things bright and beautiful , All things great and small, All things wise and wonderful ; Our Father made them all. 
Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings;
He made their glowing colors, He made their little wings.."

Old Hymn by Cecil Alexander 1800's
All Things Bright and Beautiful