We spend a lot of time looking for happiness when the world right around us is full of wonder. To be alive and walk on the earth is a miracle, and yet most of us are running as if there were some better place to be. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Perhaps the best part of gardening is that it forces us to slow down, to stop and smell the roses, to admire the intricate details of a flower, to observe a bee gathering pollen, to watch a butterfly drift and flutter about.
Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), shown below, has such amazing details. Seeds were purchased from Wildseed Farms and direct sown out in the garden.

Have fun even if it’s not the same kind of fun everyone else is having. ~ C. S. Lewis
My former rose garden was straight out the Steel Magnolias. You know the scene… Where Shelby says her wedding colors are blush and bashful and her mother interjects to say the colors are pink and pink. Yes. My rose garden was pink and pink and the many shades of pink. I knew my garden’s reincarnation would not be. I wanted bold. I wanted big. I wanted bright. I wanted fun. Colorful Fun. I wanted anything but delicate soft pink. Enter: The big and bold daylily.

I’m going to make everything around me beautiful – that will be my life. ~ Elsie de Wolfe
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney was one of our family’s favorite books when our son was just a wee thing. Though he towers over me now, I still pull out the book from time to time and tear up reading its story. Miss Rumphius’ grandfather tells the young child to do something to make the world more beautiful. I think of this story again and again as I wander about my garden. As I sit on my patio and gaze out on the garden while writing this post, I listen to the birds chirping and can say that – in my own humble way – I have done something to make the world more beautiful.
This is my first year growing California poppies (shown below), but hopefully it won’t be my last. They have bloomed steadily for well over a month now, such a cheerful, bright color. Poppy seeds need winter’s cold to break down the hard outer coat, so the seeds were direct sown in the garden in late fall.

meraki (verb) to do something with soul, creativity or love; to leave a piece and essence of yourself in your work.
Gold-wave Coreopsis, shown below, is also from Wildseed Farms. Another winner, one that has won a place in my heart and in my garden.

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. ~ Rumi

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers and the dreams are as beautiful. ~ Abram L. Urban
Oh, the thoughts and dreams that go in to the garden, not to mention the sweat and work, always a joy. There are a thousand ways to garden, no one correct right or wrong way. Each gardener charts their own journey, sets out to see their visions come alive. Keep calm, my fellow gardeners, and garden on, growing your thoughts and dreams into botanical poetry.
