My Accidental Garden

My gardening style is pretty simple. Plant it and if it lives it can stay. If it dies, it wasn't meant to be there. When I lived in Florida I had one section of the yard that was more reminiscent of a dust bowl, than the garden of Eden. I finally pulled out the sparse grass, put in a walkway, and planted a few hardy bushes that would grow anywhere. During the Christmas season our house was decorated with poinsettias. As spring rolled around I would take the poinsettias outside and stick the potted plants along the fence in the 'dust bowl' garden. Three months later I would plant any that were still alive. The hardier ones made it. The weak ones didn't. My style of gardening.

Here in Pennsylvania it's been a little different, but as I've related before, gardens and planning are two words that don't really work well for me. Most of my landscaping was not the original plan I had in mind, but consists of the 'substitutions' the landscaper assured me would work better. He was right. I am very happy with his choices!

At the edge of our yard is a ravine that was partially created by the developer. It is steep and was bare when we moved in. Now it is covered with wildflowers and renegade trees. I wanted to create a barrier garden to separate the 'weeds' from the grass.  I marked off the garden, killed the grass, and covered it with mulch. I planted a few daylilies with plans to divide and plant more in other areas. I transplanted some cone flowers and Queen Anne's Lace from a neighbor's yard. One day I saw some zinnia seedlings and thought they might be a pretty addition. Before I had a chance to plant them I discovered something was eating my plants. The cone flowers were nubs cut off at ground level. The Queen Anne's lace wasn't much better.

Hmmm. Not a good place to plant tender zinnias. I decided to plant them around the corner of our patio. I've never had zinnias before so I wasn't sure what to expect.

They liked the location. And I love zinnias! ( Ah yes. You will notice a morning glory also was planted there. Probably not a smart move since I routinely have to rescue one of my zinnia plants from the sneaky, or should I say snaky, tendrils of the morning glory. But we are all working it out. Live and learn!)

It is now late summer. Who am I kidding? Fall starts this weekend! As I sit on the patio reading, my zinnias bloom in a bouquet of many colors. The garden fountain gurgles in the background. Ageratum, a rose bush and ornamental grass frame out the space. None of it was planned. It all just happened over a space of a few years. It's my kind of garden.

It has become a peaceful refuge for us. Maggie lays in the grass, soaking up the sun. I enjoy the birds, the water, and the summer colors that linger into fall.

And the zinnias? They'll be back next year! My favorite accident.