As promised, here's the second of two old garden journals found recently. This is dated early 1990's, so it's even earlier than the last one (shown on last post) and pretty much full of only photos and handwritten notes and plans, a few doodles, but not too many. It was a hardcover journal with plain white paper inside.
I was really really really into gardening then. I couldn't wait for my monthly copy of Garden Design magazine to come each month. I read each word and studied each photo. Even though we lived in Southern California, I was determined to grow an English Country garden, and with lots of effort was able to pull it off for the most part. I especially became obsessed with David Austin English roses. Still my favorite of all roses to this day. I believe this was pre-internet days (for me anyway), so I did tons of research via books, magazines, and visits to specialty garden shops. Something to be said for the fun of pouring over a nursery catalog...I remember a nursery in Pasadena called Hortus that published the coolest catalog, full of quotes and old illustrations. Wish a toddler in tow, it was quite a trek; I only went in person once.
We had a big yard and I had tons of room for roses in amongst the plants in the front, side and back, and then we made a "rose cutting garden" too. I wanted to have so many flowers that when I cut them the garden wouldn't suffer for it in it's beauty.
Um, well, I think this will make it clear:
I wasn't kidding you, I was obsessed. But seriously, can you blame me? Don't you just want to burry your nose in that one above? The David Austin's smell divine too.
I wish I would have done more pressing and including dried flowers from the garden...sigh...
We lived on a small culdesac in a neighborhood that was a little bit faux rural, meaning it was a development of all custom homes on custom lots and lots of shared greenbelts (no backyard fences allowed, we'd create them with trees and shrubs if wanted) within a planned community full of tract homes. For the longest time, there was an empty lot that was not developed across the street from us. As many of our neighbor friends were also into gardening, we decided to plant a communtiy garden. I made up an invite and passed them out. (I am laughing at myself that I wrote "garden plan provided for inspiration only", duh Pam.) It was a very fun day, with a big turn out and I wish I had put a photo of the result in my garden journal! I have one somewhere I'm sure, just where is the quesiton. I remember us getting vegetables for a summer or two before the property was sold and a house was built.
This journal has page after page of notes and thoughts, wishes and plans. To be honest, I have no desire to go back and read much (if any) of what I wrote.
Looking at photos is so much more fun, let's just do that:
Finding these books has been so fun. It feels similar to when I stumble upon old photos of my kids when they were little; I'm instantly overcome with that feeling of nostalgia and longing, wanting to go back and relive it, remembering what good times they were. Of course, that is not possible, but I'm sure glad to have these to be transported back there in my mind. It definitely has me thinking that I need to start a new gardening journal this spring. Ideas are percolating as to what format that'll take. And of course, even though it's been an unusually warm winter here, it leaves me excited for Spring too. I know those of you living in colder climates have likely been feeling that way already! Soon, soon, it's got to break soon, right?!?
