my french country garden – phase 1

There’s something about digging in dirt that seeps into one’s soul. Into mine, at least. Although, when I was  young I hated being forced to pull weeds from my father’s garden after dinner on summer nights. The days were sultry and long, yet we were still expected to offer our services until night began to fall. At the time I resented it, but as I’ve grown older the contribution our grade school hands made to the family table now seem somehow noble. Butter beans, lettuce, radishes. Mostly I remember the dark sooty soil. Almost like an organic dye that stained our hands and bare feet obsidian. I remember our bath water later that night, as it turned umber and cloudy, washing garden traces from our arms and legs. And I remember crawling between clean sheets with a feeling of exhaustion and pride. 

Today I began the first phase of transforming my little urban patio into a french country garden. I’m more careful now; I wear gloves and a wide-brimmed hat. But the dirt still speaks to me. I tackled a corner of my yard that enjoys shade most of the day. All my favorite plants grow in shade: hostas, ferns, and playful pink caladiums. I kept it simple. Dug the holes, and placed the plants into the earth. Later I’ll mulch. But for today, I’m going to grab myself a glass of iced tea, admire my work, and remember being young.

how it all went down

After moving into our new home, I observed that one corner of our courtyard remained shady most of the day. A perfect spot for all my favorite shade-loving plants!

Next step: make a drawing of my garden plans. Not very technical, but you can see how the pops of color I added make a difference. For the shade garden, I decided to add Empress Hostas (a large variety), ferns, and a variety of caladiums.

The finished results, sans mulch. (I’ll recruit my husband for that!) The start of my french country garden.