My grandmother cultivated my interest in gardening from the time when I first learned to stand. She loved to garden and it showed. Her small dirt patch in the backyard of her suburban house was always brimming with beautiful blooms and even had a little kitchen garden at the back. After school, I would play outside and tend the patch for hours.
But if her garden in the city was good, her garden in Vermont was truly outstanding in its size and variety. Hundreds of feet in diameter, she successfully grew any vegetable you could think of. There were rows upon rows of carrots, parsley, pole beans, sunflowers, tomatoes, potatoes, and her specialty, zucchini. In addition to the vegetable patch, she had about an acre of raspberry bushes, with huge yields. By the end of the summer, we had a ton of produce: beautiful carrots, bushels of beans, lots of giant zucchini (I’m talking four feet long and half a foot wide), and gallons of raspberries for pie-baking and jam-making.
I never thought of myself as a gardener; I just kind of hung around in the back, watching and learning from my grandmother’s verdant thumb. I guess it must have rubbed off because I seem to have caught the gardening bug. One of my main summer activities is planning, planting, and caring for my garden which gets bigger and more beautiful each year. I have expanded the vegetable garden (though it is still way too small), now have a giant raspberry patch started from shoots from grandma’s garden (needless to say, they have flourished), and a steadily increasing number of flower beds.
I love my flower beds. I love seeing them look good and getting positive feedback on them. I love seeing the yard in perfect condition: trimmed, blooming, and weed-free.
I have been planning a theme for my garden for a few summers now. Being the epitome of a nerdy English major and a Jane Austen addict, I of course had to have a literary theme for my garden. Then I got an idea: why not plan a traditional English garden with plants mentioned in Jane Austen novels? I googled it. No one else seemed to be that crazy. So, I was on my own to create the perfect Jane Austen garden. But what to plant and how to plan it? Maiden pinks, foxgloves, Canterbury bells, and phlox were all on my short list. I then realized that it would be almost physically and monetarily impossible for me to do. So, I was to manifest my literary plans in another fashion.
In the middle of the night I woke up and was thinking about Jane Austen and how she would play into my garden. Then it clicked. Why not name my different flower beds after Jane Austen heroines based on the appearance and the nature of the flowers in them, distinguished by painted signs bearing their names? Eureka!
The first was “Elinor and Marianne” (of Sense and Sensibility), which would be on the right side of the bilco. The flowers there are very different and, yet, they work seamlessly together. I have giant hostas and rambunctious bee balms, as well as some false mallow and cosmos. The hostas and the cosmos are like Elinor: they are reserved, stable, and strong, but just when you don’t expect it, they bloom with stunning flowers. The bee balm and mallow are for Marianne: they’re bright, overflowing, and vibrant. The two work very well together, complimenting each other’s vastly different qualities in a pleasant manner.
Next, there’s “Anne” on the side of the garage, inspired by the heroine of Persuasion. Anne is patient, loving, and most of all faithful. So are the flowers in her bed. There are bleeding hearts (which I found particularly appropriate), heirloom peonies, and resurrection lilies. All of them are pink and feminine, but sturdy and beautiful. Most importantly, while mostly dormant and less than eye-catching, when they bloom, they create a show that is not to be missed. They are old faithfuls and continue to grow and become more beautiful with time.
I am planning a “Catherine” bed for Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey. Of course, I will be filling it with fantastical and eye-popping beauties, such as sunflowers, perhaps reminiscent of something Catherine would have read about in a novel or fantasized about while daydreaming. “Emma” will be stately and beautiful, and filled with feminine charm and grace. “Elizabeth” (and “Jane” I think) will be beautiful without being presumptuous, and filled with old favourites we might have found growing outside of Longbourn.
All in all, I think this English major has a great gardening season ahead of her.
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