Summer Bouquets

Summer Bouquet, mixed media, 8x8

Last year I made a radical decision. I changed my vegetable garden over to a bouquet garden. I decided my life was at a point I wanted to be able to give people bouquets of flowers - not zucchini. Flowers bring happiness and sunshine into a room.  That is what I wanted to do. 

There were other pieces that played into my decision. I have a hard time pulling weeds. Who gets to decide weeds are less important than veges? And then there are the deer and rabbits and miscellaneous critters, japanese beetles, and did I mention deer? And cucumber virus. Quite honestly, I am not really a very good gardener and I love the farmer's market. So I threw in the towel and started planting flowers. Not any flowers but flowers that can be cut for bouquets. Zinnias, sunflowers, bachelor buttons, daisies, lavender. 

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Now I bring bouquets where ever I go. My garden is open to my neighbors. They know they can come and cut bouquets.  And hidden within my rows of flowers are tomatoes, eggplants, and green peppers.  Don't tell the deer. For the moment I believe they won't find them and I am happy. The above painting, Summer Bouquet, is of a bouquet I brought to my mom last week. 

Below I have posted a picture of my garden. I have done a bit more weeding since I took that picture.  A bit. A sign in my garden reads, "You Grow Girlfriend."  As Alice Sebold once said, "I like gardening - it's a place where I can find myself, when I need to lose myself." In the busyness of life, what a gift. 

jtk garden