MY ONCE UPON A TIME GARDEN

Not long after this picture was taken, a fierce

hailstorm permanently destroyed these gorgeous hostas.

(And my roof too! But I was more upset about the hostas.)

**********

If you were to visit my backyard today, the only spots of garden color you would see would be a few of those common orange daylilies and a hanging fuchsia basket (the traditional Mother's Day gift from my husband).

Where the perennial border was, the ground is almost bare. Half of the once lush lawn is now dirt, the other half includes lots of weeds. The little herb garden is overrun with ladybells.

The front garden isn't much better. My half dozen hardy Canadian shrub roses still survive, as well as my sturdy lavender irises, a couple of hollyhocks, a few Stargazer lilies and the ubiquitous ladybells.

I used to be a gardener - a good gardener. I studied for and earned a Master Gardener certificate. I gardened (with work in between) from 6 in the morning until the street lights came on at night. When I finally came indoors, I had a tower of gardening books to read at my bedside.

I wrote a garden column for the Bismarck Tribune. I did the Bismarck-Mandan Garden Club's newsletter. Dan and I hosted a garden party every August. I was a test gardener for Jackson and Perkins.

So what happened? Age, time and circumstances, I suppose. Our old American elm tree (which I do love) was huge when we moved here 27 years ago; now it is ginormous and kills every plant that tries to grow under its canopy, including the grass. Although its absence would totally change the micro climate of my backyard, I do not wish it gone, especially since Dutch elm disease has claimed so many beautiful old e;m trees in North Dakota. (And our tree must be one of the largest in Bismarck.)

About eight years ago, I was anemic for an entire summer, and therefore was so weak I did not lift a finger in the garden. I think that was the beginning of the decline. Job losses meant no more money for gardening. Perennials I had planted did not last as long as I thought they would. Finally, I developed carpal tunnel syndrome and my knees have gone wonky on me. This year, I didn't even buy annuals for the pots on my decks.

I am writing this blog so that these posted pictures can remind me of what I once had. They're a testament to what I have accomplished. And, doing this gives me closure. I have finally accepted that the gardening phase of my life is over.

I had lots of pleasure and lots of agony too. I have read so many times about gardeners who love to get their hands in the soil. That was never me. I don't like to get dirt under my fingernails (probably as a result of my enforced potato picking days). I did not enjoy planting, or weeding. I nearly "died" the day I planted 100 tulip bulbs. No, I only enjoyed the results.

For a while, until I went organic, I fought insects with a vengeance. I drowned slugs in beer by the thousands. And I lost so many plants to hail, that staple of a North Dakota summer. (This year, when I have exactly one plant, we have not had hail once.)

But one evening, when I was gardening in the front yard, a passerby told me that she thought that my house and garden came straight out of a fairy tale. That one comment made all the blood, sweat and tears worth it. (Blood from rose thorns, sweat - obviously, and tears after the hail storms.)

So I present these pictures for your enjoyment - and mine.

This is the arbor over the sidewalk leading to the house. The rose you see climbing the arbor is William Baffin, a sturdy, extremely robust Canadian shrub. On the other side of the arbor, not shown, there is a Henry Kelsey climber, also a Canadian shrub. There are also cosmos, daisies and I don't know what all.

The corner by the driveway, featuring a Morden rose ("Morden Pink", I think - yet another Canadian shrub). There are also some snapdragons, coral bells and zinnias.

This is the area to the left of my front steps. I've tried a lot of plant combinations in this space, but nothing I ever planted has seemed quite right. In this incarnation there are hollyhocks, ostrich ferns, some taller pink flowers, impatiens, perhaps an edging of white alyssum. (I never had any luck with it.) And a self-sown Queen Anne's lace (out of place, but nice~).

The lower deck behind the garage. Dan, who is definitely not a carpenter, did a good job with building it, on one of the hottest days of 1988. I also had him put up that lattice to give us a little privacy from the neighbors' driveway.


Another view of the lower deck. My nephew Nick made the folding table in shop class, and I painted it and the bench to match our house trim. I had my herbs here, close to the kitchen, as well as flowering plants.

Part of my perennial garden, with its lovely thatched bird feeder. I recognize delphiniums, artemesia, lilies, purple prairie coneflowers and physostegia (I think?).

The grapevine on the fence does a wonderful job of hiding the driveway. As you can see there is a gap in the rear where I had not yet been able to find a good tall plant. My aim for this perennial border was to have tall plants in the rear, medium-size plants in the middle and short plants in front.

Our upper and lower decks are separated by a walkway which continues out toward the lawn. Even then, only shade plants grew here. I later replaced the flimsy metal arbor with a nice sturdy arched one.

This is the back left corner of our yard. We put up another lattice panel to hide the compost bin. Kari, the daughter of my good friend Judy, painted the morning glories on the side of the garage. Which happens to be our neighbor's garage. How could I be so dense as to not think that he might object to having nails pounded into his garage wall and flowers painted on it. He later painted the garage - bye bye, morning glories. (But as long as we live in our house I will always have the great pleasure of viewing the ivy vines Kari painted above the arch in our dining room.)

My dear little faun, nearly hidden by the perennials. I can't believe I'm not remembering what the purple flowers are. I used to know the names of almost all garden flowers, and certainly the ones I grew. I'm thinking they might be a type of campanula.

My 50 bulbs for $10.00 mail order lilies! By the way, these photos were taken by Mike McCleary, a Tribune photographer.

Is there anything as fresh as a Shasta daisy? Especially when photographed in front of a blue-painted birdbath.

A sweet, shady spot for relaxing. This old apple tree produced tons of wonderful baking apples, but it had many blights and age-related problems. It just fell over one day after a particularly heavy rainstorm. Its prone branches reached across the lawn, nearly as far as our house. You'll note those orange daylilies in the background. They were there when we bought the house, and I let them be.

My little herb garden in the back right corner of the yard. I meant the bird house to be decorative, but a wren couple moved in. The mama would scold me so when I worked here (afraid for her babies, I'm sure).

Another view of my herb garden, just watered. In front, one of my most favorite plants, lady's mantle.

Help me out here. Victoria Blue salvia and candy tuft??

Another bird bath, surrounded by geraniums and petunias. (I had the strange quirk of never planting these two plants in the ground, but I did love them in pots.)

Hope you enjoyed the tour.