Moving and New Possibilities Ahead

A few weeks ago we moved away from our lovely home in the Fan, an area in Richmond, Virginia known for its beautiful old homes (ours was built in 1903) wonderful gardens, great food and music, and some of the sweetest people I know. 

Moving is bittersweet; sweet as it brings wonderful new adventures, which unfold as time passes, but bitter as it requires us to leave behind the familiar, those things and people we've grown to love.

Now, we are in between the leaving and the finding and the settling back in. We've started noticing the "soul sucking" environment of the outer edges of a big Metropolitan area, and how even a tiny familiar thing can bring joy. 

So I've been thinking about my lovely back garden, shaded and quiet, in tones of green and white..full of texture, value shifts and variegation, and except for one very pink azalea, only white flowering plants. A real oasis from the stimulation of City living, and the angst of transitions.

Quiet spot to dry an old friend --Day Basket from 1995

Though I probably won't plant azaleas in my new location, this one always sparked a few days of excitement when it would burst forth...so delicate and short lived, but glorious just the same. 

The front garden was a total riot of growth this year after that long hard winter. 


We lost a big tree in the city well in front of our house, and so those plants just soaked up all the light, growing more like weeds than the elegant plants they are.

My neighbor dubbed it a "Darwinian Garden" because it was totally survival of the fittest in there!

Euphorbia and peonies, yarrow and blue salvia, a variety of bulbs, and my favorite little surprise, the pineapple lily! The lovely short blooming weeping cherry tree, the crazy grasses, a pink camelia..how it all fit in there and came in bloom before I left is impressive; the new owners have their work cut out for them.

I met some new "friends" in the plant world, as most of my gardens have been vegetables or cutting gardens, with a large dose of perennials, but all the greens and bulbs and lilies (the spider one was very impressive, too), will be missed. 

I'm looking forward to the new space, garden, possibilites ahead, but I'm grateful for the plants I learned to love during our time in Richmond. 

Boxwood and Peonies -- a perfect pair!