We lived in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State for 39 years, moving to Central Florida in 2014. We didn't buy our first house until 1990. It was an old house on one and a half acres out in the country, adjacent to state land.
Perennial garden beds were our passion for 24 years, and it seemed like each year we couldn't help but put in another, and then another. By the time we moved it was ridiculous. We left the new owners a hand-drawn map and a detailed summary of what was where.
¡Wow! That was a work of art. The map included. Love the details. Bordering on wetlands and Maple Avenue. A wildflower area. I love this!!!
ReplyDeleteWe had so many flowers that need dividing each year. I gave away as much as I could, but took to "dump gardening" in the unmowed areas. It worked so well - and the flowers I used were extremely hardy. I was really proud of how that worked out. The wetlands at the back were amazing, private, wild. We had beavers back there for a couple of years.
Deletewow. I have never moved to were there were gardens. But having so many flowers and veggies in our gardens I would have loved this!
ReplyDeleteIt was very satisfying, I'm sure you would have loved it.
DeleteJust wonderful to read! I wish we had more flowering plants but every year, there are more and more vegetables, I think until we get too old to harvest.
ReplyDeleteHow much do you miss it now that you are in Florida?
I miss the land and the flora more than I can say. Especially at this time of the year when the flowers were at their best until early August.
DeleteThat sounds like a truly amazing garden. I would have loved it and I hope the people that bought your place loved it too.
ReplyDeleteI assume they loved it, but they both worked and had young children. I doubt they were able to keep up with all the weeding and mulching required.
DeleteWhat a kind and thoughtful guide for the next owner. And what an extensive set of plantings. Even my house could not rival that. Hooray for the raspberry patch. I hope it's very mature now.
ReplyDeleteI wonder!
DeleteWow! Colette, that is really detailed! I wonder if people have kept it up? Have you ever been back to your old home to check? Do you have a large garden now? I can barely keep up with the weeds in my small garden beds. I can't imagine how much time you spent pulling weeds! I bet it was lovely, tho!
ReplyDeleteWe drove by about 2 years after we moved when we went back to visit old friends. It was a quick pass through, but a number of the garden beds didn't seem to exist anymore.
DeleteYou left a lovely legacy with your gardens.
ReplyDeleteThank you, they were a great love of ours.
DeleteWow! What an amazing gift to the new owners! I bet they loved having all that information.
ReplyDeleteOh gee, I sure hope they did.
DeleteAh, the unbridgeable gap between us: "perennial garden beds were our passion"
ReplyDeleteOur instructions to the people who bought our previous house in Kingston-upon-Thames would have been a mite shorter. "The garden is at the back; you might need a magnifying glass".
But I'm left wondering whether I may own up to any passions:
1a, intense, driving or uncontrollable feeling; 1b, an outbreak of anger; 2a, ardent affection, love; 2c, a strong sexual desire. Etc, etc.
Some hairy ones there. On reflection I find I don't even allow such states of mind to the fictional characters I include in my novels. I did submit the denouement of Gorgon Times, where the two main characters come together, to one of my blog commenters, significantly a citizen of the USA. "They didn't even hold hands", she moaned. All I could say in my defence was: "They are Brits, you know".
Ha!
DeleteWe probably need to do a map like that of our own garden. There are so many different bushes and plants, and we often fail to identify them ourselves.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fun exercise. I really enjoyed making it.
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