click to enlarge photos

After a Garden Club of Virginia trip to the Eastern Shore for a two-day visit through spectacular private gardens, I returned home with ideas and brainstorms and plans and visions for what my gardens could be. My mind was swirling with mental images of new designs, new plants I must have, and dreams of doing it all by myself.

First of all, I want to redesign my garden shed. Mine is a working shed. It smells a little too much like Holly Tone, tools line an entire wall, mud must be swept out regularly, and spooky spiders like to hang out in corners. The interior of the garden house I saw on the Eastern Shore is what I must have. It was a bit eclectic with an array of natural collections and yet it was peaceful and serene with the soft painted interior… walls, ceiling and floors… that provided the perfect background to showcase the garden collections. On the wall were penned thoughtful garden or natural world sayings by well-known people in history.

I looked around for a chair. There was no chair but if there had been a chair, a bit of soft music and a glass of wine, I might still be in that garden house. I think the owners left the chair out on purpose!  They knew visitors would fight over it.

Did I mention there was a chandelier?  Sigh.

Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester