And the Winner Is....

...the gardens at 410!!

I was very fortunate and am very thankful to have won FIRST PLACE in the New Garden Category, which the Delaware Center for Horticulture defines as "any type of garden started within the last three years" that has not been previously judged.

Ancestral callings, as I have previously mused...


Of course I called my Aunt Annie (New York master gardener, cultivator of exquisite gardens) to tell her that I now have proof that I inherited her gardening genes, though she was quick to remind me that those were actually my grandparents' (they created extensive gardens and were known for their mass collection of irises). And she regaled me with that story of a six year old me, begging to help her garden, learning how to dig and plant so many years ago.

We talked gardening for a while--listing all those plants that have bloomed early, communicating plans to redesign this or that bed--and then shifted topics to more mundane matters: catching up after several weeks away. She had knee replacement surgery before I left for Paris in July, and there are complications. "Good thing I'm not on the garden tour," she declared.

I know it must pain her not to be able to go out and garden--though she's a tenacious gal and won't let a little thing like immobility slow her down. She always finds a way.

Then, to reassure me, she reported that her gardens are full of color, despite the more than copious amounts of rain that have fallen of late. I'm sure they are. And I'm sure they look spectacular.

Now that my gardening experience has crested with a FIRST PLACE award (surely this must give me bragging rights, no?!), I turn my sights to other matters:

with what do I fill the empty spaces in the Buddha bed to replace the fallen Pieris shrubs;

how best do I repel those nasty leaf eating bugs while I am away next year (if I go away)--bugs that have clearly taken a toll on the Obsidian Heuchera and Orange Marmalade Hosta, though I think they still look smart against a backdrop of Sawtooth Japanese Aucuba and paired with Toad Lily;

what news plants to import into the garden to replace some of the more common specimens;

should I buy a new house with more land to garden;

and on, and on...

Isn't that the joy of gardening?!  It never ends.