14 June 2007

Mi Jardin Es Su Jardin

Without gardener-friends, what would our yards look like? A recent visit from our southern-fried Wisconsonite friend Tony got me thinking about how a little love and sharing goes a long way. Take for example this photo of our old garden in Madison, Wisconsin (which is bad, but I didn't want to search through the piles too long for something better).



The flagstone path is courtesy of throw-away stones from John's sister Lorry. Tony and another friend Catherine donated hostas and many other plants to the cause. I would often come home, in fact, to find plants dug up from Tony's garden waiting by my back door for me to plant them. Without these folks, our garden would've taken forever to grow. And it just wouldn't have been the same. Every plant from a friend has a history. Those from the nursery just blend into the garden whole.

In Austin too, we've benefited from the kindness of others. We have a few mountain laurels that came from Tina and Amy's (I think one of these tough transplants might actually survive!). We have juniper fencing and Hill Country stones scored from our friends C.J. and Jenny, who live on an undeveloped property outside of San Marcos. Steph passed along a couple agave pups, and Felicia donated a larger century plant to the front yard as well.

Note to Self: Dig out those fine, strong inland sea oat plants taking up precious flower space and spread them around to friends in need.

1 comment:

Kat said...

So true! NEarly everything I have is a passalong from a neighbor. Some plants make it and some don't, but my sorta-green thumb is better for trying, and I've made new friends too. We also have a gardeners yahoo group...sharing knowledge and pics too. ;-)