I have some news

Well I have some big personal news to share with you today. I went to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx for the first time last week, and although I’m including a bunch of pics for you below, a Field Trip wasn’t the purpose of my visit. If you’ve been around here long or have known me even longer, you know I started gardening in a rented backyard in California almost 25 years ago and fell head over heels in love with it. I was in my early thirties then, and wished so badly that it wasn’t too late for me to go back and pick a different profession, to find a way for my life to revolve around plants and gardens. But going back to school genuinely wasn’t an option, and so I’ve continued to make gardens for myself as much as life allowed, and have believed that beyond that was a door that was closed to me. But in recent weeks, I’ve come to the conclusion that while it might have been too late for me then, it’s not too late for me now. So at the (shockingly young) age of 57, I’ve enrolled in the NYBG’s continuing-education program for horticulture and garden design. I start my first class in a matter of days, and I almost can’t believe it’s real. What will come of it, I can’t know! But I’m overjoyed to be pushing through this door, eager to find out what might lie on the other side of it.

I’ll confess that one of the (many many) feelings I’m having is that I’ve always prided myself on being a pretty good garden designer despite being self-taught. I’ve spent decades absorbing everything I could from photos and captions and interviews and so on, on top of everything I’ve learned by putting my hands in the dirt and making gardens. (And to be fair: having a design degree is not irrelevant, even though it’s in graphic design.) But I also know there’s so much I don’t know about garden-making on a larger scale, and am eager to learn. 

So, I’m going back to school! And you’re sure to hear more about it as I continue to make my tiny forest and document it here.

. . .

It was insanely hot the day I was there, and the garden is vast, so I barely scratched the surface and will likely share more coherently in the future. (I’ll be spending a lot of time there!) But here for now is an assortment of views that caught my eye on that momentous first visit—

I didn’t have time to venture into the forest that day, sadly, or hop on the tram to the other side. But I look forward to exploring it all over the coming months. (Years?)

Let me know if there’s anything in particular you’d like me to share along the way ...