My Countryside Garden

I have never been one to think too far ahead. When I was a child, I never fantasized about my future husband or my wedding day. When I was in school, I never hypothesized my career path or decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. As much as I enjoy home design, I’ve never drawn up a plan for my forever home. Even now as a mother, I rarely imagine my children as grown ups or think about what their lives will look like.

But I do sometimes think about karma. My husband and I fell and love and were married within one year. We were physically together for only 5 weeks of that year. My parents met my husband-to-be maybe twice before he asked for permission to marry me (all within 1 month). And just three months after our Chilean wedding, we packed up my husband’s bedroom and moved him across the world to the United States.

So while I do not tend to imagine much about the future, I do have in the back of my mind what may someday come my way. If indeed one or both of my children get swept off their feet and follow their hearts, or their careers, or their desires to someplace far far away, my in-laws have given me some pretty good examples of how to ensure they come back for regular visits and maybe even stay a while.

Exhibit A: the greenhouse. Shortly after we decided to move to Chile in August, my father-in-law informed me that he would be building a greenhouse for me in the country. He sent me the dimensions and asked how I’d like it laid out. I requested an L-shaped raised bed, some shelves, and space in the middle for a place to sit. When we arrived in December, it looked like this (minus the plants) with the table and chair already in place. Our pre-Coronavirus plans had us visiting the country on the weekends, and this enormously thoughtful gesture certainly provided an extra incentive to make the trip.

My only plan for this garden was to have herbs and flowers. I had spent the previous 10 years of home gardening growing vegetables with only moderate success, so I decided this was the year for flowers. Every weekend on our way to the countryside we would pass a little pop up nursery, so it was easy (and cheap) to fuel my flower addiction throughout the summer.

By the time we moved to the cabin in March, my garden had grown to include dahlias, hibiscus, cosmos, salvias, begonias, fuchsias, argyranthemum, and aralias.

And then there is the copihue. I brought this copihue home from my very first trip to the nursery because my husband told me it was the national flower of Chile. When my in-laws saw it, they all informed me that the copihue is difficult to cultivate in a garden setting. I was thrilled when I found a solitary bud on my beloved copihue. It took two more months for that bud to bloom, but that beautiful flower fills me with pride every time I see it.

Other native plants in my garden are escallonia rubra, pichi romero, and cedrón.

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At the end of April (fall here), we enclosed the structure with plastic. The weather in our valley doesn’t get too cold. Generally, the daytime temps peak in the upper 50’s, with the nighttime lows dropping to the lower 40’s.

For Mother’s Day, I picked up this adorable lemon tree from my very favorite nursery in Algorrobo, el Jardín Suizo. This guy’s name is Monty and I love him.

The last photo, above, is from the beginning of June (the end of fall). This greenhouse has brought me both joy and a sense of purpose as we transitioned to our life abroad, then to life in quarantine, and, as all greenery does, through the dreariest days of winter. I sure am looking forward to spring.