Springtime in the Garden

~ Kerri Thauby

Time has been playing tricks on all of us this year. For me, moving abroad, changing hemispheres, living under strict lockdown for 8 months, and losing one of the biggest markers of time for a family with young children – school – has made it feel as if time has abandoned me. Without the sense of direction that routines, schedules and celebrations give us, I have been entirely lost in what day / month / season / daylight savings time it is. And sometimes, when hanging the laundry to dry by the woodstove, or while washing the dishes for what feels like the 11 billionth time, or when walking down the road to buy fresh bread and eggs, it feels as if I’ve actually traveled backwards in time.

The only place where the passage of time has reflected change in a predictable way is in my garden, where nature has followed the rules, where the seasons have turned, and where it’s finally spring. A little reminder of where I was in February of this year, before we moved to the country full time and the garden became my very best friend. (Read the complete story on how the countryside garden came to be and see photos of last summer’s blooms here.)

I can hardly believe how much has changed since that photo in February. What started as a weekend hobby transformed into a daily escape when we ditched the city for the country in March. Being able to work and dream in this garden every day has given me life and purpose during a time when so much of what usually drives me has been stripped away.

When I finally got my homeschooling shit together in August, this garden grew from a private refuge into an outdoor classroom, affectionately known as The Garden School, complete with school supplies, a mascot, a nature table and a secret tunnel.

Now, at the beginning of November, we have still have half of spring and the entire summer ahead of us. With this as my starting point, I’m so excited to see what the coming months will bring.

Back: salvia leucantha, salvia microphylla / Middle: hydrangea / Front: fuschia, argyranthemum
Back: perritos or antirrhinum majus (unplanted), salvia microphylla, argyranthemum / Front: fuschia, pittosporum tobira (shrub) / Corner: copihue (native), escallonia rubra (native)
Back: geranium grown from a cutting, calibrachoa, English lavender, aloysia citrodora (native) / Front: chamomile, lemon balm, and calibrachoa. In the middle of all this is a hibiscus that is starting to return.
A closer look at the empty space in this bed, which is where my dahlias will fill in. Last summer I had two, but after storing and dividing them, I now have 7 plants pushing through the soil!
Back: salvia leucantha, coprosmo repens, laurel / Front: dimorphoteca, parsley, another propagated geranium, rue, pichi romero (native). A second hibiscus plant is in the center of this bed as well.
Back of the same bed with a better view of the coprosmo repens and a flourishing succulent that I grew from a cutting.
Left: drymis winteri or canelo (native). This plant is considered sacred by the indigenous Mapuche pueblos of Chile / Middle: bugainvillea / Right: cosmo sprouts grown from seeds I harvested from last year’s crop

Spring in the garden, whether it’s in the northern or southern hemisphere, in April or in November and with or without any of the normal things going on around it, is more than a just season. Spring is also a feeling of joyful anticipation that is so welcome after this particularly long and disorienting winter.

3 thoughts on “Springtime in the Garden”

    1. Thank you so much, Sara! I will share more photos as summer progresses. I absolutely love English cottage gardens and found so much inspiration from the show Big Dreams Small Spaces with Monty Don. Warmest wishes from the southern hemisphere!

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  2. Pingback: Summertime in the Garden – True Story: Chile

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