Ladies,

The mid-summer heat is in full force and aside from some sturdy roses, my garden has all but collapsed as of July. Which means of course that I have learned many garden lessons to take with me into seasons ahead. More heat tolerant perennials…check! More morning watering, check! More weeding….check. Less mixed seed packets and more packets of just my favorites…check. I could go on with the lessons learned as I have retreated indoors to the air conditioning, a bit deflated but not disheartened.

Gardening is as much soldiering on with wisdom from failures as it is marching triumphantly in the victories.

And there were as many failures as victories, I just don’t photograph the failures. But what better way to remember all I want to take with me by recording it in a garden photo book: the favorite flowers I want to grow again, the garden layout ideas and notes. Since I cannot be under the scorching sun and all has but died as of now, I decided the best gardening task for being indoors wistfully gazing out the window at what is left, means time to record it.

This means digging deep into my photo album and collecting every single before and after photo of this courtyard and garden area, which spans over a year and a half.

This means a lot of time spent scrolling and organizing photos, which is a task I have put off until this moment in time.

Of course, I must choose the portraits of my favorite individual flowers.

I was enchanted by the vibrant purple cosmos as much as my fuzzy bumblebee friends.

Bachelor Buttons have become a fast friend as well.

Oh, and the white Baby’s breath in the background? Another all-time favorite as it gently frames everything it surrounds in such sweet celebration.

I must record the exquisite color combinations that reveal themselves in ways you could hardly imagine as you sprinkle in the seeds.

So many things can happen that can change the garden look, like simply pouring out a mixed seed packet and only certain varieties take root!

I love how the garden surprises you like that. You can plan all you want but if bird poo, a squirrel, water, or wind plants a seed and something grows and something else doesn’t, it is still a fun surprise.

The failures happened, plants failed to thrive, certain favorites died, lessons were learned.

One of the hardest parts about gardening is gardening with very little time lived and experience in one place. Try as I might to work with the soil here, especially on a small budget, my inexperience in this region showed. Perhaps the favorites that did well here will not do well in the next place I move to. But this garden was a beautiful oasis while I lived here and if I need to learn all knew things for the next place, I will do that to make an oasis there too. No matter how far behind I leave this place when I move, I will treasure the garden I had here.

And it will be recorded in my garden photo book.