“Might I,” quavered Mary, “might I have a bit of earth?”
However many years she lived, Mary always felt that she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow.
And the Secret Garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.
– from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Fourteen years ago, my Secret Garden started with a lilac bush, a couple knee-high azaleas, a stubby mock orange, some wild roses, and twin flowers. And look at it today – it is a haven for birds and bunnies, and me. I walk through a portal of climbing clematis, and sit underneath a canopy of Cecile Brunner climbing roses which have been in my family for more than 50 years, and watch the birds splash around in the birdbath I set out for them, and eat from the feeders I hung from the ash tree branches. There is something very satisfying about watching the garden evolve, and watching the wild creatures visit and enjoy its peace…