How does your garden grow?

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*Rest in Peace, Nora Ephron. She never failed to make me laugh, cry, and want to be brilliant.*

One of the best things about this time of year is the abundance of colorful flowers. Here in Southern California we have the amazing jacaranda trees, which bloom all purple and gorgeous.

There are so many artistic gardeners in my neighborhood, and I love to admire their work. Unfortunately, I am not one of them.

I have many life skills that are useful. I am very well-organized, which can sometimes lead to grumbling in my house when things are put away thrown out. I am a good, albeit reluctant cook – my dream is to have a personal chef. I have a pretty decent eye for color and design, which can sometimes make me kind of annoying to live with, as I am forever wanting to re-do something in my home. But there’s one gift that I was most definitely not given – and I so very much wish I had this talent.

I cannot get things to grow.

In my ideal world, I would have a garden where I could plant beautiful flowers for cutting, vegetables for cooking (well, for my personal chef to use – remember this is my ideal world), and fragrant herbs and roses to make the air smell sweet. There would be flowers to attract butterflies, which I enjoy a lot. It just doesn’t happen for me. It’s kind of tragic because I adore flowers. I try to always have fresh flowers in my house, and there’s nothing that makes me happier than the gift of flowers – especially if it’s for no specific reason (Peter, are you listening?). Every time I go to Costco, I buy a bunch or two of their cut flowers. I like flowers in artwork, and fabric with a floral motif. I like big, robust flowers like hydrangeas, peonies and sunflowers.

Our friends Gail and Brent have the most glorious hydrangea bush in their front yard, right as you walk to the door. Along with that they have the most delicious smelling honeysuckle. Gail is very generous with her blooms, and will share them with me anytime I ask. This is what their hydrangea looks like:

Pretty fabulous, isn’t it? If I weren’t already such good friends with Gail, I’d become her friend just to get cuttings from that plant.

Last year, Peter decided to plant a hydrangea bush for me. This is what my hydrangea looks like today.

Those two sad little blooms are all I have after two years. Go ahead and laugh. I don’t mind.

When I was growing up, my grandparents had a beautiful backyard with a flagstone patio, a birdbath, and lots of flowers. It was a little slice of paradise. We have a nice yard, too – but it’s mostly pool, with a patio for sitting and relaxing. Nice, but no garden.

My aunt Susan has the most incredible garden. I’m not kidding when I tell you that sitting in her backyard is like being at a resort in the South of France – not that I’ve been to the South of France, but it’s what I imagine it will be like when I get there (which I will). Here is a picture of her backyard -

Note Aunt Susan’s sweet little dog Daisy sitting under the tree

Clearly, the gardening gene did not get passed down to me.

So I will continue to go to Costco and buy their (very reasonably priced) flower bunches, rather than taking cuttings from my well-tended garden…that doesn’t exist. Oh, and I’ll take blooms from Gail, too. She doesn’t mind at all.