Posted on by Donna

Wishes For My Garden

“My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature.”

~Claude Monet

 

I’ll tell you a secret…..I often make wishes.  I think it stems from my childhood when we would find dandelion seed heads, and make wishes on them before we blew the seeds all over.  You will seldom find me doing that now as I don’t need anymore dandelions in my garden….we have plenty thank you!

Or maybe it was when we would come upon a fountain, and I would use a precious penny to cast into the water. With that penny went my wish….those were special wishes.  And one of my favorite wishes, was the quiet, heartfelt one I made upon the first star at night.  I’ll tell you another secret.  I still do that especially in fall when the stars come out earlier.  Or maybe when I am out walking at twilight and see that first star.  Yes, those wishes fill up my soul with gladness and gratitude.

 

 

It’s as if my wish is being whispered on the wind and sent to the heavens….and with it I yearn for an answer to be delivered.  Some may scoff at wishes thinking them childish, but no, I like to think of them as expressing my heart’s desire.  

I learned something new recently.  That wishes are also an expression of our intentions.  When we wish for something we are making way for it just by the act of wishing.  I like that thought.  Without expressing an intention, how can I hope to make it happen.  By wishing, I am opening up  to creating something new or receiving something….maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t.

 

 

Now I know wishing is not the same as setting a goal, and making a plan.  No it is more an invitation sent out in the universe to get something going.  Just whispering a wish and letting it go….these I think are so integral in the process of creating….creating space for infinite possibilities.

I also make wishes for my garden every year.  As I look out upon the fallen leaves, browning flowers and stems, there is more there than just the detritus of a year’s garden growth. Now they are fragments of dreams strewn about….each piece a reminder of the gifts given to me this year…..and for each I am grateful. 

 

 

But in those fragments now left upon the brown earth, I see possibilities.  So I send my wishes for next year’s garden, with these fragments, as they dry and wither and blow in the wind.  

 

I wish for a good growing season with bountiful blooms and harvest.

 

 

I wish for a bit more order, to free a few plants from the crowding of volunteers too long dominating every inch of the garden.

 

 

I wish for an abundance of critters who come back to live in the garden, reaping its rewards and giving so much more than they get.

 

 

I wish for a healthy garden and gardener who can find a bit more help in cleaning up and clearing areas too long neglected….to make the garden less physical labor as I age.  I know though with this wish may come some more letting go of several gardens I can no longer maintain.  This will take time, and a journey I knew would come in time.  I am sure I will write more about this in the coming year.

 

 

I no longer wish for things beyond my control….better weather, less pests (to name a few)….these are under nature’s domain.  This garden was given over to wildlife long ago, and I will respect that bargain I made with Mother Nature for as long as I live here.  I give her a chemical free area, with loads of native plants to create a multitude of habitats, and she provides the sheer delight and soulful bliss I get from watching nature share the garden with me all year.

 

 

What wishes do you have for your garden?  What intentions do you want to send upon the wind?

 

 

A Wishing Vase

 

 

These blooms were cut from my garden as it was dying back.  

 

 

You can see the snapdragons and Amaranthus I grew from seed along with lavender and roses blooming again during our heat wave in September and the warmest start to October.  Goldenrod and hydrangea add a bit more color and texture to round it out.

 

 

The candle and angel are added to send out my wishes for a bountiful growing season of flowers next year too.

 

I am joining Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful In A Vase on Monday meme. The pictures shared here were created with my iPod Touch camera and two free apps, Pixlr and Prisma. 

I am posting poetry, almost weekly on Sundays, on my other blog, Living From Happiness.  You can read my latest poem here.

 

All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2017.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.

40 Replies to “Wishes For My Garden”

  3. What a lovely post, Donna, and beautifully illustrated! I think wishes are like dreams, and without dreams, life would be very stagnant. I still have some wishes for a new garden area that I hope to fulfill one of these days. Like you, though, I am thinking how to make the garden easier to maintain. My wish is to be like a friend who just turned 90 and still is out tending one of our small town garden plantings!

  5. A lovely vase reminiscent of summer. 🙂 And a lovely post too, Donna. I wish for lots more bees and butterflies etc to find their way into my organic garden too!

    1. Here’s to your wish Cathy to have more bees and butterflies in your organic garden! I can guarantee they will find you….they know and pass along the word eventually.

  6. I can’t believe how I used to blow those dandelion seeds around.
    This is a beautiful post with some lovely thoughts. I wished to have more space for plants and now I’m here with as much space as I can handle.
    I wish all your wishes would come true and I might send out a few of my own.

  7. I can’t help wishing for rain – I keep hoping that Mother Nature will deliver an ample supply this year as she did last year, even as I continue to plant drought tolerant species. Although those plants survive on low water, they still look better when they get more. However, I’ve stopped wishing that the raccoons, squirrels and skunks would go elsewhere, accepting that filling in the holes they dig is just part of my daily rounds through the garden.

    I’m glad you’re still enjoying beautiful blooms from your garden. I’ve been eyeing the snapdragons that recently popped up in our local garden center. So pretty but also so prone to rust here.

    1. I will keep wishing for rain for you Kris….we had a family visit in CA in October and it was hot and dry. I hope some day when we come back, I might have time to make a side trip and meet up with you!

  9. Pictures full of wonder this time! I truly enjoy them.

    It is not easy adjusting ideas and expectations in the garden to what we can comfortably and reasonably keep up with.

    1. Thanks Diana….no it is not easy adjusting but I am reaching a point as I age, where I have so many other goals and wishes….so being realistic as to what I can reasonably handle makes it a bit easier to make changes now. We shall see.

  10. Good wishes, Donna! I do believe in setting intentions and allowing the universe to open the paths for us.
    Your photos are lovely and I particularly like your white fence, like a box filled to the brim with flowers.
    Your posy is a nice autumnal bouquet!

  12. A lovely quote and an equally beautiful text to go along with your cheerful autumn vase. I do believe in wishing and dreaming and in staying peacefully close to nature. Enjoy your autumn garden which seems to inspire such fine thoughts in you – something to treasure.

  14. Oh a most thoughtful and beautiful post Donna. I wish that all that you wish for your garden comes about. I wonder just how many dandelion seedlings have come about through wishing. There’s is something though quite magical about blowing on them and watching those seeds drift through the air.

  17. Lovely post and posy. I think we are all relating to your wishes and they are very similar to mine. Reminded me of the song Time In A Bottle – if dreams could make wishes come true.

  19. Your vase is really pretty. This is a beautifully written post, Donna. I like the idea of making wishes while traveling through the garden and nature. I will have to borrow that idea with a little more clear intention. I often say prayers, but I like the idea of tagging innocent little wishes into the mix, too. 🙂

Comments are closed.