About Serendipity Gardens
Living in a Garden
We don’t have a garden – we live in one.
This photo was taken from a rain-spotted second-story skylight. The building in the photo will be The Meeting Place at Serendipity Gardens.
Our entire back yard and a good portion of the front yard are given over to gardens. They range from a “Ribbon of Color” garden to a Shady Nook to the Streamside Garden – and more. The spring photo above was taken through a rain-spotted skylight on the second floor of our house. The building in the photo is the barn.
We are in the process of converting the barn into The Meeting Place at Serendipity Gardens. When finished, The Meeting Place will be open for people in the area to rent for small parties and meetings.
The garden gate (not visible here) sports a frog sign that says “Welcome to my Garden.” Another sign announces that this is a registered natural habitat, providing food, water, shelter, and safe nesting places for a variety of animals. Living with us here, among other denizens of the animal world, are rabbits, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, frogs, fish, moles, woodchucks, butterflies, bees, and hundreds of birds. As the age of our garden has increased, my interest in working to provide habitat for these creatures has grown.
An Ever-Changing Work in Progress
The best way to describe Serendipity Gardens is with a story. Two repairmen came to work on our well. To do so, they had to go through the gate and into the garden. Their boss came a couple of days later to give us an estimate for digging a new well, and he also had to enter the garden.
As he passed through the gate he said, “So this is the Garden of Eden that my guys have been talking about.”
While I would hardly compare our garden to something so grand, nevertheless I feel comfortable saying it is a true labor of love – and an ever-changing work in progress.
About Me
Q: How long have I been a gardener?
A: At this location, 2013 is my 11th year. Before that, I planted something at every place I lived.
Q: What is my gardening philosophy?
A: Organic all the way – working with nature to create beauty and bounty – habitat – plant diversity — the recognition that perfection is unattainable — and ultimately, pure and simple awe at how an ecosystem works.
Q: Why the name “Serendipity Gardens?”
A: We call our garden Serendipity Gardens because so many beautiful things have happened, though not necessarily because of anything that we have done.
Q: How many plants do I have?
A: Who knows? But I can count at least 800 bulbs and over 150 plant varieties.