The Parsley Patch

Open up the window, listen to the wind blow, pardon us the garden us is where we’ll be. Come along, if you please, sing the song bumble-bees, me and you, you and me…

– from ‘The Magic Garden’

Ever since I planted my first pumpkin patch when I was five, gardening has been a passion and only seems to have become more of an obsession as I get older. It’s not surprising as my grandparents were farmers and my parents always had a large vegetable garden growing when I was young. Working the land is in my blood.

While some elements of the garden such as peonies, daylilies, mock orange shurbs, rhodedendrons and some other bits and bobs are 20-50 years old, the gardens featured here in The Parsley Patch largely began to take shape in 2002. Giant Norway spruces that had shrouded almost all of our property in darkness were cut down, letting in the sun. Once the shock of losing so many old trees wore off, gardens that could only be dreamt of began to grow. As they did, memories of a favorite childhood show ‘The Magic Garden’ kept coming to mind as did the catchy tunes sung on the show.

Recalling the show’s chuckling daisies, giant-smiling sunflowers and magic tree that grew lollipops lent inspiration to conjuring my own magic garden that has taken on a life of its own. And so now share it here for you to behold what your senses can perceive in this place where the muggle world is left behind for the magical to flourish in a flower… in the turning of the moon… in the changing of the seasons…

Garden Details
Size: 1/3 acre
Age: 8 years
Location: Eastern PA
Zone: 6
Conditions: Rough! Located halfway up the windy northern slope of a mountain at the edge of the forest, the soil is rocky and dry.