Hawthorn Hill Journal by Richard deRosa

Exploring Gardening as Art

When I started gardening, I would assiduously draw up plans. That is what the gardening books I checked out recommended. All very interesting. None spoke to me. No matter how hard I tried, I could never translate what I had committed to paper into reality. A contrarian spirit would always take charge of me the minute I set foot in the garden. All that space to mess around with. Too alluring an invitation to break rules. I am not much of a rule breaker, but put me in an empty garden and ignoring precedent comes quite naturally.

Perhaps I would make a fine Supreme Court judge. Conventional gardening wisdom argues against planting certain plants next to one another. I have never given such things a thought and my yields on the whole have been quite ample enough for our needs. If I were a farmer and not a gardener, I might pay attention to such advice. Since I am not that ordered and disciplined in the conduct of my daily life, much as I have tried, my gardens are a reflection of my haphazard approach to getting through time generally. Just check out my study and you’ll see what I mean.