Reader's Retreat

In this season of designing, planting, weeding, mulching, raking, pruning, it's easy to forget the most important garden activity: enjoying.  Being as devoted to the written word as I am to horticulture, my pastime of choice is always reading.  I'll read just about anything, really, but I love to lose myself in a good novel.  If I can't find a book I long to read, I'll create my own stories.  In fact, I'm following up my recently released new adult novel, FLAWLESS, with a garden-themed work of women's fiction called, TENDING PARADISE, due out this summer.  Enough of the shameless plugging.  This post really is about using the beautiful space you've created as the ultimate reading spot.

I think William Wordsworth said it best (didn't he always?) when he wrote:

“Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,
Are a substantial world, both pure and good:
Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,
Our pastime and our happiness will grow."



Of course this quote is particularly riveting to me because of the seamless way the poet combines reading and horticultural themes.  I find both solace and inspiration in these words, because they reflect my feelings about each topic.  I love to be in the garden, trying to identify the various calls of birds as I pull weeds (this weekend, my husband and I laughed over one insistent chirping which sounded like: cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheese).  I love the rich smell of freshly turned earth, and identifying the new plants emerging (trying to recall, usually, what bulbs I planted last fall), and the soothing, far-off call of a neighbor's lawnmower, which has always, oddly enough, given me a sense of well-being.  I think it's because the buzzing motor acted as a backdrop to my formative years, always present in my modest development, and ensuring others were outside, just like myself, enjoying the outdoors and accomplishing things.

The best way to enjoy the inner landscape of books in the outer landscape of your garden is to find just the right spot to settle with your book.  I usually opt for an Adirondack chair alongside my pond.  When we created the water feature a few years back, my husband insisted on building a small dock along one side--an idea I fought him on.  I have to say, I'm glad he overruled me.  Not only was I reminded to consider the ideas of others when enhancing my garden spaces, but it was a great idea.  I placed the Adirondack chair (it's actually a double chair--looks more like a loveseat) on this little dock, and I always have a secure, level spot to hunker down on.  It's a great place to read, catch a few rays, even share with the frogs who hop onto the slatted planks and join me for a quick respite between fly-catching sessions in the water or on the nearby rocks.

As for the reading part of the equation, well, that's up to you, but I've found a few nature-inspired works to be highly appropriate--and a whole lot of fun to read--in an outdoor setting.  Among my favorite non-fiction reads:  Vita Sackville-West's THE ILLUSTRATED GARDEN BOOK.  Nearly every page is lavishly illustrated with botanical drawings, and rich photos taken at Sackville-West's home gardens at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, England, a project she undertook during her lifetime, spanning mainly the first half of the last century.  The writing, culled from actual articles written by Sackville-West for the publication, the OBSERVER, is witty and informative.  There are even photos and references to her most famous creation: the White Garden, at Sissinghurst.

My favorite works of fiction emphasizing nature as well as a good plot are: THE SECRET GARDEN, Frances Hodgson Burnett's timeless classic about "Mistress Mary, so contrary," arriving at Misslethwaite Manor on the English moor, and discovering a garden upon the grounds that changed her outlook on life; and WATERSHIP DOWN, by Richard Adams.  In this tale of a hardy band of rabbit adventurers, the reader is privy to a world most overlooked: "The remarkable life that teems in the fields, forests and riverbanks."

If magazines are your thing, I recommend two:  BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS, because of its accessibility--there are always lovely layouts and tips for enhancing your own home and garden--and VERANDA, which details the stuff dreams are made of.  The lush spreads in this periodical, bordering on works of art, reveal the most lavish gardens from around the world, and inspire a simple gardener like myself to dream big. 

In the end, gardens are many things to many people.  For me, gardening, like reading and writing, has always been an outlet for creativity, and a chance to feel a sense of accomplishment.  How do you enjoy your garden?