Beautiful flowers and laughter! Last Saturday, July 8, 2023, we held our second annual Garden Party. We played garden and flower music while friends toured Lin’s beautiful creation. Raves abounded for Lin’s hard work. What a glorious day! And the weather cooperated—showers in the morning and a partly cloudy afternoon! Perfect!
This all started after the pandemic, and some friends wanted to come and see Lin’s garden. His pictures on Facebook piqued their curiosity because they saw how he had enlarged it over the pandemic. In reality, he expanded it 2/3 during this time of staying home, adding a pond and lots of decorative rock to landscape extensive areas to help control weeds. So, we had our first garden party last year, and it turned out fantastic.
Preparation for 2023 Garden Party
Right after last year’s success, we didn’t hesitate. “Let’s repeat it.” This year, we started planning early. A lot of Lin’s work in the garden in the spring and early summer focused on a completion date before the “Garden Party.” At first, we had two dates picked: June 17 or July 8. July 8 won because Lin wanted more time to prepare things, and he wanted more flowers blooming than last year. Last year, we had it on July 23 and several had already bloomed.
Lin worked hard from early spring until the day before the event, finishing a path around the back of the garden the Thursday before the big day.
Our preparation for our refreshments included cutting back on the number of watermelon we bought. Last year, we bought six and ended up giving whole watermelons away at the end. This year three sufficed. I also baked three batches of brownies. For drinks, we had flavored Pellegrino drinks and ice-cold water and lemonade.
Last year, a friend said, “You’ve got to play Ricky Nelson’s ‘Garden Party’,” so I looped it on my iPad and played it all afternoon. No one complained. For this year, I had been googling other garden and flower songs. Saturday morning, Lin asked me to add six or seven to “Garden Party,” so I did. What an eclectic list I came up with:
Garden/Flower Playlist
- “Garden Party” – Ricky Nelson
- “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” – Lynn Anderson
- “English Country Garden” – Jimmie Rodgers
- “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” – Neil Diamond
- “Octopus Garden” – The Beatles
- “Edelweiss” – Julie Andrews & Cast from Sound of Music
- “In the Garden” – Elvis Presley
- “The Flowers Will Never Die” – Elton John
When our party ended, we had about thirty-five garden lovers come by. What a treat seeing people wandering around Lin’s beautiful creation, oohing and aahing. When time allowed, many people received personal tours with Lin explaining the design and naming flowers. Then, after touring, they gathered in the shade for refreshments and visiting. We had people from different clubs we belong to and work friends of mine. So, many visitors didn’t know each other, but their garden interests brought them together.
Before the event, I wrote several haikus, so I shared a hard copy with our visitors.
LARADA’S HAIKU ABOUT LIN’S GARDEN
Could this be heaven?
Birds, chirping, flowers blooming.
What could be better?
Red, pink, purple, green,
Yellow, and peach flowers bloom!
I could dance for joy!
The world the gardener makes
has plants I have never known.
Lin creates magic!
Lin’s garden is an
oasis to rest my soul!
His flowers bathe me!
Lin has created
a sanctuary for us.
Welcome, come join us!
My words above don’t show the splendor of Lin’s garden enough for me, so here’s a video and a collage of pictures. Enjoy!
Here’s the video tour of Lin’s garden:
Lin’s Flower Beds
Some Lin’s Gorgeous Individual Flowers
Finally,
I’m one lucky lady to wake up in the morning and see this paradise! Most summer mornings, I walk around with my cat and marvel at all the beautiful flowers. I know how much work Lin puts into it! Thank you Lin!
Do you have a garden? Are you married to a gardener?
News, News, News!
Listen to my twenty-three minute interview on Masterfesto Media Podcast with Isabel Elias about my book Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6uRX60sDFWbejTg7rZAiLn
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