Imperfections are part of life...

The Making of Lily Hill

The short version of the story is this: My mother, son and I moved to Kentucky in the fall of 2012.

It seems like it was just a few months ago, and when I look at what I've done with this little bit of Kentucky, it looks (to me) that I've done nothing. Others see progress and pretty flowers and brambles pushed back. I tend to see weeds and poison ivy and brambles still here and all the things that need to be done. I'm usually a coffee cup half full kind of person, but here I only see things I haven't done.

But getting back to the garden. Or gardens. In the English tradition I tend to name them. The Pagan Circle (also the Compass Circle, because it does have a compass set in brick). The Side Garden. The Lily Garden. The Iris Bed. The Borders. The place in the front that gets full sun. I have a lot of ideas and plans; what I don't have is time. Or patience. And sometimes the physical ability to do what I want. I'm working with a new hip as of 2015, a heart that beats to its own rhythm at times, and a spine that is slowly crumbling.

I started working on the front bed in the spring of 2013. The flowers below are all in that full sun bed. It had a full-sized prickly pear cactus and a giant yucca. Frankly, we were scared of the prickly pear. And I didn't know what the yucca was then so I dug it out and threw it away. Luckily some roots survived.

The next year was buying more plants and tearing out the ivy that covered the north side of the house and chimney, and that covered the ground (that's the big bank of green). Buried in there were random fieldstone rocks. After we cleared everything the man who fills the propane tank actually thanked us. It was the first time he hadn't tripped over rocks.

Next post I'll add a picture of what that area looks like now. I have to weed first, because I'm self-conscious about having a less than perfect photo. And weeds do not make for a perfect photo.

But there are flowers:

A lily, because this is Lily Hill:

This lily lives next to the rose in the blog header. They were bought at different times but ended up near each other. It's this year that I'm working on color combinations. That lily and that rose. 

This daylily with this lily.

And so on and so on. And hopefully they create something beautiful. 

One plant at a time. 

And then another. 

And the patience to see it through. 

And the patience with myself, to allow the imperfections.

And the occasional weed.