Gardens of my grandmother & mentors, below. Five women, 4 passed, the last age 93. When, exactly, did their gardens go out-of-style? Gardens imprinted in childhood onto my DNA.
By the mid-1980's independent garden centers were being replaced by big box stores. Later, HGTV was on the horizon. Then, lifestyle & garden magazines photographed 'fashionable' landscapes. Martha Stewart 'perfect' landscapes.
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Niche Gardens catalogue arrived yesterday. In watercolor, the gardens of my mentors thrives. .Their gardens aren't perfect, they are better than that. They are real, fabulous, nurturing, scruffy, fragrant, inviting, attractive to birds-friends-family-insects.
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My mentors created gardens emanating grace. .Gardens without irrigation systems or chemicals. Flowers & food grown in abundance with ZERO fanfare, NONE. It's just what they did, along with sewing, cooking, raising children, working, being active in church, playing bridge, being on the board of the local garden club, &
taking care of a man.
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It's odd.
The camera does not like the gardens of my mentors. In close-up they photograph beautifully. Take a picture of the garden, above? Not. It wouldn't make it into a magazine. Not 'perfect' enough. Too scruffy.
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Last year I gave up trying for the Martha Stewart Living perfect landscape. Why did I ever go there? My garden is the garden of my mentors. Woman powered, excepting when I need a hired man.
(They are superior to husbands, they don't ask, "Why?").Something odd happened. Before an open garden last year, all floofed, poofed, ready for showtime I walked my garden paths. I began to cry. Big tears, big sobs. Why? I was finally back in my grandmother's garden. HOME.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Watercolor, above,
Elizabeth Ellison..
Mail@NicheGardens.com or 919-967-0078.
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And Martha Stewart? Soooooooo proud of her. She created an industry & makes money from traditional women's work that wasn't honored in the past. What Martha Stewart does? My grandmother did it all, & spoiled me while doing it. I am humbled by her generation.
A question, to help you get there,
"Is this worthy of the cover of a garden catalogue?"
when the pots
look this good?
Totally designed, above. Ha, you thought it was an area 'not done'? Hardly.
From the same garden, above.
Fresh, modern, above. 
Raise The Red Lantern, 1991, above, has an incredible garden scene. Lasting seconds, I watched & rewound dozens of times. A courtyard of bonsai. Trees, ancient, human sized, centuries of nurturing. A potted forest.
Have you deduced wisdom in the plantings? Dwarf conifers, deer resistant & once established zero irrigation.
Not much, above, but loads of lushness. And little maintenance. Rich, welcoming. Don't you want to know what the inside looks like? And the garden? Already sense you would like the owner?
Seeing, above, I know what to wear pruning my peony patch circa 1798 with staff in attendance. 
How I'm feeling, above. Chaos reigns in my home: painters, plumber, carpenter, electrician. Soon, when garden clubs have their meetings in my garden the flow will be so much better. 
ELLEN OGDEN is the KITCHEN GARDEN specialist.
Whether you have acreage or a tiny city apartment you can have a kitchen garden. Beautifully & easily.
Imagine the landscape, above, without the gate/arbor/fence. Much smaller. Expand your architecture, leverage your welcome.
A client had a 4some of club chairs w/ottoman at their center, inside their home. Gorgeous.
Replace turf with groundcover.
By the mid-1980's independent garden centers were being replaced by big box stores. Later, HGTV was on the horizon. Then, lifestyle & garden magazines photographed 'fashionable' landscapes. Martha Stewart 'perfect' landscapes.
