< by Sandy >

We moved into our home 26 years ago and it’s a Dutch Colonial (which means it looks like a barn). There’s a nice amount of grass surrounding it which was perfect for our girls to play, but the rest of our property is surrounded by woods … thick woods.

The day we moved in my mom was here helping feed everyone and at the close of the day she and I sat on our front step just looking out at the beautiful trees. “This would look so beautiful naturalized” she said. “Naturalized?” I questioned. “Yes, that means it would look beautiful with lots of wild flowers growing in and around the woods” she said.

I had never gardened up to this point other than to put a couple of geraniums in a pot and calling it good, so the thought of replanting our entire woods seemed just a bit daunting.

My wonderful Mother died in 2001 and something happened in the years that followed. I kept looking at those woods summer after summer and gradually my eyes started to see what her eyes had seen and little by little I started naturalizing those woods with flowers.

A few years ago I was asked to be on the garden tour in our small community. “Me????” I asked. “Yes” they said, “your woods are so beautiful.”

Thanks Mom for your vision in sooooooooo many ways.