Dreaming of a Literary Garden
I long to transform my weed-infested yard into a beautiful, blossoming garden. The kind of garden that is the talk of the neighborhood and is awarded Yard of the Month...every month.
I have visions of meandering through the lush growth of my garden, the pleasant crunch of pea gravel underfoot, as butterflies flit hither and yon and bees busily move from one gorgeous bloom to the next.
I feel this way every spring and the desire does not release its vise-like grip on me until fall. Late fall.
Lately I've been at it again, daydreaming about transforming my lackluster yard into the garden of my imagination. The garden of my dreams.
But this year it is different.
This year my imaginary garden is inspired by the books I've been reading. Instead of generic blooms, I have been Dreaming of a Literary Garden with...
Red rhododendrons from Manderley in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca
A patch of poppies from Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Rose bushes from Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South
and English Climbing Roses from Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Beautiful Hyacinths from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey
A great horse chestnut from Jane Eyre (complete with a hammock hanging from its branches for reading my all-time favorite novel)
Rose of Sharon from Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath ("Rosasharn")
Dainty Lily-of-the Valley from Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence
Larkspur from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lovely white mignonette from Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden
Merry little mayflowers from L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables
A profusion of morning glories from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie
Sweet peas from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women
Azaleas from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (well, I'm an Alabama native, so azaleas are required)
Orchids from H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds
And that's just my backyard, y'all. 🌸
What would you include in your own literary garden?
If you're a fan of Outlander, there are so many options mentioned that you could dedicate your entire cityscape to the series. Check out this alphabetical listing if an Outlandish Garden is in your dreamscape.
Partial to Harry Potter? This site might help you magically transform your space into a garden worthy of an A+ in Herbology at Hogwarts.
Short on space, but large on love for Game of Thrones? A patio garden filled with flowers representing your favorite characters from George R.R. Martin's series might be just right.
What inspires you?
Share the beautiful botanicals and blooms from your favorite novels that you would include in your own literary garden in the comments below.
And click here to see what I consider the one book that has most inspired my dreams of a literary garden this month.
Oh my gosh- I love your backyard garden! I have wandered through several of those gardens myself and they are gorgeous! I would only add the beautifully ordered and peaceful gardens of Japan in Shogun by James Clavell. Though these gardens don’t contain many plantings, they incorporate everything which imbues the space with with peace, calm, and serenity; water features, water lilies, carefully trained and pruned bushes and miniature trees, beautiful cherry blossom trees, weeping cherry trees, fiery maples; seats and/or small tea houses; everything carefully and thoughtfully placed, even down to the raking of the tiny pathstones in patterns, to help calm and center those fortunate enough to enter. I think this is one of my very favorite blogs, if not THE favorite- what a very creative idea!