I got to the point a few years ago, after having moved many times, that I decided to start planting flowers where ever I was at that time. In this case, it was in Waterville, Maine.

We rented the downstairs of an old Victorian. Big rooms, high ceilings, on a very small fraction of an acre in town. Very small.

But the neighbor lady, Mrs. Frye, was so kind as to let me 'dig in her garden'.She had a 30 year old perennial garden that she had never done anything with. They had lived in that house all those years, but not being garden minded herself, had just let it go to weeds.The deal was, I would buy the flowers and fix it up, she could enjoy it, and when I left, I could take maybe 1/2 of what was there.

So Mom and I tackled it. It was a small mound of dirt about 12 x 12 feet. Beautiful dirt!! It had originally been a pond some 30 or 35 years before, and had been filled in with top soil. So I pulled what appeared to be weeds. The back half of the garden still had old perennials, and I mean OLD.

Blood root, Virgina Bluebells and Snowdrops. Things I had never seen before. Oh, and Asters. 4 foot tall purple New England Asters. They had been hidden in a foot or two of dead grass and weeds for years. I was delighted, of course. To that I eventually added many plants.

Daisies, primrose, English pompon daisies (so cute!), black eyed Susan's, bleeding heart, columbines, cardinal flower, balloon flower, and much more than I can mention. Yes, I filled it to the brim.

It's been 3 years now since I've seen the garden, as we moved several hours away. I know it isn't taken care of like it was, but it did something for me. I spent many hours in that garden while my husband worked in Baltimore all week. It was therapy, and gave me a sense of purpose. I decided then that if I wait until I own a place to plant flowers, it may never happen.And if I did own a place, I would have spent the money anyway. (I know I spent almost $300 in that small garden. lol!)

So when we moved to CT, the apartment we rented had, you guessed it, a small garden area outside the front door! I was so excited by this, and I spent many evening hours in it visiting with my neighbors. Again, more therapy.When we moved to this house, I brought much of the flowers with me this time.

Blackberry Lily

I have 3 Blackberry Lilies that I started from seed back in Waterville, that finally bloomed for the first time last summer. They take 4 - 7 years to mature enough to bloom, so I was quite pleased that it only took 4. I added more flowers to this house lot, and will take them all with me again when we buy. I am planning many more visits to the local greenhouses after that, you can be sure!

Blackberry Lily Seedpods