View towards the apple tree.

This time of year the garden is magical. Not only is everything blooming, but the summer foliage has changed the feeling of space; pathways are narrow corridors opening unexpectedly into green rooms. The evenings are the best, when the sunlight is filtered through the branches of the apple tree and The Man and I sit with a drink and watch the bees.

This is also the time of year when I try to reciprocate friends’ generosity and make good on invitations issued throughout the winter. “Garden season” officially kicked off last weekend with mimosas on the back deck with a friend and his three tall and gorgeous daughters. In the next month I am looking forward to hosting different constellations of people: dear friends and their sisters, friends with charming small children, a client who has listened to me brag about my garden all year long, a large group of relatively new friends, my favorite neighbor, and last but not least, the Minor Natural Disasters Koffee Klub.

I’ve been working hard to make the garden as neat and orderly as possible. Let me rephrase that: I’ve been working hard to make PARTS of the garden as neat and orderly as possible. Many areas have become completely overgrown with weeds and grasses and I simply don’t have the time to get all of it cleaned up. Other sections are in transition, and I am letting them “grow out” while we make a decision on what to cut (sounds like my hair). I’ve cleared the walkways and have removed any branches that could unexpectedly poke a small child in the eye, and have mowed an area in the back so that we can move a table up there when it gets really warm.

I am trying to spend a few hours each day  weeding and pruning. There are going to be some very hard decisions to be made at the end of this summer, as some of the larger trees are starting to block out the light, and are starting to interfere with power lines. For now though, I am enjoying the garden as much as possible and am having fun sharing it with friends.