Do You Dream Today of a Bigger or Better Garden?

Gardener, musings about money and gardening for you! [GreenPrints]( October 14, 2022  [YOU DESERVE TO DREAM OF A BIGGER OR BETTER GARDEN—AND TO GO FOR IT … AND MAKE IT HAPPEN!]( Are you passionate about your garden? And do you have aspirations to always make it bigger or better? You shouldn’t feel badly about these types of dreams, because it’s healthy to have goals and dreams that enrich and fulfill you. And sometimes it helps to have the perspective of others who share your aspirations. Great news! With GreenPrints, you get stories that connect you with other gardeners who share your perspectives. These “gardening stories from the heart” are reading for your enjoyment, fulfillment, and personal enrichment—you’ll be connected to like-minded gardeners whenever you read an issue! For example, check out this story on page 28 in the recent Autumn 2022 issue of GreenPrints—a realistic depiction of how love of gardening comes with a price: For Love and Money Our passion has its price. By Diana Wells [For Love and Money 1] Years ago my mother was in the hospital, and my sister and I gathered beech leaves to soak in glycerin, so they would keep through Winter. As long as either of us could remember she had done this every Autumn, sometimes mixing them with honesty, or money plant. Both she and my sister have died, but I still have the blue vase she used for these dried bouquets. Honesty, or money plant, gets its name from its pearly white seed pods, which look a little like pale silver coins. Its Latin name is Lunaria, from luna (Latin for “moon”), because the seedpods also look like a silvery moon in a clear dark sky. To me, these two names reflect the two sides of gardening, the practical and the romantic. Many people will tell you that gardening is about love, and indeed it often is. We all like to believe that love has nothing to do with money. Gardening, thus, should have nothing to do with money. The more we love, though, the more we can spend on our passion, as merchants have known from time immemorial. Even in our fables, the ragged beggar girl quite often turns out to be a wealthy princess, or the simple woodcutter a prince. Although their love has been clearly demonstrated (of course), it’s nice to know that he’ll probably be giving her a diamond tiara, or at the least paying off the mortgage on the enchanted castle. What about our gardens? We love them, but there aren’t many of us who don’t covet just a little more than we can afford. Even the very richest gardeners sometimes spend a little more than they can afford. In history, kings and princes strained the taxpayers to make palaces and gardens which were symbols of their own wealth and power. Lord Zouche, a Tudor lord, spent so much on his garden he couldn’t afford to live in England and enjoy it, but had to go abroad and live cheaply! The famous Miss Ellen Willmott had gardens in Italy and France as well as her English garden, Warley Place, which employed over 80 gardeners. She never married but loved her gardens so extravagantly she managed to spend all her immense fortune on them: She even had to watch Warley Place turn back into an untended wilderness before she died in 1934. Alfred de Rothschild didn’t lose his fortune, but he certainly spent money on his gardens. One of his gardeners said that “rich people used to show their wealth by the size of their bedding plant list.” Rothschild’s list was for 40,418 bedding plants—putting him “well above an earl” (30,000) but below a duke (50,000)! In America, Andrew Jackson Downing explained that “the evidences of the growing wealth and prosperity of our citizens have become apparent” from their interest in “embellishing” their properties. Of course this kind of embellishment demanded “taste,” which he kindly proceeded to demonstrate to his readers! What about ordinary gardeners like ourselves? Most readers of GreenPrints are, I suspect, “hands-on” gardeners, who garden to grow, not to show. And, as we know, plants don’t have to be expensive to be beautiful. Purple foxgloves have a mystery to them, and they self-seed. Tawny daylilies glow like exotic tigers in our gardens, and by the roadside, too. But, ah, how about those pale apricot foxgloves in the catalogs, or the great creamy tetraploid daylilies? A rose is a rose is a rose, but the new ones smell divine and, they tell us, are resistant to diseases … Plantsmen know our weaknesses, it’s their business to. Autumn, they say, is the best time to plant (and buy) many perennials, trees, etc., etc.—not to mention Spring bulbs. If you don’t plant them now you won’t have them next Spring, and you can actually save money because they are on sale. To get the job done quickly, your shovel had better be good, too. It saves time (and money) in the end. We all know that a “good” (expensive) shovel will “Last a Lifetime” (although we don’t know exactly how long a lifetime lasts). Well, surely it’s a good investment. Let’s hope our heirs like to use it. So, because of love, we buy the bulbs (and the shovel) anyway. After all, we love our gardens. Maybe we love ourselves a little bit, too, but any psychologist will tell you that’s healthy. So just add another pack of bulbs while you are about it. Even so, the money has to come from somewhere, as does the rationale for spending it. Many gardeners, including myself, find that buying things for the garden is much easier if we’re not specifically buying things for the garden. That must be the brilliant marketing strategy behind the huge stores that include plants (and shovels) with other necessities of life. Indeed, they are putting many small nurseries out of business. [For Love and Money 2] If, for instance, my husband needs a part to fix the toilet, he knows I’ll cheerfully go to pick it up for him. Too cheerfully—now he goes to the store, gets the part, and comes home. If I go? Well, what difference does it make if I add a few bulbs (on sale) to the basket? He goes to the supermarket and can walk right past the plants on display, with a gallon of milk in his basket, not even noticing that these plants are cheaper than at the local nursery. Of course, though, we don’t want to desert the nursery—that wouldn’t be right—so we have to make shopping trips there as well. It’s wonderful how we gardeners can rationalize. Needless to say, my husband isn’t a gardener, but he’s nice enough not to make (many) remarks when he helps unload the “groceries!” He’s my prince, too, just as my garden is my garden. And we gardeners know that even if we don’t have everything we want, there’s always the garden. Even when Winter comes and we can’t enjoy our gardens, most of us can find something to put in a vase to cheer us through the cold months. If you do choose honesty or beech leaves, would you put them in a blue vase? To remind you of my mother. For she, like you and I, loved her garden. ❖ Illustrations by Jean Jenkins Dear Gardener, What a true-to-life and aspirational story! And GreenPrints has published many, many spot-on stories just like this one—stories that deliver you grounded perspectives, such as: - “Sod It!” (Autumn 2019 issue, p. 32) - “The Asparagus Dream” (Spring 2019 issue, p. 38) - “The Smell of Flowers” (Autumn 2022 issue, p. 24) - “A Knowing Peach Tree” (Summer 2022 issue, p. 64) - “The Secret Garden” (Autumn 2019 issue, p. 54) - “A Growing Gardener” (Spring 2020 issue, p. 74) And tons more real-life aspirational stories in our Library—and coming up in future issues! Please read what some subscribers say about how GreenPrints affects their lives: “Your magazine is a garden for the eyes … It seems like an old friend coming to call.” —Wendy Belaski, Clarks Summit, PA “I love this little publication! It is so much more than just about gardening. It nourishes all our senses. Whatever the cost has to be, I will pay it! I don't want to be without GreenPrints.” —Sharon Park, Palo Cedro, CA “Thank you, GreenPrints family, for providing calm, joy, and wisdom in these crazy times.” —Lee Ann Hawkins, Marion, IN Including this featured story—“For Love and Money”—you get all 15 stories in the Autumn 2022 issue of GreenPrints with an [All-Access Membership](. Filled with stories that inspire and heal, GreenPrints also includes specially commissioned artwork with every article, to enhance the stories and entertain you—illustrations that are thought-provoking and just plain fun! Here is what one subscriber says about GreenPrints: “Thank you! BEST EVER Magazine!! It's like the finding a ‘treasure’ in the mailbox. Artwork is amazing!” —Jo Glenn, Port Royal, PA Here are the stories included in the Autumn 2022 issue: - “The Chinaberry Tree” - “My First Pumpkin” - “The Grateful Jalapeños” - “The Smell of Flowers” - “For Love and Money” - “Pee in Your Garden!” - “My Little Chickadee” - “Life Savers” - “An Autumn Gardener’s Motto” - “Following the Sun” - “Slug Chug” - “Pioneers” - “The Last Tomato Story” - “Cats in the Garden” - “Chicken Plop Tea” [Autumn 2022 Issue]( Now, you can [order your own single copy]( of the GreenPrints Autumn 2022 issue for $15, plus shipping and handling (and in some jurisdictions, you have to pay tax—you’ll end up paying more than $20 for a single copy with shipping, handling, and tax). 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[Introducing GreenPrints All-Access Membership—Only $20 for an Entire Year!]( Your [GreenPrints All-Access Membership]( has privileges and benefits that are reserved exclusively for premium members like you. [Claim Your $20 Membership Now!]( Summary of All-Access Membership Benefits 01 A full year of GreenPrints All-Access Membership, an exclusive club for those who want to enjoy the greatest gardening stories ever—save $40 off the annual cover price, a 67% discount! $60/year Now Only: $20/year! 02 1-year subscription to the GreenPrints Magazine, quarterly issues filled with humorous and heartwarming stories—in print, delivered directly to your door, and sent to you digitally as soon as issues are published! INCLUDED 03 Full and immediate access to the GreenPrints Digital Library—your membership includes access to the current digital magazine issue and back issues, a digital version of The Weeder’s Reader—plus the library is constantly growing with new content regularly added! 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You deserve to dream about a bigger and better garden—please act now to claim your [GreenPrints All-Access Membership]( and get inspired and motivated every day! [GreenPrints All-Access Membership Special Offer—Only $20!]( 67% Off the Regular Price Now! [GreenPrints all access](  Claim your GreenPrints All-Access Membership today and get all the greatest gardening stories ever—heartwarming and funny, for you now! [YES, SIGN ME UP FOR JUST $20 FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR!]( About GreenPrints Magazine: GreenPrints shares the absolute best true stories of gardeners from all across the country. It’s the most inspiring, humorous, and heartfelt gardening magazine of them all. There is nothing else like it. We’re no spring seedling, either—we’ve been publishing for over 30 years. If you love to garden, you will love GreenPrints, THE magazine of personal gardening stories from the heart. You are receiving this email as part of your free subscription to email updates from GreenPrints Magazine. 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