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Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com www.TheCatoctinBanner.com The Catoctin Banner Newspaper September 2017 Page 33
by Christine Maccabee
On The W ild Side property and move to a retirement in abundance, with just enough lawn
to stroll. Another garden on Church
home. Not all stories end happily.
Street across from Good Will had
There is much emphasis these days
on raising wild native plants, and I the most beautiful rose hedges and
am but one advocate. If you were arbors, but sadly they are no longer
to visit my property, you would see there. Things change—not always
bumble bees of every size and variety for the better—so now it is our turn
Ho w Do es Your Garden Gro w? and other interesting tiny pollinators, to create a place of beauty with the
such as the tiny green metallic bees little piece of earth we own or rent.
and the bee fly. One day I saw the You may have seen the gardens full
Once the gardening cabin and gardens green metallic bees flying from one to overflowing on Carroll Street,
bug bites, you will due to debilitating purple comfrey flower to another, especially the one on the corner, just
never be the same illnesses, but their green bodies shining in the before crossing the railroad tracks.
again. Most of my best she now has sunlight, loaded with pollen on their Every inch is filled with plants,
friends are gardeners, new gardens undersides. Also, I am astounded at overflowing across the street around
and each one has a surrounding her the variety of pollinators, such as the telephone poles. Ah, such love.
long tale to tell of their home in a suburb of the fascinating hummingbird moth So, how does your garden
gardening ventures. Westminster. These that visit the lavender flowers of grow? Sometimes, it is a real effort
Each one could write gardens are a source wild bergamot every summer. Also, to continue on in the heat of the
a book, and each book would be of joy and healing for her, and she the Japanese beetles seem to prefer summer, but most committed
as unique as the person writing it. literally could not live without them. the wild evening primroses that gardeners labor on, though they
Naturally, each garden is unique as Whenever I visit her, I am amazed grow in abundance, instead of my may occasionally complain about
well. at the diversity of plant life she roses, thank goodness. Every day, the bugs and the heat. Harvesting
I think of my friend, Frances, has in such a tiny area. The birds, I go around to the primroses and and canning, freezing or drying, the
in Westminster. Many years ago, butterflies, and bees are also a joy to capture the beetles in a container vegetables, herbs, and fruits of our
she lived in the New Windsor watch, as we sit on her back porch with one inch of water in the labor takes time and patience, but,
countryside, atop a grassy knoll for a visit. bottom. I feed these crunchy little oh, the reward when the winter cold
with a view. Her home was one of Thurmont also has its share of morsels to my chickens that eat them comes! Gardening is not all fun and
the oldest log houses in Maryland, garden lovers, whether they grow enthusiastically. Good protein source! games, but when the gardening gets
and Frances had multiple gardens borders along the sidewalk, in I have seen beautiful gardens tough, the tough get gardening.
surrounding it, from clematis small areas around the base of the come and go in Thurmont, mostly So, guess it is time to stop
dripping off an arbor to herb and house, in planters, or even in larger because the gardener dies or must writing and go catch me a few
flower gardens just out her back backyard areas. I remember how my go to live in a retirement home. One bugs for the chickens. I wish happy
door, to a veggie garden between parents had a victory garden after such garden on Hammaker Street gardening experiences to all my
the cabin and the garage. Her love World War II, raising vegetables was the admiration of many. The gardening compatriots. You are one
of her gardens and their beauty galore and raspberries from the owner grew vegetables and flowers of a kind!
directly reflected her beauty and old country. Of course, they would
determination, for gardening is have done this without the war, as Christine encourages you to check out the Community gardens behind the
not always a bed of roses, as most gardening was in their blood on both Carol Street townhouses, and to get a plot for yourself for next year through
gardeners know! sides of our German families. They
To say that gardening is in her also had wonderful roses of many the town office. She also invites you to come up to visit her Sanctuary for
blood is putting it lightly. Frances varieties, which sadly disappeared Wildlife and Native Plant Preserve, just ten minutes north of Thurmont.
eventually had to leave her precious when my mother had to sell her You can write to her to set up a visit at [email protected].
