A scurry and a flurry, Sharon and Jeff came to visit

What would you do if garden royalty (she’s going to kill me) said she’d like to meet you and see your garden?

Would you worry?

Would you scurry?

I know you’d put out the welcome mat.  I was so excited I forgot everything including my weekly Dear Friends and Gardeners letter while I got the house as ready as possible yesterday.  I wanted the garden in perfect shape, but then I decided she wouldn’t mind the beds not completely mulched, and that there were some weeds.

She would understand. She’s a gardener too.

Once upon a time, when I was a mother to two toddlers and a bonus mom to a teen, I began making a garden at our log home. I often felt all alone as I puttered outdoors because my children were small, and I didn’t know any other gardeners.

Because I didn’t have anyone with whom to share, I read everything I could get my hands on, and I especially loved Sharon Lovejoy’s column published monthly in Country Living magazine. In “Heart’s Ease,” her wise voice guided me as I tried to grow plants interesting to both my toddlers and the other wildlife who visited my small garden  About the same time, as Diva bounced balls all over my local bookstore, Best of Books, I found Sharon’s book, Sunflower Houses : Inspiration from the Garden – A Book for Children and Their Grown-Ups. I read it cover to cover, and Diva and I built a sunflower house. Imagine my joy when, last night Diva described to Sharon how she would lie in the house and gaze up at the morning glory faces nodding down at her. I know Sharon often hears about how her books have influenced children all over the world (even from Australia, she said), but she smiled as Diva told her story.

She asked Bear about drawing, Diva about college, and ASW about high school. She listened patiently. She’s very good with children, and her genuine interest also shines through her books.

Jeff, her lovely husband (whom I forgot to take a picture of), is so kind and I thank him for spending the evening with us and talking into the night about flowers, Harleys and Vespas.

It’s a gift to have another gardener in your garden, who stops to smell nearly every rose and remarks on the different scents of each.  Who then comments about the lakeview while pausing before a penstemon, and you know she just gets it.  She understands why you don’t use chemicals and then talks about Sphinx moths, the adult form of the tomato hornworm. Yes, those beasties grow into the mighty and beautiful Sphinx moth, but did you know this moth is one of the top pollinators in the garden? Now, what will I do when a tomato hornworm decides to make mincemeat of my tomatoes?

To have this opportunity to finally meet Sharon and her husband face-to-face, well, I just can’t tell you how much it meant to me. If you live in the Edmond, Oklahoma, area, you too can meet her.  She’s speaking in a question and answer format tonight at Best of Books, 1313 East Danforth Road, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

If you can come, you should, and buy her books. She knows more about gardening with children than I ever will.

I’m so glad to call her friend.