A Rough Time for our North Fork Gardens

How do you share your thoughts about the joy of gardening when yours and those of your neighbors are torn to shreds? Roots go deep, I tell myself. Seeds have scattered in the howling wind—I smile at the prospect of odd little “volunteers” popping up everywhere next season.

But for the farmers and professional nursery owners among us, livelihoods are at stake. My heart goes out to each and every one of them. The branches and leaves dotting my lawn seem insignificant by comparison. I give quiet thanks for the intrepid tree-trimmers who took down the heavier limbs of that huge old pine last spring that could have landed on the roof.

And so I try to imagine the garden in its late-summer flowering, not as it is, but as it will be again. Growth is a risky business. Wind and weather remind us that as gardeners,  we are “partners” in our creative venture, not the CEOs.