Gardener’s Journal

Creating Beauty from a Beautiful Place

You'll know you've arrived at our plant nursery after you've driven through Schenck's Mill Covered Bridge over Chiques Creek, and farm fields give way to rows of well-groomed Japanese Pines . . . .

Happily shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener's wife (& privileged to be "a little bit country"!)

Japanese Red and Black Pines of various types stand sentinel-like against a brilliant summer sky, Manheim, PA.

Great, wide, beautiful wonderful world,
With the wonderful water around you curled,
And the wonderful grass upon your breast,
World, you are beautifully dressed.
~ William Brighty Rands (British writer; 1823- 1882)

Joyfully shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener's wife

We are grateful for our grandchildren with whom we explore garden and woodland paths, and marvel together at the beauty and life around us.

"There is gardening, and there is being in a garden.
The gardener's experience involves the deep satisfaction of working side by side with the Creator to develop a place of beauty. It is the satisfaction of making the world a better place. of participating in an activity that has been bettering the world for countless centuries.
But the other garden experience is just as valid. It is the experience of just being in a garden, enjoying a garden, gratefully gathering the gifts that the garden has to offer. This is the garden experience anyone can have . . . . " ~ Emilie Barnes, author of Time Began in a Garden

Gladly shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener's wife (& so grateful to be experiencing the garden James is building around me!)

Photos show breathtaking Rhododendron display being staged in a country garden, Manheim, PA.

"The satisfaction of being a gardener is . . . the artist's satisfaction of envisioning something beautiful and rendering that beauty tangible."
~ from Time Began in a Garden, by Emilie Barnes

Happy Birthday to James, the Gardener, who has envisioned beauty and, with the help of his team, created garden art for so many!

With deep love and gratitude, from Betty (Gardener's wife)

James' artistic vision is evident in the stonework of a backyard patio and in a pool garden renovation, Manheim, PA.

A pool is the eye of the garden in whose candid depths is mirrored its advancing grace.
~ Louise Beebe Wilder (American gardening writer)

Japanese-inspired Koi pond reflects the sturdy boulders and graceful plants of this hillside garden we crafted in Reading, PA.

"It's beautiful, the Summer month of June
When all of God's own wildflowers are in bloom;
And sun shines brightly most part of the day
And butterflies o'er lush green meadows play.

Light hearted skylark, songster of the wing,
High o'er the quiet and lonely moorland sing;
Above her nest cloaked by the tangled heath,
Her charming song so exquisitely sweet.

So mellow the gentle breath of June day breeze!
The birds rejoicing on the leafy trees,
And dappled trout in pool bed of the stream
Bask in the sun, their spotted skins agleam."
- Francis Duggan (Irish poet)

Gladly shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener's wife (& June fanatic)

Wildflower meadows and renovated farm pond (both in Manheim, PA) provide welcome refreshment for the eyes and the soul on hot summer days.

IN LIVING MEMORY

Several days after my beautiful, lively mother stepped into eternity, my husband hung several bird feeders outside our kitchen window: " . . . to bring you joy and remind you of her," he smiled when he came inside. How perceptive his gift! In the 20 years that have flown by since her death, I have delighted in the daily menagerie that flutters around the feeder-laden Pines within easy view of my kitchen workspace.

And each year, as our garden grows to provide more shelter, I am the excited observer of new varieties of feathered visitors joining the regulars at the fly-in diner. In recent weeks, we have enjoyed visits from Brown Thrashers, a Rufous-sided Towhee couple, a teeny Brown Creeper, Eastern Phoebes, a Cedar Waxwing and, most unexpectedly, a Baltimore Oriole! The vivacious activity outside my window is a daily reminder--a living memorial--of my lovely, joyous mother.

Perhaps you are grieving the loss of someone dear to your heart. May I encourage you to establish a "live" memorial in their honor--a bird feeder or two, a patch of wildflowers, a graceful tree, a flowering evergreen shrub--close by, so that each day you can enjoy vibrant beauty "in living memory" of your precious loved one?

Gratefully contributed by Betty Hanselman
Gardener's wife (& joyful bird watcher)

With deep gratitude for my mother, Miriam Keener Buhr
(January 13, 1926 ~ October 6, 1999), and mother-in-law, Winifred "Joy" Hayman Hanselman (July 3, 1922 ~ December 10, 1999).

Our healthy, hand-selected shrubs and trees (such as the Rhododendrons, Pines, and Cryptomeria shown below) or a wildflower meadow we plant on your property can all be memorials for a departed loved one.

One of the wonderful things about gardening is the way it leads people who often don't think of themselves as artistic into creative activity.
~ Noel Kingsbury (British garden writer, researcher, and educator)

Our maintenance team members are skilled at shaping and caring for specimen plants, like this valuable Japanese Black Pine.

These are the things I prize
And hold of dearest worth:
Light of the sapphire skies,
Peace of the silent hills,
Shelter of the forest, comfort of the grass,
Music of birds, murmur of little rills,
Shadows of clouds that swiftly pass,
And, after showers,
The smell of flowers
And of the good brown earth--
And best of all, along the way, friendship and mirth.
~Henry Van Dyke (American author, professor and preacher; 1852-1933)

We bring summer refreshment to gardens across South-Central Pennsylvania! Shown here are a fern and azalea-edged woodland path and a pool garden renovation, featuring a nature-inspired stream and swim-in waterfall.

May and June. Soft syllables, gentle names for the two best months in the garden year: cool, misty mornings gently burned away with a warming spring sun, followed by breezy afternoons and chilly nights. The discussion of philosophy is over; it's time for work to begin.
~ Peter Loewer (garden writer and illustrator)

Shared with delight by Betty Hanselman
Gardener's wife (& May/June celebrant)

Sun-drenched Peonies and Irises thrive in planting beds we established in an estate garden, Elizabethtown, PA.