CUISINE & CULTURE
Thinking of what to give to your favorite gardener, a child, or even yourself for Christmas? The Secret Garden is a charming book that morphs reading words on pages to motivating creating a personal secret garden. Many of us read “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett when we were younger. Readers who have yet to read this book or if it has been a while since reading the book, the winter months is an ideal time to check it out of the library. Reading gardeners will be enraptured by descriptions inside the secret garden.
Mary Lennox is a spoiled, privileged girl who was orphaned at the age of 10 when her wealthy British parents die of cholera in India. She was sent to live with her bitter, woeful uncle in England whose wife died in an accident in the estate’s walled garden. The garden was locked and the key buried. Flip many pages and after searching the estate grounds Mary finds the secret garden with the help of a friendly robin.
As the story unfolds lives of more than Mary and her uncle are rehabilitated after the mysterious walled garden is discovered. Lives of young people are transformed as they tend the garden, restoring its beauty.
The Secret Garden is not a how-to garden book but readers may find it to be an inspiration for creating their own secret gardens. Secret gardens are peaceful, calming, restful, comfort spots.
Here are some ideas on how to start a private secret garden.
• The idea of a secret garden is to create a retreat that is totally your own. It does not have to be large nor enclosed by an elaborate brick wall. An organic private space can be created with living green walls of closely-spaced evergreens tall enough to guarantee privacy.
• Choose a secluded spot rather than out in the open.
• Have a defined entry like a gate or an arbor. Design unexpected pathways. Curves lend a soft natural ambience; straight paths are rigid.
• Small bistro tables or garden benches may anchor the resting spot.
• Let your garden refuge be an expression of your personality, reflecting your mood when wanting to get away from the everyday bustle. Any green enclosure communicates calm and peace.
Look forward to sitting on your garden bench in your secret garden and read a chapter from The Secret Garden.
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
