Eberle’s Garden: May 2009

I’ve loved flower gardens since I was very young; my mother kept two gardens: one we could see out the picture window in our little dining room & the other in a corner of the front lawn; the latter had a rose trellis complete with swings—an image I’ll always remember. Later, I had a small garden of my own along the walk to the breezeway, which led to the side door (actually the door we used most of the time).

I must say I don’t feel gifted with a green thumb, however, so once I set out on my own, I admired gardens as a spectator rather than a participant. There were memorable ones, especially in Virginia & San Francisco—I loved the many flowering trees both in Charlottesville & Baghdad by the Bay, & while living on the left coast Golden Gate Park was a favorite spot of mine, with its calla lilies & dahlias & the great Conservatory of Flowers.

Given that I’m not much with plants left to my own devices, I’m extraordinarily lucky to live with someone who’s a very talented gardener. Eberle’s garden is a really magical place, with so many delightful plants, not to mention her many metal sculptures made from found objects—for a long time we’d scavenge thru the metal piles at the Adams County landfill, finding everything from wheels to hot water heaters to a tractor hood. Eberle also wields a mean can of spray paint.

The garden has undergone a number of changes over the years. Way back when, the section you’ll be seeing was all raised beds & was a mixture of flowers & vegetables. Now the vegetable garden has its own home, & Eberle has done a marvelous job of landscaping—including a xeriscape garden up close to our house.

& new sculptures keep appearing—in fact, Eberle’s made a couple of new ones in the last few days. Our woodshed still has a number of objects from our scavenging days, & there’s a wonderful new shop outside of Council called “The Bottomless Pit” that has any number of strange old metal objects kicking around. It’s Eberle’s kind of store!

In addition to the picture leading off this post, I’ve included a slideshow tour of Eberle’s garden as it has appeared over the past few days. Both Eberle & I took these photos. I used two songs Eberle wrote as part of our score for Moominpappa at Sea; Eberle is performing both of these songs solo on our steel drum—an instrument our dear pal Dani Leone helped to make—Dani went on afterward to construct a number of steel drums on her own.

Enjoy!