Shirl's Garden Watch Desert Island Challenge

Frances sent me an email telling me of Shirl's Desert Island Challenge on Monday of this week. I just want to say to Frances-you are a gem and I am so glad you are my friend-blogging and otherwise! As you are such a good sport with everything and a super great supporter to all other bloggers! You have supported me non-stop forever, and I do appreciate it and all the other bloggers too who kindly give to others. Enough on that, now let's quickly move on before I make this a post about something else. We know I tend to post a bit too much with so many subjects:)

Shirl's Desert Island Challenge asks you what three plants you would take with you if you were marooned on a deserted island? There are no restriction on growing conditions AND food plants are already available. Hmmmmmm. Now I really, REALLY have to think on this one. I am stranded on a deserted island with nothing but the clothes on my back. Reminds me of Survivor, and oh how I do love Survivor. Now to the gardening part. I asked myself what kind of plant can I not live without? It is very hard for a plant lover and collector to only choose three plants! Shirl is generous, as she could have chosen only one plant. That would be even worse! But I think I have narrowed my choices down.

I took the angle I take in my garden-something blooming year round with TONS of color. As such, we have only three choices here so I will leave out the winter plant (probably hellebores). I also am focusing only on perennials since there are food plants there. I will assume coconuts and bananas are also there so I am leaving out trees. I have narrowed my choices down to one plant for spring, summer, and fall. Of these plant choices, I am choosing plants which will multiply quickly and give me a good long show of color. I like fragrance, but in my garden the color is my heart's desire.

It is any wonder I chose irises for my spring plant? Iris, the very name conjures visions of the rainbow. Irises are easy to grow (some would say too easy in Tennessee) and are such a delight in spring. This is my first choice of plants I'm packing for a trip. Peonies were a close second.

My second choice is a favored plant for the summer bloom period. Boy, is this one ever so hard! So many good summer plants to chose from but I have settled on rudbeckia. It is such a diverse group that is so cheerful in the summer and requires no work from the gardener. Its foliage will also be a good foil for the spikey leaves of the irises.

My final plant to join me on a deserted island is the sedums. Such easy plants they are to grow and so diverse! Its chunky foliage and strong sturdy stems will play nicely with the irises and brown eyes and the flowers will provide winter interest for me when the seasons have past. So there you have it. What three plants would you take with you to a deserted island? To check out other bloggers posts visit Shirl's blog found here.

Skeeter, can you tell me what type of butterflies these are? Or anyone? I am so bad with knowing the types.

in the deserted-oops-garden....

My Mother's Garden

From In the Garden

Hi all! Today's post is short and sweet. The title of it stands for two things; which will become clear by the end of your reading. A flower in My Mother's Garden is pictured above. A lovely flower (gladiolus) full of color and at its peak back in October in Maine. This garden is a new 'old' garden. It has been dug many times out front of my mother's home in Mid Coast Maine. Dug many times you say? Yes, as gardens go, sometimes the gardener gets swept up in other things and the garden gets-uh-swept away by time. I think that this garden will hang tough for a while because even as my parents grow older and less able to do gardening, I have a wonderful sister who lives right next door to them. She will care for this garden to honor my mother. She is a Saint in all she does and also loves her mother's garden.

I wanted to share this picture and initially had it set to post on tomorrow's "Veggie Garden Update", but found a better reason to post it today that is more applicable. You see, mother's gardens are an important thing in almost all gardener's lives. If not their mother, then their father or grandmother, or grandfather, or aunt, or uncle...well you get the idea...gardened and we gardeners have those special memories of the gardens and the gardeners. I know I do. Just about everywhere I lived growing up I was able to garden, and my mother allowed that by making the gardens and having someone come rototill the rocky soil of Maine. My mother's gardens are special to me. Another garden blogger also finds her mother's garden is very special. In fact, Karrita even named her blog My Mother's Garden.

Karrita is a blogger who not only has beautiful gardens, but also makes crafts for gardens. As such, she decided to do a series of posts on other 'Artists In the Garden" and chose me to interview for her series after I posted my Glass on Glass Mosaic post. She is posting the interview today on her blog found here. I just want to thank her for dedicating a post to me and also a post on Linda Lunda.

My mother's garden and grandmother's garden have been real inspirations to me and to countless others, especially my sister. What relative inspired you....

in the garden....

You all go on over to Karrita's and say hello. I sent her a special picture of that other glass on glass mosaic door mounted.....in the garden.

Tiger Garden's Mission Statement & Name Origin

Helen at Gardening with Confidence wrote a post on her garden's mission statement and the name of her garden. I suspect many gardeners' mission statements will look similar to Helen's, as it is an admirable one indeed. In fact, my mission statement is very similar.

After reading Helen's thought provoking post I really got to thinking about the purpose and mission of my garden, the entire thing. What a hard thing to really peg down! You see purposes and missions are not always the same thing.

That being said, I think I have my garden's mission down to a workable mission statement. It is as follows:

Tiger Garden's mission is to be a cohesive, sustainable community of living and non-living elements working together in harmony to provide the best possible living area and enjoyment for its residents.

Mission statements are not an easy thing to write. If they were there would not be as many college and Army leadership classes as there are to try to teach folks how to write mission statements. You see, a mission statement should be very succinct (straight to the point and concise). It should not be so long as to bore one to death, and it really should be easy to remember. Given these constraints, how does one sum up an entire garden in a mission statement? It can be done, but it will take some serious thought, and why not?

I first looked at the purposes or objectives of my garden. There are many purposes and many roles the garden serves for my family so I will sum them up in one long list:

Here are some purposes and objectives of my garden:
To make me happy
To provide privacy
To provide lots of color
To reduce maintenance
To beautify my home
To work with the environment
To recycle both household and garden wastes
To reduce erosion and runoff
To provide fresh food for our family and friends
To teach others
To showcase diversity
To create a living community amongst plants, insects and wildlife
To leave a legacy for anyone who wants to take it over

You can see how many purposes and objectives my garden has in my humble opinion, but how did I arrive at its mission?

I was taught in business school that a good mission statement represents the purpose of something (usually an enterprise) in the broadest sense it can. The mission statement should be meaningful. My mission statement (for my purposes) describes what my garden does and why. It does not include my vision for the garden; which is totally different from a mission statement. For instance, my last purpose listed above says, "To leave a legacy for anyone who wants to take it over." This is a vision or goal if you will, and not a mission of my garden. This is where I see my garden going someday. It is not what the garden does. What does the garden do besides serving purposes?

In simple terms I can easily sum up the above purposes by this statement:

Provide a sustainable community for all living creatures.

Why does the garden do this?

Because it is best for the enjoyment of life, mine and my family's, and our pets, as well as all living things that coexist with us in the garden.

When I put the two above statements together, I come up with the mission statement as outlined in red at the start of this post.

This is clearly the mission of my garden, no matter the purposes and goals I have listed. The way Tiger Gardens will accomplish its mission is summed up daily with posts from....In the Garden.

One of the best pictures I could use to sum up the 'sustainable community' part of my garden's mission statement is the one I posted. Look closely and you will see a spider resting in the zinnia-a perfect community in harmony.

And for those of you who do not know where the name of our gardens comes from and who might be interested, it is an amalgamation of my first name and my husband's first name. Mine is Tina, Mr. Fix-it's is Roger, hence TIGER when you put the two parts together, just like we are in marriage.

Do check out Helen for more mission statements and names and give it a try yourself.

in the garden....