{"id":541,"date":"2011-08-17T16:09:20","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T23:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=541"},"modified":"2011-08-17T16:09:20","modified_gmt":"2011-08-17T23:09:20","slug":"how-does-your-garden-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/541","title":{"rendered":"How Does Your Garden Grow?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tChances are, being a garden-minded gal, you’ve read The Secret Garden <\/em>by Frances Hodgson Burnett<\/a> at least once in your life. But maybe you haven’t, or maybe it has been too long since you let yourself get lost in the lush tendrils and vines of this timeless story. That’s the beauty of The Secret Garden<\/em> – rather than gathering dust over the years, it somehow blooms fresh every time you read it.<\/p>\n

Even now, a century after its original publication, you’ll find yourself wandering through its pages like the paths of a garden, peeking among the leaves and delighting in the discovery of a new flower or fruit that you hadn\u2019t noticed before.<\/p>\n

Here, let me show you …<\/p>\n

“And then she took a long breath and looked behind her up the long walk to see if anyone was coming. No one was coming. No one ever did come, it seemed, and she took another long breath, because she could not help it, and she held back the swinging curtain of ivy and pushed back the door which opened slowly \u2026\u00a0 slowly.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then she slipped through it, and shut it behind her, and stood with her back against it, looking about her and breathing quite fast with excitement, and wonder, and delight.<\/em><\/p>\n

She was standing inside the secret garden.”<\/em><\/p>\n

You’re hooked, right?!\u00a0 Just reading this passage, I’m drawn into the garden all over again, and I can’t wait to find out more.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Secret Garden book cover, photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons, Project Gutenberg<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the things I love most about this book is its theme of rejuvenation, which makes it an irresistible read for adults and children alike. As the story evolves, we watch as the garden heals the cantankerous young orphan Mary Lennox, as well as other characters that are drawn into its secret realm. But it’s not a matter of magic, at least not the supernatural variety. Miracles are sown from the hard work and love that Mary invests in reviving the long untended garden.<\/p>\n

Dirt, spades, stories, and friends – that’s my kind of magic!<\/p>\n

And here’s a wee bit of trivia: The Secret Garden <\/em>was inspired by author Frances Hodgson Burnett’s home, Great Maytham Hall, <\/a>in England. On the grounds she found a vast walled garden dating from 1721 that was overgrown and neglected until a little robin helped her find a hidden door (just like in the book!). Burnett restored the garden to its rightful glory, and it was there that she wrote many of her books.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Great Maytham Hall Garden, photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons, Stephen Nunney<\/p><\/div>\n

How have gardens or other green spaces inspired you? Tell all!<\/p>\n

Speaking of gardens and gates, here\u2019s the view from my office window. The patch of blue is my Sweet Lena Iris in full bloom. The smell when you stand right in the middle removes your identity completely. You just are. In the moment.<\/p>\n

\"\"\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chances are, being a garden-minded gal, you’ve read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett at least once in your life. But maybe you haven’t, or maybe it has been too long since you let yourself get lost in the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[109,329,338,371,767],"class_list":["post-541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-glitterati","tag-books","tag-frances-hodgson-burnett","tag-garden","tag-glitterati-literati","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}