GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens–get FREE access right now!
Working in the garden can heal the spirit. This FREEBIE shares the power of gardening to get us through times of turmoil and give us time to mourn, heal, and hope.
Dear Gardener,
Gardening is a joy — even when it’s tinged with sadness. There’s something about the act of working the soil that can help us work through the emotional pain of disappointment, loss, and change. Our FREEBIE, GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens, shares that gentle power of gardening.
For many of us, gardening is an act of love — of the earth; of the flowers, fruits, and vegetables we nurture from seed to fullness; of those who garden with us, and those whose memories we carry close to our heart.
Our FREEBIE, GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens, shares stories of love and loss, hope and heartbreak. The stories will touch your heart (they may even bring a tear), and you’ll love the beautiful art that so perfectly captures the essence of the story. Here’s a look at what you can expect.
Light Passes Through Me
Some of the best life lessons come from time in the garden. Morgan Gray learned that from her Aunt Sadie, sharing a story of loss and betrayal.
Looking at me, she pulled her gloves off, crossed the brick patio, and picked up a clay pot. It held an African violet, with soft green leaves and a nosegay of dark purple blooms tucked down in the center. They were her favorite potted plants.
She held the pot towards me at arm’s length, as if in offering, and then simply let it go. It crashed onto the bricks at her feet in a crumbled heap—a pile of clay and soil and broken leaves.
Stunned, I could only mutter, “Why?”
“Honey, we don’t always have the answer to why. It’s done.” She raised her eyebrows. “What do we do now?”
Her eyes were clear and kind. I sputtered for a moment. “Well, we have to get it into another pot,” I said, fumbling for words.
She smiled gently. “Yes. Repotting is sometimes messy, but with a good plant, good soil, water, and light, it’ll work every time.”
Of course, this lesson was less about gardening and more about healing; Aunt Sadie had a flair for making her point in a powerful way. Check out the FREEBIE, GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens to read more about Aunt Sadie’s lesson on the power of healing, and how gardening helps.
Love and Daffodils Forever
Bill and Constance, married for decades, had always found joy gardening together. But when Bill got sick, they knew their days of gardening together would soon come to an end. Even so, Bill had decided to spend his final days at home with his beloved wife.
Why, then, did he start urging her to go out with friends while he stayed home? A lunch date here, a shopping date there — a movie, for goodness sake. Constance was baffled, but honored her ailing husband’s wishes.
After Bill died, Constance discovered a surprise in the garden. Stunned, she had no idea what to make of what she saw. Then she got a package from her attorney. Inside was a video cassette.
As she played the tape, her beloved Bill appeared on the screen. “My darling Constance,” said Bill, “today is our anniversary, and this is my gift to you.”
What was Bill’s gift to Constance, and how did he arrange to deliver it?
Read the FREEBIE, GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens, to read the rest of this incredibly heartwarming story of lasting love and the power of the garden to help heal a broken heart.
One Million Daisies
It’s no mystery why hospitals and mental health facilities build healing gardens for their patients. There’s nothing so refreshing as fresh-blooming lilacs or day lilies tracking the sun — or daisies bobbing their cheerful heads in the breeze.
Marilyn Kendall brings us a story of how she found healing in her mother’s garden amid a million daisies. Here’s a peek:
A million daisies have invaded my mother’s garden. They grow rampant among the phlox and delphinium, the lilies and the roses. She doesn’t want their scraggly disorder in her picture-perfect beds, but she cannot stand to kill anything, especially a flower. In her stronger—or weaker—moments she attempts to eradicate them, but they always find their way back into her garden. Into her heart.
Working amid the bright and faded blooms, deadheading the daisies past their time and sparing those flowers still full of life, Marilyn first finds the work feels like endless drudgery. But then she comes to understand that the meticulous work of tending to the daisies is a lesson in love, dedication, and gratitude.
Read our FREEBIE, GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens, to see how Marilyn comes to see her mother’s garden as something much more than a home to a million daisies.
Time in the garden is always time well spent. And time in the garden can help us heal.
In our FREEBIE, GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens, you’ll find stories that show how love blooms eternal in the garden — keeping us connected to those we love through the simple joy of gardening.
And did I mention that it’s FREE?
I hope this freebie adds some lightness and joy to your gardening adventures and gives you some insight and inspiration to grow the garden you want. Go grab GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens and enjoy a few laughs on us.
This GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens, is our gift to you.
I hope this freebie touches your heart and gives you a stronger connection to your own garden. Enjoy GreenPrints Sampler: Healing Gardens — where hope helps to heal.
Sincerely,
Amanda MacArthur
Daily Editor
GreenPrints
