I looked through the Humpty Dumpty House website. You are an amazing person, Jannike. I love the heart-touching garden themes you've created and the pictures I saw on another thread were simply beautiful.

How lovely! It's very impressive! Kim

I hope you get a good turn out and the weather is nice.

It is so hard to plan garden events, heat, wind, rain...you just never know. But it is a garden and nature is like that, it does what it wants and we are just along for the ride

Sidos-House and Kim, thank you for your very kind words. The Humpty Dumpty House gardens are intimate and evocative spaces for sanctuary, celebration, mourning, and respite. They were created with lots of neighborhood discards, and built by many unskilled hands in the process of learning new trades. The gardens completely lack the luster and polish of a professional design/build landscape, but they do bring smiles and delight to the courageous children here for cancer treatment, the stressed-out medical students, and other passers-by.

Kippy, a gardener's life is one of eternal hope for the future, and a very broad definition of what is good and beautiful. I had to smile when the doctors at Saturday night's garden celebration called the rainstorm that drenched us all "magical".

Here's a picture from the Garden of Tears:

jannike

Wonderful! So beautiful and inspiring!
Susan

You've created beautiful and serene gardens with such an inspiring backstory. Wishing you the best with your good work!

Thank you Susan and Pat. Tomorrow I'll have more information about the presentations and workshops at the garden festival that takes place this Sunday from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. The festival is FREE. In the meantime, here's a photo of the Poison Apple mural:

jannike

What roses are in The Garden of Tears?

Was the weeping statue made specifically or commissioned for the garden?

Mauvegirl, there are no roses in the Garden of Tears. However, a 12' tall star jasmine espalier that spanned the entire side of this garden was recently killed when a neighbor sprayed the morning glories on her side of the espalier wire with Roundup. This destroyed the intimate privacy of the Garden of Tears, and the search is on for another plant that will restore the garden. Roses are being considered, but since I want to keep the garden austere, it'll take some consideration to determine whether to use roses, and if so, which ones.

The statue was made for another garden, which was never completed. I wanted a smaller angel, perhaps even a child for the Garden of Tears, but was unable to make a trade, so I finally brought this angel in. As I feared, she overpowers the garden, but she's still a beautiful and moving piece that many people love.

jannike

What beautiful gardens! Wished I still lived in Redlands. I would be there in a heartbeat!

Mustbnuts, yes, we're just down the road from Redlands. There will be 5 workshops/presentations, and all are free. Here's a picture of the entrance to the Poison Apple Garden.

jannike

One of the workshops will be "Container Gardening", and there will be a raffle for a container garden.

jannike

Lovely gardens sow what.

Sorry to hear about the jasmine.

You could plant a weeping standard rose, either white or blush in the garden of tears...

l fell in love with the weeping rose standards when I saw a picture of hoovb's weeping Renae. Hoping to find one some day.

jannike

How did the festival go?

An extraordinary place created by an extraordinary person. Good wishes in all your endeavours.