The East Garden - Chapter 2 - Part 4

Coming from the elegance and formality of the North Rose Garden we returned through the arch in the hedge to the Heart of the Garden. The elegant fountain’s song welcomed us back to this central point. We proceeded around the fountain and entered the East Arch, entrance to the East Garden.
Upon entering this garden I was amazed at the stark difference in architecture. The East garden was a much simpler garden, free of the formality of the North Rose Garden we had just been in. It was a country garden, full and overflowing with perennials and wildflowers of every kind. This garden had a massive, ancient, knarled tree that was the graceful focal point of this gorgeous garden. It sat slightly to the left side and further to the east end of the garden. Its massive expanse reached over a major portion of the garden and its trunk was twisted and knarled and some if its ancient roots were slightly exposed further indicating its age. I felt instantly that this tree represented the love and wisdom of my dearest kindred spirit of all, my Grandma Gubler, Genevieve. Her branches reached and shaded a massive amount of space and under her protective reach the east garden contained some of the rarest and most amazing specimens of all the gardens. Under her protective care this garden had thrived. Coming into this garden from the East was a small creek that came in on the left and weaved its way playfully through the garden and then split and came around each side of the tree giving it a constant supply of nutrients. The path in this garden was lovely also. Large natural flagstones meandered through amongst all the plantings and it worked its way back to the shade of the massive tree where the stones fanned out to make a small patio area. Where the path came to the creek there were large stones with flat tops in the creek placed just perfectly that made it easy to just walk across the bubbling water.
The East Garden was an area, that despite its neglect, had flourished. Heirloom plants and wildflowers had taken a strong hold here and since the majority of the plantings were tried and true heirlooms they thrived with little care. Snapdragons, simply petunias, large bushes of daiseys, hollyhocks, you name it all the old fashioned favorites bloomed here. The sweet fragrance of this garden was calming and healing. This garden held power. Just entering it was an instant recharge and any of the despair I had felt over the poor condition of other areas of the garden melted away as i strolled through this magical healing place. Genevieve's Garden, the East Garden, was a timeless spot covering the choices part of the entire Garden. Here was where my most cherished memory plants had been grouped.