Last Saturday was the Western Mass Master Gardeners Spring Symposium. I was honored to share the bill with Julie Moir Messervy who was the keynote speaker. I talked about worm farming and Julie talked about garden design and her new book, Home Outside.

Julie had a lot to say, but she set the tone immediately for me in her talk and in her books when she says that her aim is to help us all create our own Pleasure Ground.

A Pleasure Ground is exactly what I am aiming for in my garden. There is the Rose Walk which is a glory in June when the peonies are also blooming. That’s when we invite in friends and anyone passing by for our Annual Rose Viewing to share the pleasures of stopping to smell the roses.

There are the pleasures of watching grandchildren play on the lawn.

There are the pleasures of resting from chores in the Cottage Ornee.