The Tinie-Tiny Girl

On sweet smelling flower petals, soft as the softest velvet you can imagine, the Tinie-Tiny Girl slept dreaming of lavender dew drops and surprise rainbows. She would wake at the first streak of sunlight to reach the horizon of the cupped peach petal she laid her head to rest in. The Tinie-Tiny Girl was the tiniest of tiny girls to live and play in the garden. Everyone called her Violet because when the sun would shine across her long locks of hair you could see every shade of violet found in the garden. You know who her best friends are, right? That is right! The bees and butterflies and everyday they would have a new adventure. Well today was going to be the biggest adventure the Tinie-Tiny Girl called Violet would go on and it all started when one of her best friends, Hal, stopped by to say good morning.

Hurry Violet! Hop on and I will fly you over! Everyone is waiting for us near the edge of the lawn just past the tiniest bubblegum pink rose in the garden. You know what is so important about this spot in the garden don’t you? This is the place where the worms come out to tell stories from down under! Worms are always terribly busy tending to the soil, so it was a special treat to hear their stories! As quick as she could, Violet the Tinie-Tiny Girl hopped on Hal’s back and off they went flying over the tinie-tiny flower sprouts and under the giant green leaves missing dew drops falling on every side. They landed with giggles just as a giant shadow flew overhead! With Violet’s giant yet tiny scream everyone crouched down tight coming up only slightly to see what danger lurked nearby to realize it was only Robin!

It is silly little stories like these about adventures of the Tinie-Tiny Girl who lived in the garden that my mother started telling years ago, inspired by her mother’s beautiful gardens. Sharing them with the youngest generation and making up the stories as we tell them interactively with which ever sweet wee one it happens to be, we plant seeds for the love of gardening and tender care of even the tiniest members of the garden eco-system. My grandmother Audrey was as lovely as a garden rose and so proud to pass her green thumb on to the many branches who stemmed from her and the love of her life, my grandfather Jerry. Grandma Audrey left us in January of 2021 to begin her next adventure surely united once again hand in hand with Grandpa Jerry. The last card she wrote me spoke of how proud she was to call me her granddaughter and how happy it made her to know I was sharing her love for organic gardening with my children.

It is with the spirit of a quote from Audrey Hepburn, “to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow” that I share the craft that brings my heart tremendous joy. I am grateful to my mother and her mother before her for the gift of a green thumb. My garden is without a doubt my happy place and a source of pure creative joy.

When I am working in my garden, I follow my heart and love knowing that it is always a work in progress. I love seeking to achieve a complimentary blend of texture, color, and scale. Consideration for bloom time and duration is also part of my creative work flow in the garden. Sometimes something will outgrow its space and need to be moved, sometimes I fall in-love with a variety of rose that I cannot live without and must make room to add, and sometimes one of my beauties will not survive Iowa’s harsh winter conditions and will need to be replaced. Whatever the reason, I love working the soil (usually without shoes), planting, waiting for them to take root, and bloom to their greatest beauty. Like Friskars, I too believe high-quality tools are empowering as they allow me to sculpt, maintain, and tend to my beloved foliage friends.