Patience may be a virtue, but it’s not one that I’ve ever possessed. In elementary school, my report cards all had the same comment: “Sarah needs to work on her patience — but don’t worry, she’ll develop it over time.”

Well, I sure proved those teachers wrong! All these years later, I still need to work on my patience. I’m reminded of this regularly as I garden — for example, just this weekend I found myself staring at the seedlings in my basement and willing them to grow faster. (In case you were wondering, that tactic does not appear to work, but let me know if you have other ideas.)

Luckily, there are more advanced gardeners who can demonstrate for us that good things take time. One of those gardeners is Laura, owner of stop #2 on last year’s 2018 JoCo Master Gardner Tour.

Laura’s garden has evolved over 30+ years into a mix of shade and sun, raised beds and ground-level gardens, lush greens and bold colors. Now, stop for a second. The key words here for us impatient gardeners: 30+ years. It was not a beautiful garden worthy of being on a tour the first year. Nor the second year. Probably not the third year, either. Gardens take time to create, edit, and let mature into their full potential.

I might be a bit biased, but shade gardens tend to be my favorite, especially in the heat of summer. Most of this garden was in shade, and it was glorious! Laura made the most of the shade under a big tree by planting a mix perennials that love filtered sunlight.

Shade can certainly be an oasis on hot days, but it needn’t be boring. Throughout the garden were a number of containers filled with bright annuals.

A simple water feature drew visitors to the back corner of the garden with its gentle babble. Isn’t it amazing how much all life forms, including us humans, are drawn to the sight and sound of water? Ferns and hostas surrounded the stacked stone fountain and added to the relaxing feel.

Continuing through the garden, we saw a creative way to disguise compost bins — old window shutters, painted teal and decorated with flowers. Before you realized what was behind them, they just looked like a cute backdrop for the garden. What a great idea!

Laura had what many shade gardeners do not — a sunny part of the garden! I’m not going to lie — her bed full of carefree iris and other sun-loving bloomers made me a tad bit jealous. She also had a huge rosebush covered in red flowers, but after being ripped to shreds while pruning double knockouts at our old house, I will never be jealous of people with roses. Beauty comes at a price.

I believe there is something you can learn from every garden, and from every gardener. Seeing Laura’s progress board reminded me to slow down and enjoy the process. I have plenty of time to build my dream garden!

And, as a reminder to all of us: we need to take pictures of our gardens often. Gardens always seem a little more special when we know how much hard work went in to creating them, and it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come. Plus, you never know when you’ll be able to inspire a newbie gardener who is feeling a little overwhelmed!

Next up in the “Master Gardener tour series” is a garden my mom and I still talk about. Stay tuned, because you’re in for a treat!