Weed or Wildflower?

When we purchased our Pittsburgh home one year ago, I had the privilege of becoming the steward of the former owners' garden.

This was a really big deal for me.

We've purchased five homes in our twenty-five years of marriage, and none of them had anything that could be called a "garden". And because I love flowers and gardens, I put a lot of backbreaking work into creating gardens in our past homes. Planning, sketching, plotting, roto-tilling, soil amending, purchasing, digging, planting, praying.

A lot of work.

And on a few occasions, we didn't live in the houses long enough to see the full fruits of our labor.

To purchase a home that had a lovely established garden?

Like I said, it was a big deal for me.

There is, however, one dilemma when you are the steward  of someone else's garden...discerning weed from flower. After all, if you didn't plant it with your own hands, how can you be certain?

Case in point: this sweet little flower is growing in proliferation in my garden. It grows around the base of this tree, but has also managed to meander throughout the garden as well. It's the meandering that has me wondering "Is this a weed or a wildflower?"

I have chosen to call it "flower". I like to think of it as a naturalized chamomile, but it probably has another name that I just haven't stumbled upon yet. If you know what this is, will you please tell me?

My neighbor, Rose Mary, had a seventieth birthday celebration this weekend. Rose Mary loves gardening, too. I made her this card with the PTI stamp set "Wildflower Garden". I really like the sentiment!

A simple message inside with a sweet little flower, too.

And because Rose Mary is an extra special neighbor (she bakes the most amazing ginger snaps!), I even stamped the envelope!

I like the fact that this is a simple card with dimension, thanks to the Memory Box stencil. I also did a little freehand squiggly border to frame it out.

I hand-delivered this card to Rose Mary at her party. You'll never guess who else was in attendance! The former owners of our house! It was so nice to see them again, and to talk about the garden. I told Mrs. N about my dilemma, and I loved her response.

"If it's pretty and it has a sweet flower, why not let it grow and see what happens?"

Great advice. I knew I loved that woman!

I love her garden, too.

Blessed Monday, cafe friends!