Bolles Nursery offers rows of color for the garden. Photo by Liz Sherwyn

Summer is not necessarily the best time for planting and landscaping, but I very much lack a green thumb, and even the thought of gardening does little for my soul. So when the urge arose, I had to take advantage. My housemates and I had been discussing the landscaping of our front yard since moving in almost a year ago. The yard – a huge lot of grass lined with small shrubs, weeds, and dirt – has needed a bit of love and my once-monthly rose pruning has done little. We needed more.

So a week ago we made plans to fill in the empty spaces in the flowerbeds and turn the front yard

Echinacea purperea. Photo by Liz Sherwyn

into a garden of color. My recent trips to Home Depot and Osh left me feeling uninspired and poor, believing there to be too many plants not able to grow in this town and too much equipment needing to be purchased for success. And while the employees seemed to know their field of work, their answers never pleased me and often made me feel incapable.

Ivy and other vines displayed at Bolles Nursery. Photo by Liz Sherwyn

I decided to look elsewhere. My friend Dean works at Bolles Nursery and has invited me to the location a number of times. The nursery, locally and family owned for 18 years, is a surprisingly large space filled with plants of all types: perennials, annuals, shrubs, succulents, and full-grown trees. They also have gardening tools and equipment, accessories, pots and planters, and organic fertilizers and pest controllers.

One of my housemates and I arrived first on a weekday morning for some consultation. We walked around the

Orange lantana. Photo by Liz Sherwyn

gardens pointing at flowers and leaves and receiving a wonderful education in return. And as I kept reminding myself of how much I never appreciated gardening, I found myself consumed by how much I loved plants, nature and growth. I felt nostalgic as I found the same type of plants that were in the garden of my childhood home. My artistic nature began planning a perfectly composed row of color and shape. I found orange lantana, a tiny geometric succulent, a purple-leafed tree, and gardenias.

In addition to the nursery’s plant selection, I was pleased to find the gardens also serve a number of other purposes. During the fall and spring a grill provides sausage, corn on the cob, and other foods for visitors. We were lucky the weather that day was cool enough for the grill to be in full swing and were able to have a bite to eat. And, as I photographed the pathways and planters, I was informed that a group of artists meet occasionally in the gardens with their easels for plein aire drawing and painting sessions and that I was welcome to return with my art supplies anytime. I plan to do so.

I believe the greatest thing I have gained from my visits to Bolles have been inspiration. Not only was I appreciative of the help I received, but the loveliness of the space set my creative mind whirling and twisting and readjusting to ready myself for the gardening process.

My housemate and I returned a few times more to the nursery for advice and more plants to fill empty space. Our yard is nowhere near finished and will take a while to grow, but I have found a wonderful new place to be when my fingers itch for earth and our yard needs a bit of a lift.