The Magic of a Backyard Garden Crown

This beautiful post is from Zanni from Heart Mama

Our garden and a flower crown

We live in a brick and tile town house. We are surrounded by other brick and tile houses, which have perfectly manicured gardens. Growing up, I made cubby houses in lantana scrub, and spent hours at the bottom of our property, inventing stories in the arms of an old olive tree. I never imagined myself here – in suburbia, raising a family.

But this little brick house has a special meaning to us. It was built in 1987 for my grandmother. She carefully chose its slate floor, its green painted verandah and its…bricks. This home was her last home.

My grandmother spent hours toiling in her garden. Herbs were her specialty. Pots and pots busting with herbs. Everything growing in my grandma’s garden was big. Huge. You wouldn’t believe the size of her umbrella trees, or her weeping fig. A mass of jasmine wound its way around the garden. She loved and nurtured every plant, and it responded with a flourish.

This was the garden of my childhood. Now it is my children’s garden. We have cut back the enormous trees, so they can play safely, but new plants have taken their place. The jasmine, pertinacious creature that it is, refuses to be cut back, and still winds around the back fence.

Making a Backyard Garden Crown

My baby lies on a picnic rug on the grass, while my older girl and I collect baskets of flowers, leaves and seeds for the craft table. We stuff handfuls of jasmine vine into our little baskets. We are going to make a flower wreath crown, on my daughter’s initiative.

We empty out our baskets onto the table. I weave three crowns out of the jasmine vine – one for me, one for my older girl and one for the baby.

 1. I twirl the vine round and round itself, forming a circular shape.

2. Then, I simply tuck the end of the vine into the beginning to finish it off.

3. My daughter sticks flowers into the weave. We collected a variety of flowers – roses, zinnia, gardenia and the flowering weeds that grow amongst it all.

She tries it on.

Perfect. We decide the baby is still too little, so her crown is remade for her sister.

I realise that our garden is more than just a place to hang out the washing. Our garden is where we are tranquil and creative. Doing things, but absorbed in our moment; taking in sunshine, fresh air and ideas for our creative projects. This is our happy place.

About Zanni

You can find out more about Zanni on her blog, Heart Mama and on facebook here: Heart Mama on Facebook

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