Angel Gabriel flower friend shares: The scenery I love happens to be all yours

Garden: Angel Gabriel

Location: Shanghai

I have always longed for the days of Tao Yuanming picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, leisurely gazing at the southern mountains, but how can we who live in the city see any mountains? Apart from row upon row of high-rise buildings, even a rockery can only be found in a park. Fortunately, I gritted my teeth, stamped my feet, made a great resolution and spent more money than others to buy a small apartment with a garden. From then on, most of my spare time after work has been spent in it.

The garden is about 20-plus sq m, a neat rectangle. Because it faces north with its back to the south, the south-facing side can only enjoy the sun in the morning. With this in mind, I planted 4 or 5 varieties of hydrangea on the south side. Hydrangeas are one of the few flowering plants that do not particularly like sunlight. The north side of the garden, exactly the opposite of the south side, has abundant sunlight, and in summer the light even feels excessive. Without a doubt I chose the wide variety of roses, mainly European and Japanese roses, with large flower quantities and rich colors, but poor disease resistance. This nearly wore me out as a gardener, with all kinds of pesticides well stocked, and the results were also delightfully gratifying.

Of course, a yard worthy of being called a garden cannot lack a grape trellis and fruit trees. I was no exception: when building the fence with anti-corrosion wood, I also put up a tall grape trellis, but I did not plant disease-prone grapes; instead I chose Chinese trumpet creeper, which blooms in summer.

As for fruit trees, I spent a "huge sum" to bring home a lemon tree and a blueberry tree. The lemon tree lived up to expectations, bearing more than 100 fruits in its first year at home, 60-plus in the second year, and after that... but it deserves a rest too. The blueberry that came home at the same time was not so lucky: in the first year it produced beautiful flowers but not a single fruit, and in the second year it did not even bloom. It seems I need to take better care of it.

All these various plants make my garden gorgeously splendid. From spring to autumn, every season has a leading role taking the stage for a grand performance, and it is very lively. In March and April, the roses are colorful, a sea of flowers (I planted more than 10 varieties, and the scene of them blooming together is still quite magnificent). In May and June, the hydrangeas are in countless forms, especially Endless Summer, whose flowers are so large that both my hands together cannot hold a single bloom. When the intense heat arrives in July and August, the Chinese trumpet creeper fairy takes the stage. Only she can stand in this season on the grape trellis closest to the sun and look down at the other beauties in the garden who have long since fallen silent from the heat; only a queen can command such fiery colors. By September and October, when the temperature drops and the weather turns cool, all the plants in the garden recover their vitality and break into a great chorus. Roses, hydrangeas, Chinese trumpet creeper and so on all appear together, accompanied by golden-yellow lemons. It is as if every plant is burning its life to sing the most beautiful song. Only winter is a season for which I have prepared no program at all. This season is when plants rest and recuperate; the gardener only needs to busy himself with fertilizing and pruning, and must never interrupt the flowers' sweet dreams.

Ever since I got this small garden, I have become more and more of a homebody. Every weekend I always get up early to check how the plants are growing, spray medicine for the sick ones, and fertilize and water the flowering ones. Whenever I pick a bunch of flowers from the garden and arrange them in a vase on the table, I can always feel a ray of sunlight shining into my room, and at once the house becomes a warm home.

In order to fully enjoy the beautiful atmosphere of my garden, I placed a small stool on the balcony. With a cup of coffee and a book, sitting there, I can see every one of my treasures in the yard as soon as I look up, and a sense of happiness rises from the bottom of my heart. Because the yard is limited in area, I cannot bring home all the plants I like, but that cannot stop me from placing some imitation anime characters in every corner of the garden: a koala on a swing, little birds chatting and a goose carrying a yoke. Although these fellows are not alive, that does not stop them from leading you into a fairy-tale world. I put that goose in the most conspicuous place in the garden, so that from any angle I can see it smiling at you among the flowers. It reminds me of the puppet I saw last summer on the windowsill of a household in the English countryside, greeting everyone's gaze with the simplest, cutest smile.

Whenever I laze indoors and see that goose, I think that happiness is really just a matter of perspective. If the place your eyes happen to fall on has exactly the scenery you love most, then that moment must be happiness.

Note: Flower friends who want to enjoy more of the beautiful scenery of Angel Gabriel's garden can follow the author's personal WeChat official account:Angel Gabriel

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