The concept of having a "Cutting Garden" always struck me as extravagant, a luxury for the rich among us, or those who reside on vast estates with lots of land. Land is expensive here in the Metropolitan East Coast, and with long commutes and long hours spent at work, I get the impression that for many of the people who I rub elbows with on a daily basis,"land" symbolizes yards to be mowed and weeds to be pulled. I, however, have always coveted land. It would be heavenly to me to have 5 or 10 acres of land to fill and fill with beds and borders and trees and shrubs. I would have a Rose Garden, and a Vegetable Garden, and of course a Cutting Garden.
This Spring, I went to Winterthur in Brandywine Valley Delaware for my Birthday Weekend. During the tour of the Historic Home, which belonged to a certain branch of the DuPont Family, we were told of how the Head Gardener was consulted before any Dining Arrangements were planned out, so that the table settings could be matched to the flowers in bloom. It was breathtaking to imagine how sumptuous and luxurious the experience of being a guest at Winterthur must have been, considering the extreme detail taken to ensure the maximum exposure to all the delight and beauty on offer.
Although I do not have the luxury of filling dozens of vases with gobs of flowers, I do have just enough established beds now to give me an Impromptu Bouquet each week. This is why June is so blissful to me, the days are long, and there are so many exquisite flowers there for the taking. I may not have a vast estate or acres of land, but in June, my entire small plot of land becomes a "Cutting Garden".
