Lovejoy - Sunflower houses: inspiration from the garden: a book for children and their grown-ups

by SHARON LOVEJOY

Workman Publishing New York

Copyright 1991 by Sharon Lovejoy
First published by Interweave Press, Inc.
This edition 2001 by Sharon Lovejoy

Quotation by Gertrude Jekyll on 1984, The Antique Collector Club, reprinted with permission.

Cover design: Lisa Hollander
Interior design: Susan Wasinger, Signorella Graphic Arts

All rights reserved. No portion of this book my be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

eISBN 978-0-7611-6456-2

Workman books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fund-raising or educational use. Special editions or book excerpts can also be created to specification. For details, contact the Special Sales Director at the address below, or send an email to .

Workman Publishing Co., Inc.
225 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014-4381
workman.com

I owe my publisher, Peter Workman, and my editor, Ruth Sullivan, a debt of gratitude for keeping the spirit of my first book, Sunflower Houses , alive. Thank you just doesnt seem like enough to say to you both, but for what it is worth THANK YOU!

My love and thanks always to my son, Noah W m Arnold, and my patient husband, Jeffrey Prostovich, for believing in me and providing unflagging love, loyalty, and devotion.

Heartfelt thanks to Virginia Skippy Shoemaker, the creator of the first sunflower house and one of the most delightful ladies Ive ever known. Skippy and I would never have met had it not been for her daughter, Ginny Kirschenman, who shared the story of the sunflower house with me.

Finally, bouquets of thanks to all of you who contributed stories, games, and gardens to this book. Your floral traditions will continue to grow and flourish through the years.

Dedicated to my son, Noah Wm Arnold, who reawakened in me the joy and promise of life

In 1991, when this book was released, I never anticipated that it would be received so lovingly. Like windborne seeds, the ideas from its pages traveled throughout the world, germinated, rooted deeply, and flourished. Now, in this new edition, the spirit livesand the floral traditions and garden play of our ancestors will reach new generations of readers and nature lovers.

I first thought of this as a collection just for children, but the letters soon proved me wrong. An 80-year-old gardener from Kentucky wrote, If it is indeed true that it is never too late to be a child at heart, this will be my best spring ever. I am going to plant my first sunflower house. Letters came from kids as young as three to grown-ups 96 years young. Educators, camp counselors, church groups, horticultural therapists, and 4-H leaders shared the joy of newfound or rediscovered gardening pleasures. I want to thank the thousands of readers who wrote such inspiring letters. I always expected the tide of correspondence to stop, but with the publication of my newest book, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots, the letters and requests for copies of Sunflower Houses increased. Because of your interest, Sunflower Houses is being reprinted for the tenth time with its new family at Workman Publishing.

My book appeared at a time when people realized that many of our kids are estranged from nature. A movement began in the early 1990s to design and plant community, botanical, and schoolyard gardens specifically for childrenour most precious and valuable resource.

Whatever your age, welcome to the pages of Sunflower Houses. May you always remember that the most joyous and important experiences in life are not to be bought, but grown and nurtured in our homes and gardens.

I wish you many garden pleasures and magical memories.

Grandmother Abigail Baker Lovejoy, who started it all

M y first memories of home are of a tiny redwood cottage tucked into a vale in my Grandmother Lovejoys garden. The vine-covered house was surrounded on all sides by old apricot and peach trees, and the lawn was carpeted with carnations. Raspberries and boysenberries grew along a wall, providing a secret nesting place for the night-singing mockingbirds.

My favorite haven in the garden was my playhousea pair of ancient guava trees that formed a huge, light-pierced tent with branches that swept the ground.

The pathway that led from Grandmothers house to mine was flanked with hollyhocks as tall as trees. Giant bumblebees nestled into the pink recesses of the blooms, while darting hummingbirds danced from petal to petal looking for unoccupied flowers.

The main spirit of our garden was a gigantic, mottled old sycamore tree with limbs so strong and comforting I would often curl up on the lower one to read or to watch for figures in the clouds. Grandmothers swing sat under the sycamore, and on sunny afternoonswith a gentle wind stirring the papery leaveswe would sip cream teas and eat sugar and cinnamon sandwiches, and Grandmother would teach me about the flowers, trees, and animals of her garden.

On the day my Grandmother Lovejoy died, I ran to the shelter of my guava tree playhouse and closed myself inside for hours. I could hear the mockingbirds young in the wall of berries, the wind rustling through our sycamore leaves, and the humming of the bumblebees working in the hollyhocks. I couldnt understand how the person who had given me this life could have gone, leaving these smaller things behind, unchanged.

What I have learned through the ensuing decades is that my Grandmother Lovejoy lives on. Her stories and teachings have enriched my life and the life of my son Noah for years. Now I pass this treasure on to you, and hope that you in turn will share the joys with the children in your life. Gentle lessons are waiting to be taughtand you, my friend, are the one to teach them.

Sharon Lovejoy

Cambria-Pines-by-The-Sea

In Grandmothers garden the hollyhocks
---------

Row upon row lifted wreathed stalks
---------

With bloom of purple, of pearly white,
---------

Of close-frilled yellow, of crimson bright.
---------

In Grandmothers garden the roses red
---------

Grew in a long, straight garden bed,
---------

By yellow roses with small, close leaves;
---------

And yuccaswe called them Adams and Eves!
---------

Threaded with fringes of fairy weaves;
---------

By marigolds in velvet browns,
---------

And hearts-ease in their splendid gowns;