Tasha Tudor's Garden

Of all the gardens to be visited in the United States, there is just one garden that I would love to visit.  It is the garden of Tasha Tudor.

Tasha Tudor (1915-2008) lived a 19th-century lifestyle in her hand-hewn home.  She was surrounded by her simplistic gardens and loved her corgi's.  She authored and illustrated over 75 treasured children's books.

The first time I came across Tasha Tudor was in a Victoria Magazine sometime in the mid 1990's.  She immediately stole my heart with her simple lifestyle, her love of gardening, and her literature and art.  She was very old even then, but  I could tell that Tasha was someone that I would love living next door to so we could chat or just sit quietly on the back porch and listen to the sounds of nature.

Soon after reading about her, one of my daughters gave me a copy of Tasha Tudor's illustrated book of 'A Child's Garden of Verses' by Robert Lewis Stevenson.

Here are some of her quotes.  They certainly speak to my heart.  I hope you enjoy them also.

"It's wonderful to grow old," Tasha Tudor said in an interview. " You can get away with murder. Everyone takes great care of you. And they're afraid of offending you. You can say the most outrageous things and get away with it. I fully believe old age is one of the most delightful periods of my life."

"Life isn't long enough to do all you could accomplish. And what a privilege even to be alive. In spite of all the pollutions and horrors, how beautiful this world is. Supposing you only saw the stars once every year. Think what you would think. The wonder of it!" 

"I enjoy doing housework, ironing, washing, cooking, dishwashing. Whenever I get one of those questionaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down housewife. It's an admirable profession, why apologize for it. You aren't stupid because you're a housewife. When you're stirring the jam you can read Shakespeare." 

"Why do women want to dress like men when they’re fortunate enough to be women? Why lose femininity, which is one of our greatest charms? We get more accomplished by being charming than we would be flaunting around in pants and smoking. I’m very fond of men. I think they are wonderful creatures. I love them dearly. But I don’t want to look like one. When women gave up their long skirts, they made a grave error…" 

"There is no peace that cannot be found in the present moment." 

Below is a video of her in her gardens (it is narrated in Japanese), I hope you'll take time to sit back, relax and enjoy the journey...