Wanna hear a garden secret?

A rainy day might be the very best day to visit your local botanical garden.

My husband and I recently spent a rainy morning at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks. After months of drought conditions, the rain felt less like an inconvenience and more like an invitation to step outside and celebrate. So that’s exactly what we did.

It turned out to be one of our favorite garden visits.

Most people plan garden outings around sunshine and blue skies. We do too. But after experiencing the garden in the rain, I’ve come to appreciate a different kind of beauty. There’s a special magic that reveals itself when raindrops begin to fall.

Rain reveals the soul of a garden.

The Colors Come Alive

Rain has a remarkable way of intensifying color.

Leaves appear greener, flower petals show off their deepest hues, and tree bark reveals textures often overlooked on dry days. Rain washes away dust and brings out the richest colors in the landscape.

Photographers often seek cloudy and rainy conditions for this very reason. Bright sunshine is harsh, and shadows can often mar photos. But a garden during or after a shower looks more vibrant.

You Will Probably Have the Garden to Yourself

Solitude is a great gift, and you’ll likely find it on a rainy day visit.

Paths are quiet, benches sit empty, you can talk to your favorite flowers without interruption. The experience feels more intimate, as though the garden exists only for you.

Something I noticed: The folks you do happen to see, will quietly nod, smile, maybe even wave. “Oh look, a fellow Rainy Day Garden Club member.”

You Notice the Small Things

Rain encourages us to slow down, and when we slow down, we notice more.

Poppy stem

Water collecting in the center of leaves and between tree roots. Droplets clinging to spider webs.  Moss glistens and ferns unfurl. Even familiar plants reveal new details.

Rain magnifies the world.

Fountain Grass

The Sounds Are Different

Without other visitors walking and talking and just being present, the sounds of the garden take center stage. Raindrops tap on broad leaves. Frogs sing near ponds. Chickens peck in the dirt, clucking, “How do you do?”

Rainy day garden music is a beautiful part of nature’s symphony.

Plants Love Rain

During a storm or shower, you can witness plants doing what they evolved to do—capturing water, nourishing their roots, and thriving before your eyes.

Rain reminds us that gardens are living communities, not outdoor museums. Watching a garden drink water from the sky creates a deeper connection to the natural world.

Swiss Chard

Perfect for Nature Journaling

Rainy days are ideal for observation and reflection. Notice which flowers remain open, which insects stay active, and how the landscape changes with the weather.

Take plenty of photos. Bring a pocket notebook and record what you see, hear, smell, and feel. (If it’s pouring rain, save your note-taking for when you get home.)

These observations often lead to some of the most meaningful journal entries and creative inspiration you’ll carry with you long after the visit.

Yellow Red Hot Poker Plant

Such a creative trellis!

Rusty wheelbarrow = cool container!

A Different Kind of Beauty; A Different Kind of Fun!

There is a quiet beauty in a rain-soaked garden that sunshine can’t replicate. Mist softens distant views. Water droplets sparkle. Reflections shimmer in puddles. The entire landscape feels refreshed, vibrant, and alive.

And you will too.

Did you splash in puddles when you were a kid?

I sure did.

Here’s the good news: there’s no age limit on puddle splashing.

The next time dark clouds gather, don’t stay home. Grab a rain jacket, lace up your boots, and head to your favorite botanical garden. You might discover a side of nature you’ve never noticed before.

You may even find yourself hoping for rain.

Talya
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

P.S. Northwest Arkansas friends: This year’s Washington County Master Gardeners Garden Gate Tour is Saturday, June 6, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Details and ticket info here:

The post Why a Rainy Day Is the Best Time to Visit a Botanical Garden first appeared on grace grits and gardening.

Today marks the first book birthday of The Third Act of Theo Gruene. I can’t believe it! Kids sure grow up fast, don’t they?

Spring is the perfect time to celebrate Theo Gruene — a man who spent his life preserving plants and avoiding change… until one rainy afternoon changed everything.

Maybe that’s what spring really is: evidence that quiet things are still growing.

Oh, Theo would not want the attention of a book birthday party. He wouldn’t have social media—no way!—but if he did, his posts would probably include:

• detailed weather observations;
• plant photos with Latin names;
• complaints about texting culture and how no one writes in cursive anymore;
• maybe a viral quote from Penelope

I am grateful to all the readers and book clubs that have selected The Third Act of Theo Gruene as their book of the month. And, I would especially like to thank those who not only read my book, but also took the time to post a review. By spreading the word on Amazon and Goodreads, you’ve help me gain new readers.

That’s no small feat.

Summer reading is almost here!

Click HERE to add Theo to your summer reading stack.

Thank you for celebrating this milestone with me.

And, thank you for being a good literary citizen!

Talya Tate Boerner
Grace Grits and Gardening
farm. food. garden. life.

The post Happy Birthday, Theo Gruene! first appeared on grace grits and gardening.

Hello, Sunday Letter readers!

In case you were wondering—no, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. I’m still here, and I’m glad you are too. Lately, I’ve been busy in the garden and doing a little traveling. In between all that, I read and write. That’s pretty much my life these days, and honestly, I’m not complaining in the least.

Yes, I’m still plugging away on my next book. I hope to have a completed first draft by June 30. I’m a slow writer, partly because of all the aforementioned ways I like to spend my time, and partly because I tend to let a story unfold in its own sweet time. Have no fear—I’ll keep you updated on my progress along the way.

Central Library, Little Rock

On Friday, I taught a Phenology and Backyard Journaling session at the Arkansas Library Association’s InfoBits Conference. It was held at the fabulous Central Library in Little Rock—truly a wonderful place to spend a beautiful spring day.

A library is so much more than books. In fact, I challenge you to visit libraries wherever you travel and pay attention to their non-book offerings: the art and history displays, community bulletin boards, yoga classes, curated exhibits, quiet corners, and local treasures. Every library is a gem in its own way.

A few things that especially grabbed my attention were the display of David Paul Cook’s nature and landscape art, the original library columns, the stunning views from nearly every window, and a series of old photographs from The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.

Old photographs fascinate me—especially photos of places tied to my own memories.

One image showed that the Osceola Furniture Store once sold coffins and caskets. Naturally, this sent me tumbling down a Google rabbit hole to learn the difference. It turns out caskets are rectangular, while coffins are six-sided (or sometimes eight-sided), wider at the shoulders and tapered at the head and feet—historically known as a “toe pincher.” Caskets are primarily used in the United States, while coffins remain more common in the United Kingdom.

Who knew? Certainly not me.

Our New Old Chairs!

Speaking of old things, I’m excited to tell you about our new old chairs.

This project has been a long time coming. About ten years ago, we purchased these wonderfully comfortable antique club chairs from French Metro Antiques here in Fayetteville. Nearly everything at French Metro has been imported from Paris, and our chairs date back to roughly the 1920s.

I like to imagine Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein sitting in them, smoking cigarettes and listening to jazz.

John and I always intended to have them recovered, but for years we struggled to find anyone willing to tackle the project. Time passed, as it tends to do, and the chairs slowly drifted to the bottom of the priority list. Finally, this year, we found a local upholstery company—Holmberg Upholstery—happy to take them on.

Rather than replace the worn brown leather with more leather, we chose a beautiful dark green chevron fabric instead.

Before:

I’m fairly certain guests wondered why we even kept them in the house. Horsehair and coconut-fiber stuffing poked out everywhere.

During:

While dismantling the chairs, the upholsterers discovered scraps of brightly colored fabric stuffed inside the cushions—probably added long ago for extra firmness. Even more surprising, they also found several well-preserved acorns tucked deep inside.

I’d like to think this wasn’t the work of one of our modern squirrels, but honestly, who knows?

Acorns were once considered emergency food during times of famine and scarcity, so perhaps someone tucked them away for safekeeping and simply forgot about them.

We may never know how those acorns ended up hidden inside the cushions, but I love that these old chairs carried their own small secrets through time.

The upholsterer also discovered French hairpins and the wrapper from a well-known French embroidery thread.

After:

Now they’re ready for the next hundred years.

If I Were a…

If I were a finch, I’d build my nest in the honeysuckle.

If I were a box turtle, I’d hide beneath the maple tree among the wild violets.

If I were a tree frog, I’d perch on the windowsill.

If I were a possum, I’d forage in the garden and live beneath the front porch.

If I were a skink, I’d make my home in the rock wall.

If I were a squirrel, I’d nap on the gatepost.

Or maybe I’d curl up in the viburnum and spy on my humans from above.

But since I’m just a humble human, I’ll simply be grateful to share this garden space with all of them—and say hello whenever we cross paths.

Just please… keep your acorns outside.

“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” — Gary Snyder

(P.S. I saw all these critters within a two week period.)

Speaking of Nature

I highly recommend the latest Ken Burns documentary, Henry David Thoreau, now airing on PBS. It’s informative, beautiful, and deeply inspirational—and George Clooney provides the narration.

And this is an actual photograph of Walden Pond. I believe I could write a few words there.

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden or, Life in the Woods

Things Momma Says:

The one thing I can still do is hear pretty good.

***

That’s all for today, folks. I hope you found my ramblings illuminating—or at the very least, worth the few minutes it took to read them.

Talya Boerner
Grace Grits & Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

The post Sunday Letter~ 05.17.26 first appeared on grace grits and gardening.