Bryanna Goodman had a marvelous summer. She planted her dream garden. "I grew up gardening. Ever since I was a little toddler, I was barefooted in the garden, helping my mom. She had a magnificent garden my whole life, but it was always just vegetables, never flowers. I have always wanted to grow wildflowers, and this year, I decided to scatter wildflower seeds throughout the garden and see if it would work. They grew so abundantly and completely took over. It was just magnificent."
"I grew a ton of vegetables, but it was just so magical with the flowers. One of my favorite childhood movies was The Secret Garden. I loved going in my garden and under the trellis with the flowers, and it just feels like my own little secret garden. I've been totally inspired by Sherry Burke's yard and garden. She has been so sweet to us. She lets us wander through her yard. We had family pictures taken there. It was just so magical. I've been trying to recreate what she has in my garden and create this little fairy tale secret garden that sparks creativity and makes you feel like you're somewhere that's not dry and brown, somewhere magical. My children have just loved it. They love taking their toys, and the girls love their Barbies into the garden. They love to go under the trellis with their Barbies and pretend to be in a secret garden. Belle has this section in our yard where she is constantly imagining what she's going to do and create her little secret garden. She actually ate an apple at school, and when she got into it, the seeds were already sprouted. She came home with the seeds, and she planted them in little pots, and now she has three apple trees crawling inside the house. It's so fun. They're thriving. She's growing those and preparing them for her secret garden. She's collecting sticks and rocks and trying to make stick walkways like archways of sticks."
What attracted me to her comments was that I always wanted a garden that was quiet and spiritual, a place where a person could just heal. Bryanna said, "That's what Cheri Burke's yard is like. You go in there, and you just feel so much at peace and so calming." That's what Bryanna feels in her own secret garden.
