The Final Push: Getting Ready for the OCCNPS Garden Tour

There's a particular kind of energy that takes over in the days before opening your garden to the public. It's equal parts excitement, mild panic, and the deeply satisfying urge to fix every single thing you've been meaning to fix for months.

This weekend, that energy has fully taken over Wild Joy Gardens as I prepare for this weekend’s OCCNPS garden tour!

Mulch, mulch, mulch. It's amazing what a fresh layer of mulch does for a garden bed — it's like a haircut before a job interview. Everything just looks more intentional. I've been working my way through the beds, top-dressing with wood chip mulch 1-2” thick and it’s looking nice!

My disaster of a potting table before I cleaned it 😂

The potting table got its moment. I'll be honest — my potting table is usually organized chaos. Pots stacked on pots, a trowel or four, discarded sunglasses. But there's something about having guests that finally motivated me to give it a proper tidy. Now it's actually usable and looks good as the day my husband built it!

Weeding. Always weeding. If you're a gardener, you already know. There is no finish line. I've accepted that and am focusing on the high-visibility spots — along the path, near the entry, the areas guests will linger. The back corner by the milkweed? We're going to call that "naturalistic."

A last-minute addition I'm genuinely thrilled about. I finally got my hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) in the ground. I've wanted it for ages and somehow never picked any up for my garden. Well, not anymore. It went in this week, it's already looking gorgeous, and I'm choosing to believe it was always part of the plan.

Checking out the David Austin roses

And then I stopped. Right in the middle of all of it — the mulch bags, the to-do list, an internal debate about whether I need new throw pillows — I just stood still for a minute and looked around. I’m naturally an optimistic person and lean towards gratitude throughout my day but nine years of tending this little piece of earth, and it still catches me off guard sometimes — how much life fits into one yard and how lucky I am to tend it.

The poppies are still blooming and the clarkia are opening up, the native grapes are leafing out over the pergola in that fresh, bright green way they do every spring, and the roses are just beginning their first flush of the season. I'm just so glad I get to share it this weekend.

Come visit this Saturday, April 18th!

I'm one of the stops on the Orange County California Native Plant Society Garden Tour and I'm so excited to share the space with fellow native plant lovers.

A couple of things to know before you come:

• Registration is required, but the tour is completely free. Make sure you sign up in advance so you can get your map and all the details.

• Wild Joy Gardens is the merch stop! While you're here, you can pick up CNPS swag — while supplies last. It's a great way to support the California Native Plant Society and take little something home.

  
  
  
  
  
  

  I can't wait to see you out here among the poppies. 🌿🧡