"In search of my Mother's garden, I found my own" - Alice Walker.
I learnt to love gardening from my Granny Avice and from my Mom. In particular, the love of a rose garden. Some of my earliest memories are of my cousin, Shelley and I, spending hours in our gran's huge rose garden - learning the names of the various blooms, watching as she cut and cared for them, and collecting armfulls of rose petals that we secretly crushed and bottled as "perfume" for our Gran & Moms! Years later, my own rose garden is now my personal sanctuary - the place that I escape to when I need peace - my own personal temple. One of my all-time favorite quotes is - "We come from the earth. We return to the earth. And in between we garden." (Author Unknown). 

I truly believe that there really is no better designer than nature. So many memories are made in the beauty of the outdoors and in the garden; and the love of gardening is most often a passion passed from generation to generation. So this Mother's Day, Macaroon has introduced a personalised garden journal - the perfect spot to record everything you need to know and remember seasonally about your garden.

Our personalised garden journal is an A5+ (215mm x 165mm) hard covered and spiral bound book, made up of 126 pages (63 leaves), perfectly divided in to seasons by gloss laminated file dividers. Available in a beautiful variety of cover designs, your personalised garden journal is personalised on both the cover and on the inside "Garden notes and sketches" section.

Every Season (Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring) includes the three months of that season. The journal is designed for the Southern hemisphere - so Summer includes December, January, February; Autumn includes March, April, May; Winter includes June, July, August; and Spring includes September, October and November. The design can be altered for the Northern hemisphere on request. Every month includes a "Things to Do In The Garden This Month" section; as well as a "Monthly Observations" and "What to plant this month" section.

The journal is designed to be a permanent garden journal, rather than an annual garden diary - so it allows you to keep a record of permanent seasonal garden notes and tips to use as a record from year to year.

Other features include a personalised section for general garden notes and sketches, with lined pages on one side and plain pages on the other. There is also a section to store your garden contacts - meaning that your landscaper, lawn dressing supplier, rose pruner, orchid supplier and any other useful contacts are all kept in the same journal. As well as a wish-list and shopping list section - a space for you to record plants on your wish list and to take with you when shopping at the nursery. At the back of the journal are two useful clear sleeves for storing garden cards and clippings.

The perfect gift for Mother's Day or at any time of the year for a gardener. For me personally, the best part of our garden journal, is that it ensures an old-fashioned record book for detailing your monthly garden tips and habits. So that one day, when I have grandchildren of my own, my grandaughter will be able to page through it and read about my favourite hybrid-tea roses or my personal tips for feeding my hydrangeas... and hopefully, when she grows up, her own rose garden will become her sanctuary and maybe one day, her grandchildren will crush rose petals and bottle their own scent of perfume!

So this Mother's Day, always remember: "We come from the earth. We return to the earth. And in between we garden."