A place to relax in the garden. Isn’t that an oxymoron? Can any gardener actually relax? While it may be hard to stop picking and tucking and weeding and fussing, relaxing in the garden you’ve created is the best part of the day. After hours of hard work, what better reward can there be than to flop into an overstuffed chair on the porch with a novel or laze in a soft cotton hammock, swaying gently in the breeze and counting clouds.

The dictionary defines relax as “to slacken” and “to ease.” Although our culture tends to assign negative connotations, as if to do either shows lack of character or slovenliness, I’ll go against the grain and put relaxing in my garden at the forefront of my chore list. For me, the best place “to ease” is the porch.

I covet those grand farmhouses with a porch that wraps around the entire house. But that’s not really necessary unless you have thirteen kids, each of whom needs a separate place to play checkers or brush the dog or giggle with a boyfriend.

In reality, any porch will do. The porch of my dreams has wide scuffed boards and a traditional robin’s egg blue ceiling. It is appointed with a whitewashed willow settee, a glider or porch swing with a soft floral cushion and mismatched overstuffed, well-worn chairs – lots of places to sit whether you’re dirty or not.

It can be just a place for a moment’s respite from weeding and watering, hoeing and deadheading, or a spot to leave a pile of garden catalogs to thumb through on a water break. But it can also be a gracious room for elegant entertaining.

My dream porch has a banister dripping with old-fashioned scented roses and a trellis off to the side clad in cerulean blue morning glories, making a secret place to sit and read. You can hear what’s going on, but no one can see you – a truly magical spot where the kids can’t see you from the yard.

On a hot afternoon, the porch contains all manner of kids lounging, reading, and playing checkers while others squeal as they run through the sprinkler. There’s a frosted pitcher of lemonade on the rickety table, and the scents of mint, sunflowers and freshly mown grass waft through the air.

Evening falls and you begin to hear Vivaldi playing softly in the background. The porch is full to groaning with family and friends. Someone’s cranking the ice cream freezer and out comes “porch chicken” and potato salad, to be eaten in your lap, followed by bowls of homemade strawberry ice cream and slices of cold watermelon.

Night descends and the citronella oil lanterns are lighted, casting a warm glow on sunburned faces. The fragrance of nicotiana, petunias and evening stocks drifts all around, and the cicadas begin to call as the stars appear. Someone softly strums a guitar and the night is filled with quiet conversation peppered with laughter.

This is what summer is made of.

Ice Cream Base

• 8 egg yolks
• 3 c. milk
• 1 c. half and half
• 1 c. sugar
• 4 t. vanilla

Beat yolks and sugar until thick. Scald milk and pour into yolk mixture while stirring. Pour back into pan and heat gently until it coats a spoon. Cool. Stir in vanilla and other additions. Freeze in ice cream freezer.
Additions (use your imagination – the sky’s the limit):

• Peaches (the best!)
• Chocolate chips
• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Chocolate syrup
• Crumbled mint oreos