There is magic in a garden. In them, on rare occasions — when the moon shines upon a poppy revealing its gold interior, when a jasmine’s dance diffuses its dulcet aroma, when the music of stillness is a susurration of leaves — I sense eternity.
I seek out oases of greenery wherever I travel. I daydream in them. I unfocus my gaze upon the climbing vines of a morning-glory, I stare into the folds of a camellia and feel the universe pulling me towards its center.
Places of reverie are becoming more difficult to locate, but when I discover them the thrill of their memory lasts. I recall entering a botanical bower framed by ragged mountains in Cape Town. I remember stumbling upon a secret garden in New York City. I continue to reminisce about a floral cornucopia in Cap Ferrat.
Gardens have been my teachers. I have learnt patience while tending to vegetable, shrub, and tree. Cultivators have educated me to plant deep for sturdy root growth. Landscapers have shown me how to proportion soil and moisture for robust nourishment. I have acquired the language of flowers from cuttings in my neighbor’s yard: rosemary for remembrance, violets for innocence, gardenias for joy. In my great-aunt’s plot I have dabbled in the botany of herbs: yarrow as astringent, hawthorn as digestive, anise as expectorant. Every parsley sprig I have watered, each cucumber shoot I have mulched has taught me a life lesson.
I tussle with the dichotomy of gardening: our innate need to manipulate our environment versus our inability to control nature. I have helped kill slugs with pesticide, destroyed seedlings because they were considered undesirable. I have felt the mania of power while grafting, wept in frustration watching leaves wither from blight. I have slashed and burned, tugged and ripped all in the name of propagating a suitable horticultural framework.
Gardens have fueled my inspiration too. I have taken notes on color combinations, sketched parterre patterns for design ideas. The romance of rose beds hanging from a Mediterranean hillside has spurred my imagination. The composed poetry of raked gravel at zen courts has enlightened my meditations. The evocative blossom of a desert xeriscape has nurtured my creativity.
I remain in awe of that liminal space between the wild and the artificial in a garden. The boundary between our aspirations and nature’s process is forever shifting, altering how I perceive that which is untamed. My favorite gardens are the messy ones where the architect’s plan has given way to feral creepers grappling for dominance. Amid the overgrown, helter-skelter of tangled branches resides an ecosystem too intricate to comprehend. Why do certain varieties thrive on neglect while others wilt? What constitutes a weed? Is a geometric lawn more aesthetic than a bramble mayhem?
It is alongside such general contemplations of a garden’s beauty and resilience that I also discern individual complexity. The open-faced disc of a helianthus cradles not one but a thousand flowers. Dandelions attract more butterflies than hothouse blooms whose fragrance has been bred out of them in lieu of showy petals. A hydrangea’s hue changes with the acidity of its loam. All gardeners know that the perplexities of plant care are innumerable, yet I would not have it otherwise. There is so much beauty in the bewilderment. I have come to accept that I will never fathom a garden’s workings. In spite of this I abide by strict pruning schedules, juggle fluctuating nutrient levels, manage proper drainage hoping this season my efforts will bear fruit.
TRAVEL NOTE:
A single teaspoon of soil contains more than six billion microorganisms all of whom play their part in the foundation of life. To protect this fragile matrix from herbicides and pesticides gardeners apply organic mulch, weed by hand, and use companion planting techniques.
Do you have a favorite garden or plant? Would you like to share any gardening tips with me? Comment below.
“I remain in awe of that liminal space between the wild and the artificial in a garden. The boundary between our aspirations and nature’s process is forever shifting, altering how I perceive that which is untamed.” That’s the key, isn’t it? The constant change in that wild/tame mix is bracing, bewildering, magic. 🙂
Indeed. These sort of boundaries which you tackle so admirably in your own work are what I’m learning to explore more, and to embrace their mysteries.
You’re very kind! Happy gardening, and exploring.
A very well written post. A garden can be both rewarding and challenging.
Great gardenpost
Thank you so very much. Glad you enjoyed it.
You have beautifully and poetically described the needs of the garden. I also don’t know why, as if it is necessary, we should stick to the rules of mankind and not to the laws of nature !? The more you let nature take its course, the better it becomes. The more we get involved, despite our good intentions … The worse it is with nature! I have enjoyed both your description / story and the images … 🙂
Warm regards, Heidi
Thank you Heidi, for your own poetic thoughts regarding nature. Humans have always wanted to possess and reformat and place their mark upon the environment. Though we are a part of nature, we often do not feel this to be true. I too hope, however, that we can realign ourselves a bit more to thinking in the ways of the earth.
I hope so too!
Oh, how you must harden your heart to destroy seedlings.
Now I am well enough known in my neighborhood that people line up on social media for my fabulous cast offs…but it is so hard to yank my flower babies when they get out of line.
You’ve clearly got the gardener’s gift for growing. At least you can be happy knowing that your errant plants are going off to good neighborly homes where they’ll thrive.
Enchanting post. Though the well-tended gardens are aesthetically pleasing, I too prefer the messy ones.
Thank you. “Wilder” gardens have so much more story to them don’t they?
Absolutely.
I’ve often grappled with that same question, what constitutes a weed. I don’t know. A flower is a flower. A plant is a plant. Lovely photos.
“A plant is a plant.” Yes! I like to admire them all indiscriminately.
Bonjour, vos photos de fleurs sont de toute beauté. Merci.
Ah, merci beaucoup pour vos gentils mots! Ils m’ont fait sourire.
I too, love your ‘travels’ through the garden, These are thoughts to inspire all of us who garden, leaving a ‘garden gate’ open to enjoy the countryside outside as well. Thank you.
It’s been a pleasure to have so many gardeners and fellow garden lovers share their perspectives. I very much believe that gardens can be our portal to a better relationship with nature, and so I love your advice of “leaving a ‘garden gate’ open to enjoy the countryside.”
I loved all the photos in this post, and your thoughts on gardening make me wish that I had a place to plant a garden again, as I learned the same lessons that you did through gardening.
Thank you. I hope you’ll find your way to a garden again soon, whether it be to create one indoors, to help out at a community one, or simply to visit a friend’s.
I live by the river and spend time trimming more than planting. I nurture what grows naturally. I like to use a small pair of hand clippers rather than any type of motorized tool. It takes forever to clip down each vertical sapling that sprouts from the exposed cottonwood roots each year. It’s much gentler to cut each cleanly rather than shred cut with a power trimmer. My neighbors probably think I’m crazy. But in the hours I see and hear birds and of course enjoy the riverside instead of enduring an hour loud buzzing, shredding and grinding and feeling I’ve destroyed something rather than learning its nature.
I do some planting each year by watching the columbines (a favorite of mine) for when the seed pods are ready. I then spill them directly into the garden by the others to thicken the growth instead of letting them disperse willy-nilly. I also collected some from the back yard and scattered them in the front garden and have been thickening the growth there for several years now. They spread on their own as well, of course and instead of pulling up the ones that grew outside the rock border, I’ve adapted to borders to include the area they prefer most. I have a gorgeous, I would say riotous display of blooms each year to enjoy.
I especially liked your line: There is so much beauty in the bewilderment. That’s indeed what I like best about growing things.
Thank you for this lovely look into your garden and your methods. I so admire how you mingle your work with observations of nature, allowing it to dictate your steps.
Yes, I guess I look at gardening and yardwork as being a steward of what’s growing rather than the ‘playing god’ aspects you spoke of. It does make my yard of the more free-flowing type, and I’m sure some would consider it weedy. Though I try to maintain borders and sections to give some sense of order. Thanks for the reply to my comment.
Gardens definitely have magic in them!
Delighted that you think so too. I’m always in search of gardens wherever I am and loved exploring the San Francisco botanical gardens.
Me too, I’m especially interested in beautifully designed edible gardens. I saw this video on Youtube of a guy in Arizona that have the most amazing “forest” in his front yard. It looks like he lives in a neighborhood, but it is so incredibly cool! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fvzFIKxpj8
😲 Wow! The “vegan athlete’s” garden was amazing! Thank you so much for the link. This was such a treat! I haven’t visited too many edible gardens, so I’m intrigued to look into this further.
My pleasure, I thought it was pretty incredible myself! ..and it looks like he lives in a neighborhood. I think that’s somewhat even more appealing, and kind of more doable for us regular people 🙂
Beautiful post. 🙂
Thank you!
So enjoyed the post and all your lovely photos.
Thank you very much. I’m so glad you came by to check the story out.
You have touched my gardeners heart with this evocative post
Oh, what a lovely thing to hear! I so admire gardener’s and their patient dedication to nurturing nature’s beauty.
Lovely writing and photos! I enjoyed your evocative descriptions of nature. I’m looking forward to reading more from you. My blog is a bit different, travel and lifestyle, but I will be writing about plants/nature/gardening. I blog at http://mysilveryears.com/
Thank you. I hope you enjoy reading my other stories. I am excited about future chats regarding travel and nature. Meanwhile, I look forward to exploring your blog.
I love the photos and your poetic descriptions. Please, never use chemicals again in your garden. I write about nature in my blog https://naturetails.wordpress.com One is about the emotional life of slugs! I also love my wildlife garden, and so greatly appreciate your beautiful, informative writing. More, please!
Thank you for your lovely comment. I look forward to reading about nature on your blog.
Beautifully written. Your poetic writing is a fresh as a visit to a garden.
Thank you for your lovely compliment.
A garden is a special place. A place for thoughts, inspiration and just peace. Your garden images are simply lovely.
I’m so pleased to hear that you enjoyed my garden images. I wanted to get across how much I love these spaces and what they mean to me.
The beautiful colors and dancing flowers in a garden are definitely a delight for our eyes.
I share your love of gardens. They are my respite on land. Your New York post made me homesick. I eagerly sought out those beautiful spaces when living there, and Central Park was my backyard. My favorite gardens are the same as yours ‘the messy ones where the architect’s plan has given way to feral creepers grappling for dominance’. What a perfect anchor for your latest travel journal (Gardens). I’ve just treated myself to a copy. Ahoy from Sri Lanka.
Ah, having Central Park for a backyard must have been amazing! It wasn’t until I discovered it and other green spaces in NYC that I actually grew to like the city. I deeply appreciate your purchasing a copy of my Gardens Journal. I hope you enjoy it while you are in Sri Lanka!
It was amazing. Looking forward to ‘walking’ virtually in your gardens when we head back out to sea
Cheers to finding pockets of reverie while out and about…I have much to learn in the garden. I hope to carve out more time there in the future. Happy gardening.
Thank you for your kind wishes. Happy gardening to you as well!
Nice photos and thoughts on gardens. Gardens with their living plants and wildlife help us stay grounded.
They do indeed. Thank you.
I find it astounding that six billion microorganisms are in a teaspoon of soil. It truly brings home how much we can affect nature with chemicals. Beautiful photos. I must say I am not much of a gradener although when we were first married we had a massive garden as was the tradition of my youth.
I’m not much of a gardener either. I love plants though, so I like to keep around the ones that don’t suffer from my gardening incompetence. You’ve intrigued me with your last statement. Was garden ownership a family tradition?
Oh yes I grew up on a farm on the Canadian prairies. My Mom and her Mom before her canned and froze vast quantities of vegetables for the winter months. One of my childhood chores was picking peas, beans, you name it out of the garden. Then assistant to the washing, cleaning and packaging. Perhaps I’ve always seen it as a chore so it never had a great appeal to me.
I can understand that. It’s interesting how much of our childhood memories and emotions affect our adult biases. Working on a farm is one of the toughest jobs and I can only imagine how much harder it must have been as a child.
Beautiful pictures! We have all our snowdrops out but they will likely get covered by snow again before spring officially starts. Such hardy little flowers. 🙂
Thank you! In the north I feel as if snowdrops and robins are always the first indications of spring.
I have felt similar mixed feelings to you, regarding the benevolence and beauty of gardening versus the undeniable aspects of manipulation and even, maybe, damage that gardening can cause to the natural environment. It is a tricky equation, always hard to balance. But, oh, I do like your phrase: ‘There is so much beauty in the bewilderment.’
We can’t seem to stop wanting to manipulate our surroundings. It manifests in different ways, but the desire is always the same. Thank you for your generous comment.
Sheer poetry! You have a soothing and lyrical way with words. And those photographs! incredible. My favourites is the 4th one from the top – are those peppers?
I live right next to the Singapore Botanic Gardens, so I spend a great deal of time there, basking in greenery. I feel very fortunate.
My husband & Older daughter are blessed with green thumbs, so they do most of the cultivating in our Balcony Garden. We are now enjoying the last of our tomatoes.
How kind of you! Yes, in the 4th photo, those are tiny peppers. It was a semi-successful project since the plants produced a ton, but only for the first season. I have a thing for growing tomatoes as well. 🍅 Isn’t it exciting to be able to eat them straight from the (balcony) garden?
It is very exciting indeed!
I miss my gardens so much! They were my peace and inner sanctum. I live in a concrete jungle now, but I hope to return someday where I can plant again!
Hopefully until then you’ll be able to visit some gardens and find ways to make your indoor space a miniature garden sanctum. 💚
I have a little one just in pots outside but it’s totally not the same
I love gardening–vegetable gardening. I figure, if I’m going to invest time and energy into weeding, I’d better be able to eat what I planted 😀
🙂 I admire your magic ways with vegetables! There’s something very intoxicating about eating the results of one’s garden.
Beautiful photos and descriptions. I’ve only had a handful of moments as a gardener, but I do love wildflowers. When I moved into a new house in Alaska that didn’t have any landscaping directly around the log house, I planted a ton of wildflower seeds. I was only there about two and a half years, and the second year did considerably better than the first. I wonder what they look like now, if there is the sea of wildflowers that I envisioned or if the new owners changed course.
What a beautiful idea Karen! I’m going to imagine the new owners loved it or didn’t care enough to change things so that now there is a whole field bursting with the wildflowers you sowed….
“What constitutes a weed?” That reminds me of the spring bloom the first year after I bought my house, from folks who’d freshly planted the year before. The winter grounds were mostly dirt, plus a few small shrubs, and whatever came up was a new discovery. Eventually I decided a “weed” is mostly what you don’t want, even if it’s legit, and what got kept was what dealt best with benign neglect. Nice ode, and pictures too.
We are in accord about gardening philosophies: anything that thrives under “benign neglect” is my favorite plant too. Thanks for your kind support.
Hi, Yes, a garden, no matter how big or how small is a sanctuary. Because I have pets, I am loathe to spray.
I leave the leopard slugs to deal with the vegetarian slugs.
For the first time, I have a lemon tree which is food for a caterpillar with bright black and yellow stripes. I used to knock the caterpillars out of the tree with jets of water until I discovered they are the young of a beautiful but rather rare butterfly. Now, I let the caterpillars be and enjoy the butterflies.
I like your methods of gardening: fighting slug with slug and letting the caterpillars become butterflies. Your garden sounds like a haven.
What a wonderful post and these photographs are especially beautiful to me because in less than a week we have gotten almost 3 feet of new snow. 😦
I think it’s going to be a while before spring arrives…
Hang on, Lisa. I know you will find beauty to capture in the freshly fallen snow. Spring will eventually come. In the meantime I’m honored for you to enjoy my virtual garden.
This post could have been called “Ode to the Garden”. 🙂 You sure know a lot about plants and flowers, besides their names. I like to look at gardens and sit on a bench nearby to contemplate, like you. Nothing beats sitting by the ocean for that, though, in my book.
I can see that any garden and any plant teaches us something new. I don’t have green thumbs (in Belgium, we call it “green fingers” :-)), but I like the fruits of labor and the gifts of nature. On our sailboat, I successfully grew mint, basil and spinach. On our most recent house sit in San Diego, I learned about dandelion, amarinth and composting. All new experiences are good ones. 🙂
If you were successfully growing mint, basil, and spinach aboard a sailboat I do not think you can claim NOT to have “green fingers!” 😲 That seems like it would require even more skill than land gardens.
I think those are resilient plants. 🙂 They did survive salt water waves, being appreciated by geckos and falling into a tray of water/bleach. Yeah… Resilient!
😁 They sound like my sort of plants. I need to look into trying to grow these….
“There is so much beauty in the bewilderment.” So true! I admire competent gardeners. I am a complete failure at it. I come from a long line of garden/lawn care fanatics/geniuses, but obviously got none of those genes. Perfectly pruned gardens are admirable, but like you I prefer the unruly places – weeds, wildflowers, wild fruit and vegetables and fungi. Gorgeous photos and words, as always.
Thank you so very much. Another thing we have in common aside from being in love with “unruly places”: amazing gardening genes that did not get passed down.
I’d go back to Monet’s Giverny in a heartbeat! 🙂 🙂 Sunlit raindrops and a patter on lily pads.
I’m not much good at gardening, personally. Too impatient.
Giverny, yes! I would go with you there in a heartbeat too. If ever a person was able to manipulate a garden to look like a painting, it was Monet.
Lovely photos! I too enjoy beautiful gardens but lack the patience to keep my garden looking beautiful. It seems like I’m perpetually pulling weeds and struggling to keep the ivy at bay. One day I’d like to start over, a clean slate, and have a minimalist easy care rock garden (is there such a thing as easy care?).
Thank you Caroline. I suppose it all depends on what one wishes the garden to look like, but I think low-maintenance plants that are native to your region make things easier. I’ve visited a few beautiful rock gardens in China which looked like a lot of hard work to design.
Enchanting contribution!
I loved this post! I’m such a fan of gardens, plants, flowers, and everything green. We tried our luck at growing indoor plants and many survived our travels. I’ve got so much to learn from their resilience and will to survive the odds. Your pictures are stunning and your words complement those gorgeous flowers perfectly. It’s almost spring here and I can’t wait for the blossoms to pop some colour into the city! 🙂
Thank you so much. I too love anything green or outdoors but like you growing plants as a nomad has its difficulties. Seems as if everyone in the northern hemisphere is itching for spring. I’m looking forward to seeing your photos of the blooms.
What a variety!
There is definitely magic in gardens. I have started numerous gardens in my life, already 3 in Canada since I moved there. I start them from scratch, and then just like you get a lot of inspiration, as well as great fruits and vegetables, not to mention the beauty of flowers and their paintings.
Yes, I can imagine your gardens have given you incredible inspiration throughout the years. Your lovely nature paintings are a testament to that. Thank you so much for taking the time to drop in, read, and share your thoughts. Hoping you get better soon!
What a poetic exploration of the mystery of nature, and the glory of gardening…yes, I too love the plants that take life into their own hands, instead of waiting for permission, rambling roses like precious pink Albertine, glorious nasturtiums roaming through other flowers, crossing beds, climbing trees, white anenomes spreading into new territory, snow- in- summer, creeping through crevices and all self-seeding plants like wild pink foxgloves, blue love-in- a- mist, purple cineraria, to name just a few…
Lovely piece, and though you are modest about your gardening skills, it still sounds as though you have green fingers…
Your kind words are music to my ears. Though I love gardens, your beautiful descriptions of wildflowers have me daydreaming about the many beautiful ones I come across everywhere in my travels. And you’ve reminded me that the Earth itself is a garden of Eden when we take the time to observe.
Beautiful words and photos. Gardening gives us that chance to get closer to nature by digging around in the dirt for a while. I love the idea of companion planting and that certain flowers like marigolds can keep the bugs away without harming those microorganisms that gardens need. I’ve stumbled on a few secret gardens too – it’s always exciting to find them in unexpected places!
Thank you. How wonderful to have you drop by! I think the best part of gardening is learning how to be a partner with nature, which takes a lot of patience, commitment, and effort than I usually put in. But the rewards are equal to discovering secret gardens in unexpected places.
I love rambling English gardens, that, to me, convey mystery and benign neglect. But, alas, I live in California where I have come to appreciate (and care for) desert plants. I noticed this morning the black geranium is flowering and the Meyer lemon tree is laden with bounty. My rambling California garden is full of delights – less mysterious, maybe, but deligths nonetheless.
Black geranium? Meyer lemon? Wow, your garden sounds as thrilling as any English ones! I have seen some incredibly beautiful desert gardens in California which made me fall in love with succulents.
What a beautiful post (again)! I’m struggling for words: after reading words of such eloquence, I’m feeling pressure even to write a simple comment! 😂Your photos are also amazing.
How fun that you added links to your garden book, I didn’t realize you had books for sale though it doesn’t surprise me the least bit – and maybe I’ve read about it somewhere on your blog before now that I think of it. Your writing is captivating!
I love visiting gardens when I travel, too! So much better than visiting the crowded tourist hotspots!
Hold on, while I recover from the heaping of praise! ☺️ Glad you like my subtle (?) marketing ploy, I’m not the greatest at advertising.
I always do some sleuthing in every place for gardens, parks, even plant shops. After visiting those requisite tourist hotspots, these havens are must retreats for me.
Everything I touch dies. Like you, I prefer to visit other people’s gardens. Ah, but secretly I long to have my own garden to tend to.
😢 Oh no! As someone who does not have a very green thumb, I have taken to adopting hardier plants and wildflowers that can withstand my clumsy attempts at gardening. I hope someday you will find that little bit of earth to care for as your very own secret garden.
Thank you for this beautiful reminder that plants and gardens teach us about eternity, the circle of life, being born, dying, and being resurrected. And that they do so in myriad, marvelous ways.
☺️
Indeed, there is magic in the garden, how amazing it is to watch from seed to bloom, your narrative is beautiful!
Thank you!
Wonderful words, deep insight. Life is so simple; Just immerse ourselves in nature. Watch it, learn from it. Yet saying that, it is so intricate. The building blocks of life. On one hand so delicate and on the other so sturdy … able to survive in extremes. Love your piece: Gardens have been my teachers. I have learnt patience while tending to vegetable, shrub, and tree.
And then there is this: I tussle with the dichotomy of gardening: our innate need to manipulate our environment versus our inability to control nature.
How true. Man thinks he can control nature. Sure, we can harness its power at times to create energy but really … control it. Unfortunately we are only destroying much of the natural beauty.
Let’s hope more people will see the beauty in gardens that you do. Bravo, well done. You have brightened my day.
So happy to know my story has brightened your day. Thank you for such kind words! Hopefully we will continue to realize that we are part of nature and cannot work apart from it.
My garden? it does quite well in spite of me, you probably shouldn’t take any tips from me.
😁 You then have the best garden of all, one in which nature is the gardener.
Lovely display of Nature’s beauty.
Thank you, glad you liked the photos. I seem to gravitate towards taking a lot of flower photos during my travels, when they’re around.
Magic in a garden – yes, but also in Your beautiful photos. Thank You. They make me miss spring here.
What a lovely compliment! Just a little more time and then spring will come…to your corner of the world too.
“. . . when the moon shines upon a poppy revealing its gold interior, when a jasmine’s dance diffuses its dulcet aroma, when the music of stillness is a susurration of leaves — I sense eternity.” Such a wonderful way to start this post. Reading it is like swimming in words. Lavender – fields and fields of lavender, is something my soul dreams of.
Ah, I have often dreamt of fields of lavender too…and longed to see them again in the southern fields of France.
Enchanting post, BT. I felt a zen feeling come over me as I viewed your wonderful images and read your garden memories. There certainly is magic in a garden.
Excellent. I love to hear that my post and photos are having a soothing effect. 😊 Thank you.
You gardeners are patient people. I am not. I enjoy gardens immensely for their calmative and restorative powers, and I admire them and their creators greatly. But I just can’t do all the parts properly myself. I have grand plans each season but abandon everything very quickly; luckily, my husband takes over after the initial enthusiasm wears off! Beautiful photos and themes.
😊 True gardeners are indeed patient and, like your husband, committed. Since I’m neither I end up leaving my plants to the vagaries of nature and climate. But, like you I love visiting other people’s gardens.
Lovely floral portraits
Thank you.
Voor mij is de natuur elke dag opnieuw een belevenis
You put it wonderfully. A daily dose of nature is a lovely experience.
Delightfully commendable. 🙂 My ex was the gardener in his free time. He built a lovely pond in our garden. It’s just that he watered his plants only right before they died.
😁 Sounds like he went to the same school of gardening as me. This is why I prefer to have plants that like to take care of themselves. And no pond. I can only imagine the amount of effort it took to build and maintain that!
I like cacti. Firstly, due to that moment chosen by them when they reward us for patience with what they have the best – their beautiful flowers. And secondly, because they’re always fighters for life, an example for every being on this planet. My tip – dry soil, less water, a lot of sunlight.
Great tips for cacti, Cătălin, thank you! I too love succulents because of their hardiness. Makes it easier to take care of them indoors and through multiple moves. Their varied leaf structure also fascinates me.