Beautiful words. This morning - having gathered a harvest of lady's mantle and rose - your writing has me reflecting on the fact that the garden is much more forgiving of me than I am of myself.
When we first moved here, I was thrilled to find we were the custodians of a little hawthorn, and when I first sat out in its shade to sketch out plans for the garden, a little hawthorn moth landed on my arm. Gardening is a constant, ongoing conversation between us, the place, the creatures who live here, and all the plants - welcome, unwelcome, desired and otherwise!
Very inspiring and interesting reading Rhyd. There are some interesting 'poison' gardens / beds here in England in some of the stately homes which are grown for their (often) dark and purple colours but also medicinal (hence) magical use. Here is a famous one in the North East of England:
Thank you for sharing such personal experiences. I have never maintained a garden myself, and I'm not currently looking to start one, but I can see parallels between tending a garden and tending to one's home. Hoarding and unkemptness has been a recurring problem for my family, and I have taken great pains to keep my room uncluttered and dusted. There is a great joy I feel in cleaning up things and getting rid of old things, a joy I feel may be somewhat comparable to the joy gardeners feel when they weed their gardens or shave off some branches of their plants. I think we, as people, have a genuine need to tend to spaces be they rooms or gardens. I think it is an extremely comforting and healing experience to tend to a space and have that space reflect yourself. I want to be uncluttered, so I will ensure my room is uncluttered. I can imagine a gardener may feel the need to be open and bountiful with life, so they will ensure their garden is open and bountiful as well. Thank you, again, for a wonderful article.
This is wonderful, thank you. Our garden is full of friends - plant and animal.
Beautiful words. This morning - having gathered a harvest of lady's mantle and rose - your writing has me reflecting on the fact that the garden is much more forgiving of me than I am of myself.
When we first moved here, I was thrilled to find we were the custodians of a little hawthorn, and when I first sat out in its shade to sketch out plans for the garden, a little hawthorn moth landed on my arm. Gardening is a constant, ongoing conversation between us, the place, the creatures who live here, and all the plants - welcome, unwelcome, desired and otherwise!
Very inspiring and interesting reading Rhyd. There are some interesting 'poison' gardens / beds here in England in some of the stately homes which are grown for their (often) dark and purple colours but also medicinal (hence) magical use. Here is a famous one in the North East of England:
https://www.alnwickgarden.com/the-garden/poison-garden/
Thank you for sharing such personal experiences. I have never maintained a garden myself, and I'm not currently looking to start one, but I can see parallels between tending a garden and tending to one's home. Hoarding and unkemptness has been a recurring problem for my family, and I have taken great pains to keep my room uncluttered and dusted. There is a great joy I feel in cleaning up things and getting rid of old things, a joy I feel may be somewhat comparable to the joy gardeners feel when they weed their gardens or shave off some branches of their plants. I think we, as people, have a genuine need to tend to spaces be they rooms or gardens. I think it is an extremely comforting and healing experience to tend to a space and have that space reflect yourself. I want to be uncluttered, so I will ensure my room is uncluttered. I can imagine a gardener may feel the need to be open and bountiful with life, so they will ensure their garden is open and bountiful as well. Thank you, again, for a wonderful article.