Serenity in the Garden

photo by Danielle Donders   It is a rainy spring where I live. Rain and more rain. Days of rain with intermittent breaks of sun.   So when life gives you raindrops....   You make...   photo from this blog (click here)   Mud Pies.   Learn to love the mud and you will be a happier person, I assure you....   Annual Mud Day Celebration in Westland, Michigan   My stepmother once chided me for playing in the dirt and mud, saying this wasn't proper for a young lady (I was 11)... She didn't understand that this was (and is) my greatest joy.  Perhaps I should have shown her one of my favorite poems. It is called 'In Just' by e e cummings.      a poem in praise of spring, mud, childhood and more by e e Cummings:   in just- in Just- spring       when the world is mud- luscious the little lame balloonman whistles     ...

A serene setting - designed by Jan Johnsen for a private residence in Westchester County, NY.

The Most Inspiring and Heartfelt 10 minute TED talk :   I spent a summer near Elk, California. Magical. Namaste to All Creatures....

In May I work outside in the landscapes I create for others. I will share pics with you as I take them. Serenity in the Garden is my goal...that can mean meditative settings or flowerful displays, grassy gardens, rock strewn hillsides and more. Here is a mossy path from one of my landscapes. The wood rounds are from a large tree that fell. We sliced it up in 4" thick slices and treated each with wood sealer 4 times... This glorious garden is not on the Garden Conservancy tours so photos must suffice.  I will share more in time.     www.johnsenlandscapes.com  

I am a 'Small is Beautiful' devotee.    I once attended a talk by the great E.F. Schumacher (1911-1977). I never forgot it. He spoke the truth so eloquently...but this was in the 1970s and look at where we are now. No one was listening. Schumacher is widely acknowledged as the originator of many concepts on the theory and practice of sustainable development.  He explained that we must get back to a more manageable way of doing things...:   "I have no doubt that it is possible to give a new direction to technological development, a direction that shall lead it back to the real needs of man, and that also means: to the actual size of man. Man is small, and, therefore, small is beautiful.”    - E. F. Schumacher     Schumacher  put human wellbeing as the central concern of development.  Not growth! And he urged that we rebalance our efforts at technological innovation away from the 'wants' and more to...

  This fledgling video was made a few years ago.. but I illustrate the ever popular Angelonia flower and more.  Short and to the point. For those who do not know plants very well

  courtesy of Proven Winners   When the American Horticultural Society decided to create a large meadow at their headquarters, River Farm, in Virginia the first plant they seeded was  Little Bluestem. ( I wrote about this earlier but have added to it. )   Photo Courtesy of Lazy S'S Farm  They applied 100 pounds of Bluestem seed. The Latin name is Schizachyrium scoparium or skiz-ah-KEER-ee-um sko-PAR-ee-um . Why was this the first plant they seeded? Because Little Bluestem is a NATIVE, wonderful, durable, upright, clump forming grass that is eminently suitable for 'meadow making'.   'The Blues' courtesy of the Battery Database Little Bluestem is native to almost all of the United States and parts of Canada. It is found in  45 of the 50 states, making it the most abundant of all native grasses. It is drought and flood-tolerant, can grow in light shade and thrives in relatively poor, sharply drained...

  Native Heucheras have it all! Heuchera villosa Brownies' Photo by View from Federal Twist The amazing Heuchera villosa, or hairy alumroot, is a species of coral bells that is native to rocky wooded slopes from Virginia to Missouri.  It is resistant to browsing deer and rabbits and is an excellent substitute for Hosta in shaded/part sun beds. Piet Oudolf uses this a lot. Villosa is from the Latin meaning ‘velvet’   These plants are tolerant of dry soil in shady conditions but need more regular watering in partial sun.  Good for Dry shade! from davisla blog It has large, hairy, triangular green leaves that have a velvety texture. It flowers in late summer (perhaps the latest in the genus) and features tiny, whitish flowers in open, airy panicles on slender, wiry stems to 36” tall. Hardy to Zones 4 - 7. Heucheras are best grown in light shade and partial sun as they tend to bleach out in full sun. Grow in well drained, com...

      Pink Muhly Grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris , is a native 'fave rave' of mine.   You might say it is a 'fave rave nave'.   It is a show stopping plant in the fall with its giant puffs of cotton-candy-pink plumes. Whether in a hedge, border or patio container, this ornamental grass offers unbelievably profuse, feathery blooms amid 4 foot stems and a cascading habit. Give it plenty of sunshine and good soil drainage , and it will do the rest, beautifully withstanding heat, humidity, drought, and poor soil!   Pink Muhly Grass, is an extraordinary ornamental grass plant for many reasons:  from Monrovia Its flower heads appear in the fall as a frothy haze of deep pink. It is low maintenance and virtually pest free. It is deer resistant. Its deep roots makes it a tough, drought tolerant plant suitable for erosion control on slopes and useful in xeriscapes (Although regular i...

Photo by Corbyrobert - Garden of the Gods Big words for simple ideas: ecopsychology, solastalgia, biophilia.... Recently, “solastalgia” has appeared in various places like in an instrumental track called “Solastalgia,” released by the British duo Zero 7 and it was the title of a 2008 album by Slovenian recording artist, Jukeen. In 2010 The New York Times published a great article on this term by Daniel B. Smith (he holds the Critchlow Chair in English at the College of New Rochelle).  I took a lot of info from that article for this blog post.   BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?       Solastalgia  is a global condition affecting indigenous people and urban denizens alike.  Solastalgia is what we feel when we become disconnected from our natural environment due to its impaired state.....or when the natural environment is so changed that we lose connection to it. Solastalgia is "A pain or discomfort caused by t...