Serenity in the Garden

Just as a forest is connected by an underground fungal network, enabling individual trees to communicate with each other, and can warn each other of danger by releasing chemicals into the air, so are we all connected together deep within, sharing the wisdom and knowing of the Earth, our common home.  And this network is sending us warning signs, that our present way of life is not only unsustainable, but over .  Even when this pandemic comes to an end, we cannot afford to “return to normal” for very long. This present crisis can awaken us to the reality that we need a new way of life, one that is truly sustainable with the Earth and Her “other-than-human” inhabitants.  This virus can be heard as a part of the cry of the Earth—calling to us to change, adapt, awaken from our dream of eternal economic growth,  the nightmare that is destroying so much of Her fragile beauty and wonder. - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee go here for the entire post -   h...

In these times, I look to one of my favorite Shakespare passages. They say being outside is one of the best things you can do to stay healthy. This is so apt for these times -  "Exempt from public haunt" indeed: "Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head; And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." - Shakespeare, As You Like It

"Many gardeners will agree that hand-weeding is not the terrible drudgery that it is often made out to be. Some people find in it a kind of soothing monotony.  It leaves their minds free to develop the plot for their next novel or to perfect the brilliant repartee with which they should have encountered a relative's latest example of unreasonableness.”  ―  Christopher Lloyd ,  The Well-Tempered Garden

I am thrilled to say that I was invited to be one of the 30 book authors signing books this evening in Sharon, CT for the benefit of the Hotchkiss Library there.  Please join us !

Sometimes I find something that makes me so happy - I just read this post which was written several years ago by Kurt Fromherz in his Natureworks blog -  https://naturework.com/jan-johnsen-of-serenity-in-the-garden/ I never know how or if what I write reaches people..and now I know...Thank you so much Kurt Fromherz. Here is what he shared - I am so honored: This winter I made the trek up to snowbound Boston to see a woman speak that I have been following for many years. Jan Johnsen is a garden designer and writer. Her Serenity in the Garden blog caught my eye a long time ago and I fell in love with her posts. When I heard that she had published a new book, Heaven is a Garden, and would be speaking at New England Grows trade show the first week of February, I signed up. She was AMAZING! Her book is all about designing serene outdoor spaces for inspiration and reflection. I read it cover to cover the minute I returned home. I have to admit at times I was moved to tears...

'Milkshake' Coneflower I am a kind word uttered and repeated  By the voice of Nature;  I am a star fallen from the  Blue tent upon the green carpet.  allium by Jan Johnsen I am the daughter of the elements  With whom Winter conceived;  To whom Spring gave birth; I was  Reared in the lap of Summer and I  Slept in the bed of Autumn.  At dawn I unite with the breeze  To announce the coming of light;  At eventide I join the birds  In bidding the light farewell.  NY Botanical Garden - Jan Johnsen The plains are decorated with  My beautiful colors, and the air  Is scented with my fragrance.  As I embrace Slumber the eyes of  Night watch over me, and as I  Awaken I stare at the sun, which is  The only eye of the day.  Profusion zinnias - Jan Johnsen I drink dew for wine, and hearken to  The voices of the birds, and danc...

Love the earth and sun and the animals. Despise riches, give alms to every one that asks.  Stand up for the stupid and crazy. Devote your income and labor to  others... Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.” ― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

On June 8, 2019 the NY Botanical Garden will open their new exhibit dedicated to Roberto Burle Marx! I visited it this week in a preview and it is spectacular!  You have to see it - #plantlove The centerpiece of Burle Marx show at #NYBG I wrote this a few years ago and feel it is the perfect time to share this post again: Roberto Burle Marx Roberto Burle Marx  (1909-1994) was my idol when I studied landscape architecture at the University of Hawaii in the 1970s: he worked with tropical plants and was trained in painting. I loved that Burle Marx painted every morning before attending to his design practice and that he said he 'painted his gardens'. tablecloth design by Burle Marx  He also asserted that the creation of a garden was 'an attempt to regain a lost paradise'. I could not agree more! Flamengo park Burle Marx's grasp of pattern was one of his signature features.  His bold use of color and shape captured the Br...

Boscobel Heaven is home.  Utopia is here . Nirvana is now.  - Edward Abbey

(Jan Johnsen - angelonia, vinca and dusty miller)     Annual flowers - those that bloom all summer into late fall then give it up for good - are the secret to a joyful and colorful garden.  I know people think planting annual flowers take too much work in spring but I say, "go ahead, try it! The rewards in your garden continue into the late fall." (Jan Johnsen - profusion zinnias, marigolds,salvia, plectranthus) Colorful annual flowers make us happy, enrich our lives and then sometimes take our breath away, to boot. (Jan Johnsen - coleus, plectranthus,angelonia, and more) I know all about annual flowers because after graduating college (landscape architecture focus) decades ago, I went to work in the display gardens at  MOHONK MT. HOUSE   in New Paltz, NY.  I was not very happy about the situation because back then, in Landscape architecture school, flowers were not popular. In fact, not even considered! I thought fl...