Panhandle Plantings
Gifts from the Garden
In 1898, Elizabeth von Arnim observed “The garden is the place I go to for refuge and shelter . . . out there blessings crowd round me at every step.”
New Economy Depression Syndrome (NEDS), Techno Stress – these are the new buzz words for modern life-style induced depression, anxiety, irritability, and exhaustion – resulting from the un-winnable race we’re locked into with e-mail, cell phones, 24-hour news and/or weather, pagers and the like. Add the holiday season to the mix and we’re all doomed – right? Now there are people writing books, advising how to reverse these problems and restore some sanity to life. HA! – gardeners are WAY ahead of this game! As the rest of the world searches for the ways and means of slowing down, let’s consider what our gardens so graciously gift to each of us:
Lack of gardening knowledge or practice – “Gertrude Jekyll wrote, each step in gardening is a step into a “delightful Unknown” and we should never be daunted by “groping ignorance”.” We’re gifted learning – and as we share with other gardeners – teaching and friendship.
Gardening failures – each one a stepping-stone to something better, gifting us humility, patience and perseverance.
Those plants “sturdy and willing enough to flourish” alone, neglected by our lack of discipline, time or care, gift us a sense of gratitude as we enjoy their beauty.
Volunteer plants gift us the recognition of impulse – “that intuitive feel for the flow and rightness of things” – awareness of the dynamics of things that scatter where they please.
Scents gift memories – and the time we take to sit and indulge in our emotional responses.
Weeding, tilling, raking – gift us calorie burning, improving muscle tone and strength. Small scale, personal gardening (puttering) can relieve stress and initiate mental relaxation.
Foul weather - I’ve often commented that I miss the snow and sleet of Northeastern winters. For a gardener they provide the gift of “down time” – no outdoor gardening chores and all the gardening catalogs one would want from which to dream.
Janice Emily Bowers, in “A Garden Like a Life” writes, “The gardens that bloom so beautifully in our minds, the ones where zinnias never die of wilt and summer days are never so hot that delicate leaves turn crisp and brown, these gardens are the Platonic ideal. The gardens we’re actually stuck with, the ones where green beans drop before they’re the size of matchsticks, corn plants topple in thunderstorms, and summer balsam germinates but never blooms, these gardens correspond to real life.”
Merry Christmas and Garden Blessings for 2005.
Val Ford is a Holmes County Master Gardener. If you have a gardening question or problem, contact your local Extension Office or e-mail Val at FLSnowflake7592@aol.com
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