Sunday, April 25, 2010

Thoughts of the Day: e.e. cummings has my heart, and leaping with the greenly spirits of trees...


"I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes."

~ e.e. cummings ~



My beautiful borage, blue
star-
flowered magical herb...


The borage photo above was from my last garden before I moved here in mid-winter. I have planted much more, and am out in the garden most of the these days. I'm not sure how people get by without a garden, for in a garden, as nowhere else, I can commune with nature, with God, with the blue stars of the borage, and the banana tree I am about to plant, currently having been transplanted from a small plant ordered through the mail, one of my favorite trees, more fragrant than is possible to describe. Botanical name: Michelia Figo, it is an ever green shrub that can grow into a 15' tall tree. I once walked into an old-fashioned Southern garden center, and the many year old banana tree was so huge and so full of blossoms I nearly swooned to the ground parked half a block away because the scent was so strong and the butter yellow blossoms filled the air with it's sweet and intense perfume.

I plant for color and fragrance, mainly flowers and herbs, but am just getting into planting more vegetables, heirloom varieties. I want to be more self-sufficient as the years go along. My property comes with a complex sprinkling system that I will not use for the waste of water. I water with my hose just enough to get the plants, seeds, bulbs, and bushes going and growing and then water as seldom as possible to keep things lively and abundant. My gardens have always been, as this one is, lushly planted, old-fashioned cottage gardens, and I take great delight in the whole process from planting seeds, bulbs, and a few tiny perennials as well as cuttings and watching them grow into a magical paradise. I don't mind waiting. Gardeners must be patient. True gardeners are. Few are the plants I will buy, more bulbs and mostly seeds. And on this old property the leaping greenly spirit of trees are everywhere. I keep encountering long planted perennials, shrubs, and more in utter amazement, currently gorgeous irises, roses, an enormous patch of of Verbena Canadensis, also called Rose Verbena or "Creeping Vervain." It is simply stunning.

I plant with pugs and Big Dog Moe wandering all around the garden, safely fenced in with a 6' privacy fence, and have a sketchbook always at the ready. In the next few years I plan to create a garden that goes round and round, a labyrinth design, with many little pockets of secret gardens, and at the center a huge pond with koi and water plants, beautiful lotus flowers, water hyacinths and more. That will be a few years down the road and each stage will be glorious, and fill me with a sense of wonder.

And so here I am, wet, muddy, with, heaven forbid, and though I hosed off well before coming in, a few tiny ants roving about on me. Time to take a shower, put the parrots to bed, and plan for tomorrow when a dozen dahlia, 3 confederate roses, four brugmansia in different colors, or "Angel's Trumpets," with their long, fragrant, pendulous bells perfuming the whole garden and stunning to look at, not to mention the 3 giant bulbs, the crinums, my favorite variety, the "Milk and Wine" white and pink striped stunning old fashioned lilies.

Oh-Oh-Oh.... and I have to tell you, when you work in a garden in a new yard you have no idea what treasures that you've never heard of might come up. Between the Magic Ship and the lime green and pink garden shed, in what I call "The Flamingo Woods," I found the most dazzling flowers all over the ground. They are tulip shaped, a gorgeous yellow, and on each petal it looked like a painter had whisked a brushstroke of bright orange. I spent a full hour searching for trees indigenous to North Carolina and finally I found it. I have been in such a state over these flowers and that they are in my very own yard that I gently washed two flowers and have them floating in a wine glass. I can't stop looking at them. The tree is Liriodendron tulipifera ... commonly called a Tulip Tree, tulip poplar, yellow poplar or whitewood. Just look at these flowers! I'm telling you, you need to get out in your own back yard if you haven't and really study the trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and anything that grows where you are. It's part of the magic of nature. The greenly spirit of one of my trees has gorgeous yellow flowers. I can't wait to discover other wonders out there.

Now you know why I don't have much time to write here just now. I'm out scrounging around in the overgrowth and the woods searching for new discoveries and nature's wonders. I feel so blessed.

Happy Nature Hunting to one and all,

Maitri with yellow tulip tree blossoms sitting right next to me, glowing under the light...

2 comments:

Jen said...

Your garden sounds so lovely. I have been planting perenials since I moved in to my new home a few years ago. Each year the garden is different but it is a labor of love I enjoy so much.

Indelible Bonobo said...

cummings.. rock'n'roll has never been so intimate & sensual

as for gardening, i wish i had the time :)

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