For me, there’s nothing like seeing the real thing to learn about plants.
That’s one of the reasons I make visiting botanical gardens, parks and flower shows a high priority when it comes to travel and my free time. Aside from the enjoyment of being outdoors or seeing all the wonderful new combinations, I can see the three-dimensional version of the plants in a natural setting. I can see their real size and color. I can smell, touch and feel the plant.
When I look at the flowers and plants in magazines and catalogs all seem to run together after a while. The photographers make them all just lovely. And how can you really judge color or size in print? Forget about smell.
When I’m visiting a park or garden I will sometimes photograph a particularly striking arrangement with the plan for making a similar arrangement at home or just to add to my photographic idea book.
Here’s an example. On the left is a container arrangement I saw at the Dixon House and Gardens in Memphis last May. I was particularly taken by the holly, primroses and parsley packed into the beautiful pot. The unusual shape of the holly made a dramatic statement in the container arrangement and added some vertical interest.
On the right is a version of the same arrangement I made at home with flowers I found at the local garden center, including a sky pencil holly and some miniature petunias. I didn’t have the fabulous container they had at the Dixon gardens, so a simple terra cotta container had to do.
Could I have gotten such an arrangement idea from a book? Sure. But by actually seeing and copying an existing arrangement, I had a much better idea of the outcome to expect.
I haven’t had nearly the same success with packages of plants sold to create specific effects. White Flower Farm has some spectacular arrangement collections and photographs that make me salivate. They are drop-dead gorgeous. Still, I’m not buying them anymore though because I can never recreate the same effect in my garden. It’s frustrating to spend a lot of money on plants and then be disappointed in the outcome. I’ll save my money for seeds, fabulous pots and plants I can be confident will do well here at Bumblebee.
Of course, not all of the arrangements here at Bumblebee are copies. But I think copycat gardening is a good strategy for learning about plants until you’re ready to fly solo.
Robin
I recall a conversation from years ago with my dear old friend Claudia.
She has just moved into a charming little cottage in the old Ortega section of Jacksonville, Florida. The house was surrounded by old trees and magnificent, mature flowering shrubs. I was completely taken with the place.
I commented to Claudia that I would garden constantly if I lived there. Her response?
“Oh, I love the idea of gardening. But I just don’t want to be outside there all by myself. It would be so lonely!”
SUNFLOWERS AT THE CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN
Although this conversation took place, oh, nearly 10 years ago, it has stuck with me, and occasionally crossed my mind, because the feeling that Claudia expressed is so foreign to my own needs and desires for being with nature.
See, while Claudia yearned for company to enjoy nature, I am more like the legendary Hollywood star.
“I want to be alone.”
When I am indoors, I continually bounce from one activity to the next, multi-tasking between home and office and getting distracted with one thing or another. My mind leaps from one idea to another…
“Need to clean the frig…haven’t heard from that client yet…what am I going to do about that programming issue…should I go to the spinning class tomorrow…oops, need to finish that project schedule…can I deliver that report early…”
The internal chatter is a lightening speed, incessant drone.
When I am working in the garden, that chatter gradually subsides. I become lost in the activity. Minutes at a time go by without my having a single thought other than about what I’m doing with my hands.
And although there is no shortage of work for which I could use an extra pair (or more) of hands, I don’t nag my husband or son to join me in the garden because I just want the company of the wind and the birds. (And little dogs, of course.) When they do join me, we usually work at a distance, all of us lost in our own internal worlds. Happily, they share my desire for quiet time.
So you see, perhaps, why I wasn’t entirely sad to be alone in my visits to some of the country’s most spectacular public gardens this past year—the Phoenix Botanical Garden, the Chicago Botanical Garden, the Denver Botanic Garden and the Dixon House and Gardens, among others. Although part of me would loved to share the experience with my husband or another friend, the selfish part of me was happy to have the gardens to myself.
As I wandered through, I could go at my very own pace, lingering over an unusual combination of primroses and cabbages, admiring the coy in the Japanese garden, sitting under the shade of a well-placed trellis.
I observed many groups of families dutifully trudging along after the more enthusiastic members of their parties. Not all the groups looked entirely happy, I must say. Most of the kids looked bored to tears. Not a few were arguing.
So I was glad not to feel I was holding someone back—or dragging them along on my personal nature adventure. There are certainly times when I enjoy the company. But those visits have a different purpose altogether, and it’s not mostly about nature.
And you? Is nature something you prefer to share?
Robin
According to the Nature Conservancy, fewer Americans are spending time in outdoor activities, which could have a serious impact on our environment.
This was one of the stories on the NBC evening news last night.
The Nature Conservancy conducted research that revealed Americans are spending more time with indoor activities, such as the Internet, electronic games and movies and less time at outdoor activities such as camping, fishing and hiking. In fact, the percentage of the American population enjoying the outdoors is at an all-time low.
Although I haven’t seen the research, my own observations of how people spend their leisure time tells me this is probably true.
The reason this is worrisome is that with fewer people spending less time at nature-based activities, nature will become unappreciated and unexplored. If we learn everything we know about nature from the television, our first-hand understanding and appreciation of the importance of clean air and healthy soil and forests and abundance wildlife is diminished.
It’s interesting, too, that participation in outdoor activities is down at the same time there are record numbers of people who are overweight and obese.
I wonder how many of us consider visiting a local nature park, hiking or going to the seashore among the weekend entertainment options of movies and eating out? I know the last time I suggested a hike to Calvert Cliffs State Park to a friend-who-shall-not-be-named I was met with the “you must be mad” expression. We went to an Indian restaurant instead.
So what do we do to reverse this trend? How can we as individuals encourage outdoor activities, particularly those that respect the environment and encourage conservation efforts?
Robin
