Category Archives: garden

Apr11

kinder-garden.

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jane

today the kinder saw the space where they will create their garden.

 

—

“why try to explain miracles to your children when you can have them plant a garden?”

-*janet kilburn phillips

*Janet is a gardener who found that she had to employ a growth mindset when she moved to the United States from England. She had previously been creating English cottage gardens but encountered challenges when she tried to grow them in a drastically different climate and in heavy clay soil. After experimenting with her gardens she created a CD called English Cottage Gardening — American Style. She adapted and persevered and found a new way to succeed at something that she loved.

 

 

Mar26

the arts of peace.

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not me, nor my garden

but he and i have similar attitudes

and this warmer weather

really has me wanting to get my garden going

then just stand back

and take it all in. 

(hello to claude monet, at giverny gardens in 1923, perhaps thinking about painting it)

—

“to plant a garden is the chief of the arts of peace.”

~ mary stewart

Aug22

goat in the garden.

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it’s not often that one happens upon a goat riding a bicycle in a garden
but when i did
i knew how i would love to find a goat riding a bicycle in my garden.
—
“ i saw goats. a party can’t be all bad when you have goats,” lucy said.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway,  Persuasion, Captain Wenworth and Cracklin’ Cornbread
Jun6

bursting.

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on the 100th anniversary

of this incredible peony garden

with 270+ varieties

the beauty goes on and on

leaving it impossible to pick a favorite.

 

—

“in june as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day.

no man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.”

-aldo leopold

 

—

w.e. upjohn peony garden, nichols arboretum, ann arbor, mi, usa – june 2022

Apr23

seed sampler.

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what a wonderful collaboration between the library and local seed organizations

once again showing how important a library is to a community

“inside every seed is the potential for an incredible harvest.”

-farrah gray

 

Oct18

deeply.

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“that we find a crystal or a poppy beautiful means that we are less alone,

that we are more deeply inserted into existence than the course of a single life would lead us to believe.”

-john berger

 

 

—

anna scripps whitcomb conservatory, belle isle, detroit, michigan

Oct17

inside out and outside in.

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 entering the anna scripps whitcomb conservatory

designed by albert kahn and george mason in 1904

on belle isle, in detroit, michigan

you realize what an amazing vision of the world they had

“architecture is not such a knowledge form, but a form of knowledge.”

-bernard tschumi

 

Apr28

growth.

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everything is growing and changing

all in their own time

each in their own way

we watch and care for them

soon they will all be something new.

—

“and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” 

― Anais Nin

 

Jul11

may all your weeds be wildflowers.

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imagine my surprise 

when coming home

noticing the landscapers

had mulched and manured and cleaned

my garden

but in doing so

had removed my garden vision

i’ve been nurturing for a while

a huge mix of wildflower seeds

a naturalized garden

most on the cusp of blooming

it was full and lush and green and tall with stems

so full of potential

 the surprise beauty of new flowers

yet to be discovered

 i’m sure they just saw weeds

 were trying to help me by ‘cleaning it up’ 

leaving only what they recognized as flowers

 i so appreciate all of their work

 it’s clear we don’t share the same vision.

 

 

—

“man is the only critter who feels the need to label things as flowers or weeds.”

~author unknown

May27

music amongst the trees.

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a new garden begins

in the first spring

spent at my home

 first things first

a door is decorated

tiny flowers are planted

shells and stones and treasures and glittery things

are scattered

leaving room for more to come 

the fairies are welcome

to visit and stay at their leisure

i’ll listen very quietly.

  • “there is always music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.”

-minnie aumonier