It's rare someone changes my mind, and getting their result includes 'more' money, time, effort.
.
Deborah Silver is the florist of planting outdoor pots. She changed my mind.
.
Prior to Deborah I was content to not plant my pots, just as the Queen, and Queen Mother, did not plant their pots. Once I saw their royal pots I knew, A Pot Must Be So Wonderful It Can Remain Empty. Dubbed, The Queen's Pot.
.
Then comes Deborah. Queen of Pots, 2.0 .
.
More. Worse? Deborah makes me want to plant my pots during an 'off' season, fall.
.
.
More than 'pretty', Deborah's pots share her exuberance for life, in each permutation.
.
.
For years she's shared her seasonal pots, and how to create them.
.
.
These pots, all above/below, use the shape of the pot, with the shape of their 'arrangements'. Creating a new florist arena.
.
.
By now, your eye, studying Deborah's pots, has already noted, I'm sure, it's not specific plants she uses, but their shapes, colors, and contrasts to each other, along with scale, form, flow.
.
.
Perhaps the best ingredient in all of the pots, above/below, is the element of pure FUN.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Why are Deborah's pots so incredible? At their core, is a transcendence.
.
.
.
My eyes are already calibrated to hunting/gathering phase for pot planting. Of course my eyes are calibrated to Deborah's instructions.
.
Thought you would like to have the same fun too.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
More fall pots from Deborah Silver, here.
.
Fall pots Deborah Silver's team made, to her specifications, with their own freedom, here.
.
No, this is not a sponsored post !
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Monday, September 30, 2019
Simplicity is the Best Garden Design
Tasha Tudor chose one of the most powerful quotes, as the sign off to her letter writing, Take Joy.
.
Take Joy.
.
Did you get it? Had you already had the epiphany?
.
Doesn't seem possible. Yet it's true. Joy is always present. 'Take', is up to you.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Green Meatballs have irritated me for decades, then this, above. How could I not laugh? Apparently I adore green boxes and wedges.
.
Recognize the stone path, above ? Variation of the centuries old stone wheelbarrow paths.
.
Hint of Tara Turf, above, too. Meadows of Tara Turf, pure pollinator habitat. Tara Turf under fruit trees historically named, guilds.
Pic, above, here.
.
Evergreens/trees, meadow, home, above/below. Relationships. Core connections. House to garden, garden to Nature, us to garden, Nature to us.
.
At the front end, decades ago, I could not be this simple, above/below. Not for me, I was still too special, knew so little, thought I knew something. Now, the garden, above, reeks of sacred & scientific wisdom. A gift from centuries of the best minds. In conversation with us, if we'll listen.
.
Simple? I see layers of complexity, above. At the front end, for years, I saw none of the complexity. Complexity? Aka, layers of riches.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Squished smaller, the meadow, below, is a brick terrace. Variations on a theme.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
In all seasons, below, these gardens delight. Design your garden for February, and you've designed it for all year. No matter the style of your design.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Aside from natural affinities of placement, house to meadow, house to hedges, house to allees, which reign, I assess an odd secondary reigning power. Furniture. Where do you want to sit, where do you want to eat, where do you want to visit with friends, where do you want to nap, where do you want to read....?
.
Aside from the bonuses of complexity with gardening simply, these are the gardens going full measure, into age, theirs and yours, and into the Great Beyond*. "Three chords, and truth.", as they described early Country music.
.
If you aren't sure about a garden this 'simple' it's apparent, they allow you to fill in, to a greedy heart's content, with flowers/flowers/flowers. Begin with flowers/flowers/flowers, please do. It's how I get the majority of my clients.
.
Simplicity of these gardens is a liturgy of Nature, if you see their complexity. Nothing we have to do, everything done by Nature, for us.
.
"Nothing is ever solved. Solving is an illusion. There are moments of spontaneous brightness, when the mind appears emancipated, but that is mere epiphany." Patti Smith
.
And I've been the epiphany hunter, for decades, in my garden.
.
"There’s no hierarchy. That’s the miracle of a triangle. No top, no bottom, no taking sides. Take away the tags of the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and replace each with love. See what I mean? Love. Love. Love. Equal weight encompassing the whole of so called spiritual existence." Patti Smith
.
And I've broken layers of Garden Design into trinities, for decades.
.
"Just negotiating zones. No rules. No change. But then everything eventually changes. It’s the way of the world. Cycles of death and resurrection, but not always in the way we imagine." Patti Smith
.
And I've had decades with little change. Saturday, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, a World Heritage Site, coming back, Beloved asked which way I wanted to go. Another highway or the Blue Ridge Parkway again. Depths within answered, "What is first will be last, and what is last will be first." Oddly, Beloved got it & he's not normally Metaphor Man.
.
Benediction, returning, along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
.
“The grounds for hope are in the shadows, in the people who are inventing the world while no one looks, who themselves don’t know yet whether they will have any effect…” Rebecca Solnit
.
Hope is like joy, it's always there, if we take.
“You too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.” Mary Oliver
.
We have great help along the way, with unseen partners, heroes, liberators, teachers, lovers, and none must necessarily be human. Gardens do this. Whether you think so or not.
.
For better and worse, growing up, my dad was an engineer, part of a team of 50 great engineers first to put man on the moon. Will never forget something he said about electricity, "We know how to use electricity, but we don't know what it is."
.
His lone sentence, about electricity, informs beyond its basics, if you take it to.
.
Recently, discovering trees use electrical current, no different than we have pulsing in our brain or heart, to communicate, I knew, finally, my communicating with gardens wasn't merely feel-good-mumbo-jumbo, nor one-way. Science caught up, to what Garden Whisperers have understood from birth.
.
"Yes, trees are the foundation of forests, but a forest is much more than what you see… Underground there is this other world — a world of infinite biological pathways that connect trees and allow them to communicate and allow the forest to behave as though it’s a single organism. It might remind you of a sort of intelligence." Suzanne Simard
.
.
A hoot, thinking back in college Horticulture would be rather safe from new discoveries. Dunce hat thinking.
.
Earlier this month Beloved & I went to Brasstown Bald, highest elevation in Georgia. After touring the museum, I debated speaking to the Ranger about the museum's outdated 'science' of flora in the region.
.
You know I did.
.
Ranger's face was frozen at 90 mph wind force. And I had mentally prearranged my delivery manner to him in advance. So. You watch the TED film about how Trees Communicate, tell me how it goes ............................................................................................................
My little story about driving the Blue Ridge Parkway earlier? First time to be in a true forest, after seeing this TED talk, above. Changes everything. How clueless we must be about so much more upon this Earth.
.
Thank you to everyone keeping up with Beloved. His procedure with chemo beads into the liver cancer zone went well. His liver transplant was delayed a year due to the prostate cancer. He must be clear of prostate cancer recurrence for a year due to immunosuppressants given after transplant. Those drugs make any cancer grow minimum 10x faster.
.
We're considering this year a sweet spot of time. And it already is.
........................................................................................................................................
* Leonard Cohen.....and the Great Beyond, below.
.
Take Joy.
.
Did you get it? Had you already had the epiphany?
.
Doesn't seem possible. Yet it's true. Joy is always present. 'Take', is up to you.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Green Meatballs have irritated me for decades, then this, above. How could I not laugh? Apparently I adore green boxes and wedges.
.
Recognize the stone path, above ? Variation of the centuries old stone wheelbarrow paths.
.
Hint of Tara Turf, above, too. Meadows of Tara Turf, pure pollinator habitat. Tara Turf under fruit trees historically named, guilds.
Pic, above, here.
.
Evergreens/trees, meadow, home, above/below. Relationships. Core connections. House to garden, garden to Nature, us to garden, Nature to us.
.
At the front end, decades ago, I could not be this simple, above/below. Not for me, I was still too special, knew so little, thought I knew something. Now, the garden, above, reeks of sacred & scientific wisdom. A gift from centuries of the best minds. In conversation with us, if we'll listen.
.
Simple? I see layers of complexity, above. At the front end, for years, I saw none of the complexity. Complexity? Aka, layers of riches.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Squished smaller, the meadow, below, is a brick terrace. Variations on a theme.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
In all seasons, below, these gardens delight. Design your garden for February, and you've designed it for all year. No matter the style of your design.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Aside from natural affinities of placement, house to meadow, house to hedges, house to allees, which reign, I assess an odd secondary reigning power. Furniture. Where do you want to sit, where do you want to eat, where do you want to visit with friends, where do you want to nap, where do you want to read....?
.
Aside from the bonuses of complexity with gardening simply, these are the gardens going full measure, into age, theirs and yours, and into the Great Beyond*. "Three chords, and truth.", as they described early Country music.
.
If you aren't sure about a garden this 'simple' it's apparent, they allow you to fill in, to a greedy heart's content, with flowers/flowers/flowers. Begin with flowers/flowers/flowers, please do. It's how I get the majority of my clients.
.
Simplicity of these gardens is a liturgy of Nature, if you see their complexity. Nothing we have to do, everything done by Nature, for us.
.
"Nothing is ever solved. Solving is an illusion. There are moments of spontaneous brightness, when the mind appears emancipated, but that is mere epiphany." Patti Smith
.
And I've been the epiphany hunter, for decades, in my garden.
.
"There’s no hierarchy. That’s the miracle of a triangle. No top, no bottom, no taking sides. Take away the tags of the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and replace each with love. See what I mean? Love. Love. Love. Equal weight encompassing the whole of so called spiritual existence." Patti Smith
.
And I've broken layers of Garden Design into trinities, for decades.
.
"Just negotiating zones. No rules. No change. But then everything eventually changes. It’s the way of the world. Cycles of death and resurrection, but not always in the way we imagine." Patti Smith
.
And I've had decades with little change. Saturday, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, a World Heritage Site, coming back, Beloved asked which way I wanted to go. Another highway or the Blue Ridge Parkway again. Depths within answered, "What is first will be last, and what is last will be first." Oddly, Beloved got it & he's not normally Metaphor Man.
.
Benediction, returning, along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
.
“The grounds for hope are in the shadows, in the people who are inventing the world while no one looks, who themselves don’t know yet whether they will have any effect…” Rebecca Solnit
.
Hope is like joy, it's always there, if we take.
“You too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.” Mary Oliver
.
We have great help along the way, with unseen partners, heroes, liberators, teachers, lovers, and none must necessarily be human. Gardens do this. Whether you think so or not.
.
For better and worse, growing up, my dad was an engineer, part of a team of 50 great engineers first to put man on the moon. Will never forget something he said about electricity, "We know how to use electricity, but we don't know what it is."
.
His lone sentence, about electricity, informs beyond its basics, if you take it to.
.
Recently, discovering trees use electrical current, no different than we have pulsing in our brain or heart, to communicate, I knew, finally, my communicating with gardens wasn't merely feel-good-mumbo-jumbo, nor one-way. Science caught up, to what Garden Whisperers have understood from birth.
.
"Yes, trees are the foundation of forests, but a forest is much more than what you see… Underground there is this other world — a world of infinite biological pathways that connect trees and allow them to communicate and allow the forest to behave as though it’s a single organism. It might remind you of a sort of intelligence." Suzanne Simard
.
From Brain Pickings, "Simard, whose research was foundational to German forester Peter Wohlleben’s wildly popular book The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate, discusses her work and the improbable path that led her to it in her wonderful full-length TED talk: "
If you have no time now, mental mark to watch later. Stunning.Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
A hoot, thinking back in college Horticulture would be rather safe from new discoveries. Dunce hat thinking.
.
Earlier this month Beloved & I went to Brasstown Bald, highest elevation in Georgia. After touring the museum, I debated speaking to the Ranger about the museum's outdated 'science' of flora in the region.
.
You know I did.
.
Ranger's face was frozen at 90 mph wind force. And I had mentally prearranged my delivery manner to him in advance. So. You watch the TED film about how Trees Communicate, tell me how it goes ............................................................................................................
My little story about driving the Blue Ridge Parkway earlier? First time to be in a true forest, after seeing this TED talk, above. Changes everything. How clueless we must be about so much more upon this Earth.
.
Thank you to everyone keeping up with Beloved. His procedure with chemo beads into the liver cancer zone went well. His liver transplant was delayed a year due to the prostate cancer. He must be clear of prostate cancer recurrence for a year due to immunosuppressants given after transplant. Those drugs make any cancer grow minimum 10x faster.
.
We're considering this year a sweet spot of time. And it already is.
........................................................................................................................................
* Leonard Cohen.....and the Great Beyond, below.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
More Than You Want to Know About Starting Your Garden Design
What type Garden Design survives, centuries, in gardens?
.
Easy trinity, with limitless permutations; Wild Wood, Meadow, Stone Focal Point.
.
Meadow, Urn, Hedge, below. Classical trivium of Garden Design. A structure for adding more layers, if desired.
.
Used at the front end of Garden Design it is a manner of thought toward your personal lifestyle, preferably, one you've chosen to make you a better person, at a minimum, a happier person. Within the larger context of stewardship toward Nature.
.
Your choice.
.
"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." Viktor E. Frankl, Holocaust survivor.
Pic, above, here.
.
Once I discovered what type of gardens survive for centuries, after studying historic gardens across Europe, it became obvious how to start a garden. Start a garden with how it will end. 'It matters how we arrive at our ideas.'
.
The classical trivium turned thought & writing into logic, grammar, rhetoric. This isn't too small, for garden design, you can add more later. With the classical trivium you are 'imparted the 7 liberal arts of classical antiquity.'
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Going beyond the classical trivium, above. Easy to see, removing flowers, the garden becomes its end state quickly, meadow, hedge/wildwood, stone focal point. (Labeling the garden in design terms, above, canopy, understory, walls, floors, focal point.)
.
It's important to have the language for a garden, to create one. It's important to have the history for a garden, to create one. It's important to have the logic for a garden, to create one. You realize this isn't about your garden. It's choices about your life. God almighty first created a garden. We all ate that apple. No choice in the matter, I want back in the garden.
.
Having the vocabulary to design a garden lets your mind "...collect and analyze information and to draw conclusions based on that information; it demands self-discipline and instills virtue (the ability to do what is right despite one's baser inclinations); it produces.........think, understand, solve problems and follow through on a wide range of interests. It requires a student to examine moral and ethical issues. A classical education is multi-cultural in the best sense of the word. Because it takes history as its organizing principle, students learn the place of their lives, families, and communities in the broad landscape of human existence and achievement. It imparts skills and passion for thinking and learning that allow a person to teach herself for the rest of her life. Classical education is systematic and rigorous; it has purpose, goals, and a method to reach those goals." Noval Classical, from here.
.
This is more than you wanted, but have included it, aside from living it, because it is how George Washington gardened, and garden designed. More than agricultural, more than elegance, he gardened to show his political, educational, and religious beliefs. Born into a slave holding family, what was the impetus George Washington had, to free all his slaves?
.
Slaves in America are part of historic garden study. In Europe, for too many eras they had subsistence workers. Ignorant, I had to ask a head-gardener what that meant, "They worked for food. No pay, no housing, no clothing given. At the end of the day they return into the woods." Serfs were another layer of garden labor, not technically slaves, they worked for the manor house, were given a plot of land for their own to work, and could take those earnings, yet were not free to move about, they had to be granted permission to leave a manor's employ, which was not a given.
.
End of serfdom coincided with the bubonic plague. So many were killed, there were few left to work the fields. Finally, after the plague, workers were paid for their labor. And, allowed freedom to move about.
.
Historic gardens, which truly flourished after the plague, ca. 1400, took another turn after WWI, so many were killed the grand estates did not have enough laborers to keep their properties up to prior WWI standards. This is when 'my' trinity of historic gardens appeared. WWII was the macro end of agrarian gardens, and beginning of industrialized landscapes we have today.
.
Industrialized landscaping parallels, unfortunately, global factory farming of livestock. Won't go further into that realm here beyond noting George Washington's gardening choices, and life choices.
.
In the garden, beyond making design choices based upon a trivium, choosing to engage the brain in addition to body, spirit & community, there is the garden itself, with some life forces equal to ours. At times, appearing sentient, perhaps behaving with sentience.
.
Does the neo-sentience of a garden affect our thought processes when in our garden, or woodland, or fields & streams?
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
How do you like History, thru my Garden prism?
.
From the Mount Vernon website, below.
Washington was not the only Virginian to make provisions to free his slaves during this period. In 1782, toward the end of the American Revolution, the Virginia legislature made it legal for slave holders to manumit their slaves, without a special action of the governor and council.
.
Easy trinity, with limitless permutations; Wild Wood, Meadow, Stone Focal Point.
.
Meadow, Urn, Hedge, below. Classical trivium of Garden Design. A structure for adding more layers, if desired.
.
Used at the front end of Garden Design it is a manner of thought toward your personal lifestyle, preferably, one you've chosen to make you a better person, at a minimum, a happier person. Within the larger context of stewardship toward Nature.
.
Your choice.
.
"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." Viktor E. Frankl, Holocaust survivor.
Pic, above, here.
.
Once I discovered what type of gardens survive for centuries, after studying historic gardens across Europe, it became obvious how to start a garden. Start a garden with how it will end. 'It matters how we arrive at our ideas.'
.
The classical trivium turned thought & writing into logic, grammar, rhetoric. This isn't too small, for garden design, you can add more later. With the classical trivium you are 'imparted the 7 liberal arts of classical antiquity.'
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Going beyond the classical trivium, above. Easy to see, removing flowers, the garden becomes its end state quickly, meadow, hedge/wildwood, stone focal point. (Labeling the garden in design terms, above, canopy, understory, walls, floors, focal point.)
.
It's important to have the language for a garden, to create one. It's important to have the history for a garden, to create one. It's important to have the logic for a garden, to create one. You realize this isn't about your garden. It's choices about your life. God almighty first created a garden. We all ate that apple. No choice in the matter, I want back in the garden.
.
Having the vocabulary to design a garden lets your mind "...collect and analyze information and to draw conclusions based on that information; it demands self-discipline and instills virtue (the ability to do what is right despite one's baser inclinations); it produces.........think, understand, solve problems and follow through on a wide range of interests. It requires a student to examine moral and ethical issues. A classical education is multi-cultural in the best sense of the word. Because it takes history as its organizing principle, students learn the place of their lives, families, and communities in the broad landscape of human existence and achievement. It imparts skills and passion for thinking and learning that allow a person to teach herself for the rest of her life. Classical education is systematic and rigorous; it has purpose, goals, and a method to reach those goals." Noval Classical, from here.
.
This is more than you wanted, but have included it, aside from living it, because it is how George Washington gardened, and garden designed. More than agricultural, more than elegance, he gardened to show his political, educational, and religious beliefs. Born into a slave holding family, what was the impetus George Washington had, to free all his slaves?
.
Slaves in America are part of historic garden study. In Europe, for too many eras they had subsistence workers. Ignorant, I had to ask a head-gardener what that meant, "They worked for food. No pay, no housing, no clothing given. At the end of the day they return into the woods." Serfs were another layer of garden labor, not technically slaves, they worked for the manor house, were given a plot of land for their own to work, and could take those earnings, yet were not free to move about, they had to be granted permission to leave a manor's employ, which was not a given.
.
End of serfdom coincided with the bubonic plague. So many were killed, there were few left to work the fields. Finally, after the plague, workers were paid for their labor. And, allowed freedom to move about.
.
Historic gardens, which truly flourished after the plague, ca. 1400, took another turn after WWI, so many were killed the grand estates did not have enough laborers to keep their properties up to prior WWI standards. This is when 'my' trinity of historic gardens appeared. WWII was the macro end of agrarian gardens, and beginning of industrialized landscapes we have today.
.
Industrialized landscaping parallels, unfortunately, global factory farming of livestock. Won't go further into that realm here beyond noting George Washington's gardening choices, and life choices.
.
In the garden, beyond making design choices based upon a trivium, choosing to engage the brain in addition to body, spirit & community, there is the garden itself, with some life forces equal to ours. At times, appearing sentient, perhaps behaving with sentience.
.
Does the neo-sentience of a garden affect our thought processes when in our garden, or woodland, or fields & streams?
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
How do you like History, thru my Garden prism?
.
From the Mount Vernon website, below.
In his will, written several months before his death in December 1799, George Washington left directions for the emancipation of all the slaves that he owned, after the death of Martha Washington.
Of the 317 slaves at Mount Vernon in 1799, 123 individuals were owned by George Washington and were stipulated in Washington's will to be freed upon his wife's death. However, these conditions did not apply to all slaves at Mount Vernon. When Martha Washington's first husband Daniel Parke Custis died without a will, she received a life interest in one-third of his estate, including his slaves. The other two-thirds of the estate went to their children.
Neither George nor Martha Washington could free these dower slaves by law. Upon her death the slaves would revert to the Custis estate and be divided among her grandchildren. By 1799, 153 slaves at Mount Vernon were part of this dower property. Forty more slaves were rented from a neighbor, while another man, Peter Hardiman, was rented from the widow of Martha Washington's son. All these people would eventually return to their owners.
In accordance with state law, George Washington stipulated in his will that elderly slaves or those who were too sick to work were to be supported throughout their lives by his estate. Children without parents, or those whose families were unable to see to their education were to be bound out to masters and mistresses who would teach them reading, writing, and a useful trade, until they were ultimately freed at the age of twenty-five. Washington’s will stated that he took these charges to his executors very seriously: "And I do moreover most pointedly, and most solemnly enjoin it upon my Executors...to see that this clause respecting Slaves, and every part thereof be religiously fulfilled at the Epoch at which it is directed to take place; without evasion, neglect or delay, after the Crops which may then be on the ground are harvested, particularly as it respects the aged and infirm."
In December 1800, Martha Washington signed a deed of manumission for her deceased husband's slaves, a transaction that is recorded in the abstracts of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Court Records. They would finally become free on January 1, 1801.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Agrarian vs. Industrialized vs. You
Gardens begin inside your home. Looking out.
.
Your home is the garden's backdrop.
.
The Agrarian & Pastoral ideal. Idyll. For you. Now. No matter the global industrialized anthropocene stew driving markets, and life.
.
Agrarian. More than sustainable. Regenerative.
.
More than regenerative. Transcendent. "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Marcus Tullius Cicero, Jan. 3, 106 BC - Dec. 7, 43 BC.
.
Why consider Agrarian? Why choose Agrarian? Why be Agrarian though industrialized? Sacred vs. profane, reality vs. grace. The shorthand of Agrarian is unspoken, mostly, but well spoken, from birth, within. "...the division between practical reason and aesthetic understanding is in fact untenable, and that until the relation between the two is re-established they must both remain impoverished." Sir Roger Scruton.
.
His back isn't facing you, below, he's telling you there is a life of transcendence inside. Join us, please come inside.
Pic, above, here.
.
"Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim thru the wood; aim for the chopping block." Annie Dillard.
Pic, above, here.
.
"Hone & spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff." Annie Dillard
Pic, above, here.
.
"You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment." Annie Dillard
.
"If you cultivate a healthy poverty & simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then since the world is in fact 'planted' in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days." Annie Dillard.
.
Understand what the back of his robe is saying, top pic, this is Nature's gift, telling us the stories of life. Nothing less than your life, in all its fullness.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
I take no credit for this deep need for Agrarian gardens, it came unbidden. Since age 3, I knew. Didn't know what I knew, no words, adults certainly weren't talking about the things 'I knew'. More, I've always known I work for 'Tara', known I had a lane of my own. Thought everyone had the same. Amusing what we get right, what we get wrong, oblivious to both in error at times.
.
Your home is the garden's backdrop.
.
The Agrarian & Pastoral ideal. Idyll. For you. Now. No matter the global industrialized anthropocene stew driving markets, and life.
.
Agrarian. More than sustainable. Regenerative.
.
More than regenerative. Transcendent. "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Marcus Tullius Cicero, Jan. 3, 106 BC - Dec. 7, 43 BC.
.
Why consider Agrarian? Why choose Agrarian? Why be Agrarian though industrialized? Sacred vs. profane, reality vs. grace. The shorthand of Agrarian is unspoken, mostly, but well spoken, from birth, within. "...the division between practical reason and aesthetic understanding is in fact untenable, and that until the relation between the two is re-established they must both remain impoverished." Sir Roger Scruton.
.
His back isn't facing you, below, he's telling you there is a life of transcendence inside. Join us, please come inside.
Pic, above, here.
.
"Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim thru the wood; aim for the chopping block." Annie Dillard.
Pic, above, here.
.
"Hone & spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff." Annie Dillard
Pic, above, here.
.
"You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment." Annie Dillard
.
"If you cultivate a healthy poverty & simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then since the world is in fact 'planted' in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days." Annie Dillard.
.
Understand what the back of his robe is saying, top pic, this is Nature's gift, telling us the stories of life. Nothing less than your life, in all its fullness.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
I take no credit for this deep need for Agrarian gardens, it came unbidden. Since age 3, I knew. Didn't know what I knew, no words, adults certainly weren't talking about the things 'I knew'. More, I've always known I work for 'Tara', known I had a lane of my own. Thought everyone had the same. Amusing what we get right, what we get wrong, oblivious to both in error at times.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
A Surprise Wedding
Beloved & I were married on a boat on the St. John's River in DeBary, FL, Valentines Day, 2019. Last second, and perfect.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Early 2010 I met Beloved at a jobsite, he was the contractor, I had drawn the landscape. When my client set up the meeting, she said it was mainly for me to meet him, and make sure, "You keep him in his place." She had worked with him at another property, liked his work, but knew my plan would be a bit different for him. Agrarian, historic, regenerative, today's Modern.
.
Our 'Chapel', above, here.
.
We had a good year working together professionally at that site, and others. My longtime contractor, David Stevens had died, good contractors in my industry are tough to find, for the types of gardens I create, the new modern agrarian. Landscape contractors make more money with formulaic industrialized landscapes, and their maintenance contract. My gardens are beyond sustainable, (why aim low?), my gardens are regenerative.
.
After yet another working dinner, we were pouring a driveway early next morning for a client, Beloved threw a Hail Mary. He kissed me. More, during the kiss he asked me to marry him. Until that moment, he had been the perfect gentleman. Me, shocked much?
.
A small town boy, I had experienced Beloved's manner with his employees, clients, vendors, and subcontractors for almost a year, with respect. Always appreciating his professionalism towards me.
.
Remember, Love American Style?
.
Pic, above, here.
.
It was my turn to move fast. Told him, immediately after that nice Hail Mary kiss, my life was beyond full, and there would be no 'fireworks' until that fullness deflated. He could walk-on-by, or wait.
.
Almost a full decade has passed since Beloved's 1st kiss. There is something I will miss from those years, his proposals. We had a consultation job in Silicone Valley, on acreage, he proposed during a lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. Our table overlooked a tiny marina with 6-8 commercial fishing boats. Took most of lunch to realize the full expanse of the Golden Gate Bridge was just beyond. Boom, proposal.
.
Key West, yep, proposal. Galveston Bay, where I grew up, of course, a proposal. Coast of Maine, proposal. Destin, FL, proposal. Lake Burton, GA, under a seemingly full Milky Way, proposal. Flying over Cuba, proposal. Jamaica, proposal. Lake Erie, proposal. Niagara Falls, proposal. Pittsburgh, Duquesne Incline, proposal. Moultrie, Georgia, proposal. The High Line Garden, New York City, a proposal. Jekyll Island, Georgia, proposal. More of course, then last December the oddest proposal, but still a surprise, in a parking lot, about to eat at our favorite local Italian restaurant at Lake Oconee. This time I scared Beloved. I said, "Yes, and let's put a date on it."
.
Weeks passed, and Feb. 1st he said we needed to get serious about a wedding, or it would be another year. He asked me in all the world where would I like to get married. The pontoon boat Eco Tour of the St. Johns River we had taken a year earlier had been like entering a hologram from a diorama at the American Museum of Natural History. But better, it was being part of God's majesty. Too rare those moments, in our industrialized world.
Wedding Reception, above, The Swamp House.
.
With less than 2 weeks putting the wedding together, the boat was full. We hired the boat, Eco Tours, for the normal 2 hour river & wildlife tour. We chose to be married at the 1 hour point. Eight minutes into the boat ride, a huge alligator was sunning himself at river's edge. He clocked in at least 100 years old, indicated by his size. What a thrill, best wedding ever, at only 8 minutes.
.
Manatees, birds, turtles, perfect weather, etc. On the boat, below, the preacher began the vows with Beloved. Until that point everything had been perfect. As Beloved began reciting his vows, tears streamed down his cheeks. Would I even have a voice for mine? With tears and rough voice I was getting thru my own vows, to Beloved, and made the mistake of looking at our friends filling the pews. Every face had tears.
.
.
We get home, and it was a friend remarking about my choosing the St. Johns River.
.
.
Mario Buatta remarked, during the 80's in House & Garden, that we try to recreate the rooms that first impressed us as a child.
.
He was right, and I'll add, we try to recreate the garden that first impressed us as a child.
.
Why exactly had I chosen the St. Johns River? It's the closest I've seen since 1966 of what it looked like behind my parents house, on Clear Creek, Nassau Bay, TX. Where I played. Nothing had been built yet, it was me and the salt water, marsh, Spanish moss, tropical birds, fish, alligators, scents, the full package, same as the St. Johns River in DeBary, FL.
.
My friend understood my choice, before I did.
.
.
The friend making the remark, owns the garden where I met Beloved, below.
.
.
Her garden is, she already knows, my garden too. Big news about her garden, she doesn't know yet. Happy and proud it's BIG yet wish it weren't quite so big. I've made sure there are legal measures in place to keep this BIG news from getting bigger than she would want. We've got a late morning appointment this Friday to walk her grounds.
.
Pic, above, in the garden where Beloved & I met, and worked.
.
Read in the NYTimes, long ago, "The more we go inward, the more we outwardly connect."
.
Who knew being in gardens, one at a time, across decades, and continents, would connect to so much ? Making a life.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
Thank you for your outpouring of prayers and thoughts and stories. You've fortified me with your own strengths and beliefs in God. Beloved came thru surgery for cancer of the prostate August 1st, pathology report indicating he should now be clear of prostate cancer. He's still exhausted, sore, incisions healing, rather miserable but in joy at the grace of his outcome.
.
They've decided to give him a chemo treatment, beads, for his liver cancer. His liver transplant should take place in 6-8 months.
.
Our friends at home, your generosity of food ministry. Humbling. And friends who have already handled intensive caregiving, your love, hugs, advice, knowing laughter, getting me through.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Early 2010 I met Beloved at a jobsite, he was the contractor, I had drawn the landscape. When my client set up the meeting, she said it was mainly for me to meet him, and make sure, "You keep him in his place." She had worked with him at another property, liked his work, but knew my plan would be a bit different for him. Agrarian, historic, regenerative, today's Modern.
.
Our 'Chapel', above, here.
.
We had a good year working together professionally at that site, and others. My longtime contractor, David Stevens had died, good contractors in my industry are tough to find, for the types of gardens I create, the new modern agrarian. Landscape contractors make more money with formulaic industrialized landscapes, and their maintenance contract. My gardens are beyond sustainable, (why aim low?), my gardens are regenerative.
.
After yet another working dinner, we were pouring a driveway early next morning for a client, Beloved threw a Hail Mary. He kissed me. More, during the kiss he asked me to marry him. Until that moment, he had been the perfect gentleman. Me, shocked much?
.
A small town boy, I had experienced Beloved's manner with his employees, clients, vendors, and subcontractors for almost a year, with respect. Always appreciating his professionalism towards me.
.
Remember, Love American Style?
.
Pic, above, here.
.
It was my turn to move fast. Told him, immediately after that nice Hail Mary kiss, my life was beyond full, and there would be no 'fireworks' until that fullness deflated. He could walk-on-by, or wait.
.
Almost a full decade has passed since Beloved's 1st kiss. There is something I will miss from those years, his proposals. We had a consultation job in Silicone Valley, on acreage, he proposed during a lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. Our table overlooked a tiny marina with 6-8 commercial fishing boats. Took most of lunch to realize the full expanse of the Golden Gate Bridge was just beyond. Boom, proposal.
.
Key West, yep, proposal. Galveston Bay, where I grew up, of course, a proposal. Coast of Maine, proposal. Destin, FL, proposal. Lake Burton, GA, under a seemingly full Milky Way, proposal. Flying over Cuba, proposal. Jamaica, proposal. Lake Erie, proposal. Niagara Falls, proposal. Pittsburgh, Duquesne Incline, proposal. Moultrie, Georgia, proposal. The High Line Garden, New York City, a proposal. Jekyll Island, Georgia, proposal. More of course, then last December the oddest proposal, but still a surprise, in a parking lot, about to eat at our favorite local Italian restaurant at Lake Oconee. This time I scared Beloved. I said, "Yes, and let's put a date on it."
.
Weeks passed, and Feb. 1st he said we needed to get serious about a wedding, or it would be another year. He asked me in all the world where would I like to get married. The pontoon boat Eco Tour of the St. Johns River we had taken a year earlier had been like entering a hologram from a diorama at the American Museum of Natural History. But better, it was being part of God's majesty. Too rare those moments, in our industrialized world.
Wedding Reception, above, The Swamp House.
.
With less than 2 weeks putting the wedding together, the boat was full. We hired the boat, Eco Tours, for the normal 2 hour river & wildlife tour. We chose to be married at the 1 hour point. Eight minutes into the boat ride, a huge alligator was sunning himself at river's edge. He clocked in at least 100 years old, indicated by his size. What a thrill, best wedding ever, at only 8 minutes.
.
Manatees, birds, turtles, perfect weather, etc. On the boat, below, the preacher began the vows with Beloved. Until that point everything had been perfect. As Beloved began reciting his vows, tears streamed down his cheeks. Would I even have a voice for mine? With tears and rough voice I was getting thru my own vows, to Beloved, and made the mistake of looking at our friends filling the pews. Every face had tears.
.
.
We get home, and it was a friend remarking about my choosing the St. Johns River.
.
.
Mario Buatta remarked, during the 80's in House & Garden, that we try to recreate the rooms that first impressed us as a child.
.
He was right, and I'll add, we try to recreate the garden that first impressed us as a child.
.
Why exactly had I chosen the St. Johns River? It's the closest I've seen since 1966 of what it looked like behind my parents house, on Clear Creek, Nassau Bay, TX. Where I played. Nothing had been built yet, it was me and the salt water, marsh, Spanish moss, tropical birds, fish, alligators, scents, the full package, same as the St. Johns River in DeBary, FL.
.
My friend understood my choice, before I did.
.
.
The friend making the remark, owns the garden where I met Beloved, below.
.
.
Her garden is, she already knows, my garden too. Big news about her garden, she doesn't know yet. Happy and proud it's BIG yet wish it weren't quite so big. I've made sure there are legal measures in place to keep this BIG news from getting bigger than she would want. We've got a late morning appointment this Friday to walk her grounds.
.
Pic, above, in the garden where Beloved & I met, and worked.
.
Read in the NYTimes, long ago, "The more we go inward, the more we outwardly connect."
.
Who knew being in gardens, one at a time, across decades, and continents, would connect to so much ? Making a life.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
Thank you for your outpouring of prayers and thoughts and stories. You've fortified me with your own strengths and beliefs in God. Beloved came thru surgery for cancer of the prostate August 1st, pathology report indicating he should now be clear of prostate cancer. He's still exhausted, sore, incisions healing, rather miserable but in joy at the grace of his outcome.
.
They've decided to give him a chemo treatment, beads, for his liver cancer. His liver transplant should take place in 6-8 months.
.
Our friends at home, your generosity of food ministry. Humbling. And friends who have already handled intensive caregiving, your love, hugs, advice, knowing laughter, getting me through.
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