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Painting My World Brightly
May. 3rd, 2011 10:47 amI love flowers. I love their colors, and their shapes, and the sheer enthusiasm that they seem to embody, and I love the tiny delicate detail and the texture of the petals, and in a way I love the fact that they're so transitory - the way you have to enjoy them while they're there, because they won't last forever. I have a tendency to try to save and horde things instead of using them, and flowers are a reminder to me that that strategy doesn't always work as the best way to make yourself and the world happy.
I've never taken on the challenge of flower gardening, though. It's always struck me as an aesthetic challenge that I wasn't sure I was up to - all of the books and guides I've read show these complicated beds laid out with the most exact, particular plants in the most exact, particular places, to make sure they grow properly together to look right and be healthy, and I could never find just what they recommended. So rather than do it wrong and have an aesthetically unpleasant garden, I just kept myself to safe, simple vegetables.
Except... they're flowers. How hard can they be? So over time I gradually dipped my toe in the scary world of ornamental gardens, mostly with help and cuttings from friends, and a handful of non-intimidating bulbs.
Today I have a vase full of daffodils and yellow tulips over my fireplace, cut from my own garden. I feel bad having cut them, but the reminder that I grew these, that I put something bright and joyous in the world, is worth more to me right now than having a perfect row in front of the house. I know it's not a huge accomplishment, but it's pretty spiffy to me. And my lilacs are blooming for the first time, and the lilies of the valley are slowly starting to emerge - I had worried that they wouldn't come back, but apparently they're just late this year.
I can see how this could become seriously habit-forming. I'm already imagining doubling the amount of bulbs in front of the house, and hunting down a few more lilacs, and wondering where I could put more color around the house....
I've never taken on the challenge of flower gardening, though. It's always struck me as an aesthetic challenge that I wasn't sure I was up to - all of the books and guides I've read show these complicated beds laid out with the most exact, particular plants in the most exact, particular places, to make sure they grow properly together to look right and be healthy, and I could never find just what they recommended. So rather than do it wrong and have an aesthetically unpleasant garden, I just kept myself to safe, simple vegetables.
Except... they're flowers. How hard can they be? So over time I gradually dipped my toe in the scary world of ornamental gardens, mostly with help and cuttings from friends, and a handful of non-intimidating bulbs.
Today I have a vase full of daffodils and yellow tulips over my fireplace, cut from my own garden. I feel bad having cut them, but the reminder that I grew these, that I put something bright and joyous in the world, is worth more to me right now than having a perfect row in front of the house. I know it's not a huge accomplishment, but it's pretty spiffy to me. And my lilacs are blooming for the first time, and the lilies of the valley are slowly starting to emerge - I had worried that they wouldn't come back, but apparently they're just late this year.
I can see how this could become seriously habit-forming. I'm already imagining doubling the amount of bulbs in front of the house, and hunting down a few more lilacs, and wondering where I could put more color around the house....
