I confess: I enjoy slow mornings!
I always was more of a night owl than an early bird- and who wants worms anyway?- not an enticing expression! And sometimes, these slow mornings even come with insights.
Like today where I after my second cup of coffee looked out and noticed, Really noticed the flowers in the backyard: I was struck by how these flowers in all their beautiful shades and hues don’t follow a pattern, or an overall color scheme, at all.
You would think I would have noticed earlier but this garden has grown quiet organically from adding to what was here before. This is what I saw:
The Silver Mound plant that started out so tiny and timid last year is now almost halfway down the slope spreading its delicate foliage in a quiet silvery green avalanche as it covers up more and more of the multi-colored rocks by the waterfall.
Purple-leafed Coral Bells strut and sing to apple-green and red-brown Sweet Potato vines. Glowing Petunias show off their soft and magnificent magenta dresses; the Butterfly bush is blushing in pink and the orange Lilies practically roar in that second chakra color. Delicate strawberry-red and white Double Impatiens gather the chartreuse foliage of a couple of Creeping Jennies protectively around their feet. Purple Alyssum and silver Sage thrive along with almost-done-blooming-pale-pink Chives, and Basil struts with fresh green deliciousness. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme share space with Snapdragon, Wort-root and Jenny, the little Creep, in the herb patch right off the barn-red deck. A velvety red Lily glows next to cool blue Hostas and red-orange Hibiscus and pink Roses seem to enjoy each others company, although at a distance!
Ha! Nothing fits into an overall color scheme here. Nope.
In this Pinterest Perfect world with insecurity inducing HGTV available 24/7 such a perfectly imperfect garden is not the norm here in Suburbia.
Over the years I have planted so many gardens and when I was younger and didn’t trust my own inner garden sense I sought advice from ‘Experts’.
However, here I see a multi-colored symphony of flowers in my garden, even if it is a cacophony to a decorator. I smile- wherever I look, my eyes take delight in the interplay of colors. I sense a deep joy- a joy that has come from years of working with color and taking chances- which is why I always tell my art students to experiment and expand.
This joy is real.
So here is the insight I had:
This is the garden of a woman who has given herself permission! Permission to play, and permission to enjoy. Somewhere along the lines I stopped caring about matching and harmonizing and following rules.
That’s how this “Country Garden meets Unplanned Nature with a tinge of European Boho” garden happened! And that is the story of how my garden gently told me that I as I grow older I have not just grown my carbon footprint; I have grown in appreciation of color and of life, no longer bound and determined to sort and make sense; but finding joy in what IS. And in color.
I love growing older! I think it was David Bowie who described it as a process of becoming more of who you always were.
How about you?
What is changing in your inner garden as you grow? How do you find that you trust yourself more?
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