The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other. ~Arthur Rubinstein (unverified)
Slowly, the leaves are beginning to don their autumn cloaks of gold and red. The weeping cherry in the center of the circle garden is the first to turn,
followed by the red leaves of our native oak leaf hydrangea.
Much of the garden has barely begun to change color – the oaks are the last to turn as if they are reluctant to leave summer behind. 
The white blossoms of Hydrangea ‘Limelight’ have softened to a rose-tinged hue 
while other flowers and foliage carry on as if autumn was still a distant dream.
This summer, a former student came to visit us at home and we spent a splendid afternoon together. In the midst of his technology filled life, he had become interested in gardening and asked for a tour of my garden. Bill tagged along and as we strolled through the rose arbor into the lower garden, Bill exclaimed “walking through the arbor, now I understand!”
As I turned to him in puzzlement, he went on to say that he hadn’t walked through the arbor into that part of the garden in a long time, having been content to admire it from the deck while playing his guitar. 
Walking into the garden gave him a completely different perspective of what it meant to stand in the space and be enveloped by it. I was deeply moved by his reaction yet it confirmed what I’ve always believed about a garden – to truly experience it, you need to walk through it, not just look at it. Those of you who garden or who hike in nature surely know this difference.
By bringing a soulful consciousness to gardening, sacred space can be created outdoors. ~
My garden has developed its own sense of place over the years – while I made the design decisions, tilled the soil, and filled it with plants, it was in partnership with nature. The garden and I evolved and grew together – I learned its many secrets, it responded to my care and now we are deeply intertwined in this long standing friendship. 
This is where I’ve walked every day for the past 22 years, listening, paying attention, and finding delight. Joined in this quiet endeavor, our efforts have yielded both beauty and bounty in every season. Each time I step through an arbor, walk along a path, cradle a flower, or watch a spider weave an intricate web, I feel a part of the magic. 
. . . the ideal space must contain elements of magic, serenity, sorcery and mystery. ~Luis Barragan, Mexican architect
A few weeks ago, I taught a garden design class and decided that the best way to teach the value of structure in a garden was to make a short video of the entrances of my garden through every season. As I was putting it together, I realized these entrances are really the invitation to enter into the garden.
A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy. ~Luis Barragan
As the seasons change, I hope each of you finds serenity and joy in the nuances and beauty of nature.
composerinthegarden 
I smiled at Bill’s eureka moment. You’re so right, gardens are a different animal entirely when they’re experienced up close. And there’s something so visceral about walking through an arch. One’s body senses it – I think it’s a very old, primitive feeling we humans have. It could be a mini birth. Whatever the derivation, I can begin to feel it in the places in your video where the camera glides through an arch.
And it’s good to hear that you’re doing garden workshops! Enjoy the season!
Oh Lynn, I totally agree with you about walking through an arch – I think of it as crossing a liminal space. I got married outside on my parent’s farm and they set up an arch in a grove of plum trees as a backdrop to the ceremony. It looked so magical that on the morning of the wedding, my maid of honor and I had a long conversation about whether we should walk through it and see if we ended up in another world – neither of us walked through it!
What a great memory that is, thanks for sharing it. 🙂
Lynn, you have such a photogenic garden. You capture the light so well. Lovely video- a delight to watch. Glad to see you visit The Middle-Sized Garden too!
Thank you Richard – I actually designed the garden to be photogenic 🙂 I’ve taught a class on creating a photogenic garden and when I moved here, I tried to follow my own advice! I love the Middle-Sized Garden – great advice and ideas.
Beautiful!
Thank you!
“Those of you who garden or who hike in nature surely know this difference.”
Truer words have never been written. The impact of BEING, rather than just OBSERVING, is incalculable, and virtually indescribable.
Beautiful video, not incidentally, Lynn. As always, Pixie is a wonderful tour guide.
I thought of you as I was writing this, Kerry – you always bring a place you are photographing alive with your descriptions as well as your photos and I feel as if I am traveling with you. Your BEING in those places is clearly expressed through your beautiful images.
Miss Pixie is such a joyful little character, isn’t she? I love sharing her presence in the garden – she loves being in it as much as I do. 🙂
Such a joy to hear music in a garden like yours. I enjoy walking through our garden, especially in the early morning and evening. Just as you say, over time a garden becomes a close friend. Best wishes
Thank you, Gerrie! Isn’t wonderful to have a friendship with your garden? So glad you feel the same 🙂
The video and the garden are both very fine productions.
Thank you tootlepedal – the process of woking on both is dear to my heart.
Inspiring garden! Applause to the gardener.
Thank you so much Judy!
This is absolutely incredible!! I love seeing your garden this way, and I see Pixie loves it too!!
So beautiful!!
Oh Lori, thank you! Pixie is my little movie star, I didn’t realize how regularly she runs to the garden entrance with me in every season until I put this together – I’m so lucky to have her.
Absolutely exquisite garden, photos and commentary. So “immediate” I can almost smell the fertile earth and taste the moistened of a morning dewfall in your garden.
Oh, thanks so much Babsje! If I accomplished all of that, I am delighted – sharing the experience of the garden is a joy 🙂
Beautiful, Lynn! I bet your video inspired those gardeners to create their own sacred spaces to travel with through the rounded year. How lovely of Bill to be aware of the change energy he experienced entering the garden. The arbor truly marks a magical space you’ve created, a portal to a different world altogether.
Wasn’t Bill’s reaction interesting? I do think of the arbors not only as good garden structure but as an invitation to enter through a liminal space – they certainly loom large in my imagination, and portal is another good term for the same idea. I hope I inspired those gardeners – it certainly was fun to teach again. 🙂 Have a wonderful flow of seasons in your garden this year, Kitty – may you be blessed with better weather.
Thanks again for another beautifully composed garden video. The beauty of all seasons, although each different in its appearance, does remind me of the beauty of our lives in different seasons. Thanks so much. Best to you and Bill.
Graham, so wonderful to have you stop by. Yes indeed, the seasons of nature surely echoes the seasons of our lives, thank you for making that connection.
I couldn’t imagine having a garden like that and NOT visiting it everyday. That close encounter while you move through it awakens all the senses, and it awakens our creative senses too. It’s the perfect complement to a creative life.
Such a perfect description of a garden as the “perfect complement to a creative life”, Bernadette. I couldn’t agree more 🙂
As you noted, looking is good, and experiencing is even better.
Many parts of the world don’t have four seasons, and of those that do, the seasons are usually of unequal length. Where you are, winter can seem to go on forever, just as summer does in Texas.
I debated using that first quote because of its emphasis on 4 seasons when I wanted to just note the changes over any number of seasons. You are so right about the unevenness of length of seasons – when we lived in southern VIrginia, spring and fall were very long (and beautiful), summer was hot but only 3 months long and winter was extremely short and snow was rare. I was delighted to return to PA for a real winter, believe it or not 🙂 I have a garden colleague in Austin who calls Texas summers “the Death Star season”!
You have created a truly magical space Lynn, for all seasons, and yes I agree that to really appreciate a garden you have to immerse yourself in it, whether through gardening or paying attention to the plants and the insects that make a garden. Your video was very relaxing to watch and listen too.
Thank you, Jude, it really does feel magical to me. Immersion in the garden is a joy, isn’t it?
I love your videos, Lynn, one really gets a feel for the garden. As you wrote, you must be in it to catch the feel of it. Beautiful work!
Thank you, Eliza. I’m guessing that almost all gardeners understand that dynamic that probably only increases the longer you garden 🙂