The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless. ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Last night I finished editing a video chronicle of my 2024 garden. There was so much that I hadn’t shared last year for various reasons and it seemed a good idea to create a close look at the garden throughout the blooming year. I became lost in the lovely images of flowers and the sound of birdsong while editing – I uploaded the video to YouTube and went to bed. This morning, when I stepped outside with Pixie, I was shocked to find myself back in a cold snowy frozen world! Where were the flowers? Where was the color, the warmth, the birdsong? Perhaps reality is all in the mind, the imagination. If so, the garden of my imagination and memory is my preferred reality.
I’m preparing for minor shoulder surgery this week, so this post will be shorter than usual. Until I can return to the page, please enjoy my “alternate reality” of life in the garden.
On September 23, the light on this planet will achieve a moment of perfect balance, a moment when there is a period of equal light and darkness throughout the world. And then it will tilt on, ever changing over the seasons until the next equinox. Like the planet, I experience my own moments of balance, especially when I’m in the garden.
Life is a balance of holding on and letting go. ~Rumi
I’ve devoted this year to improving my health so that I can continue to garden. Daily attention to the foods I eat and working to build strength has improved not only my mobility but my balance, allowing me to weed a hillside or traverse the stone steps of the garden without fear.
When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way. ~Wayne Dyer
Once again I can dance with the garden, a pas de deux that seems to leave us both pleased. I supply the plants and the support system, she responds with beauty that nourishes my soul and living creatures who fill the garden with color, movement and sound. We’ve become old friends, my garden and I – we have found our rhythm in this slow dance of flowers. (Click on any photo to see a full size image)
Rose ‘Ambridge Rose’
Clematis ‘Margo Koster’
New rose leaves
Lily ‘Tiger Babies’
Griffith Buck rose
Bumblebee sleeping on dahlia
Last year, I focused on replanting the outer garden to grow more native plants, to support more pollinators in their life cycle. The results were all I hoped for, as the more naturalistic planting style fit our wooded lot and the upswing in insects and birds was notable. This scene was transformed from the foxgloves and peonies in May to the blooms of betony (Stachys) and milkweed in June, along with the emergence of native grasses.
July was filled with the graceful wands of tufted hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa) and the raspberry red flowers of bee balm (Monarda didyma).
The walk through this little garden is filled with the sound of bees and birds
though quiet on misty mornings.
You were once wild here. Don’t let them tame you. ~Isadora Duncan
This year, I took the same approach to the inner garden, letting go of many non-natives, especially many daylilies which found new homes
Hillside of daylilies
Daylily ‘Lavender Stardust’
Daylily ‘Eggplant Ecstasy’
and replacing them with plants that support wildlife at every stage of their life cycle. Next year, those changes should be more evident in the number and diversity of insects and birds yet still add beauty and balance to the garden.
The balance of nature is not a status quo, it is fluid, ever shifting, in a constant state of adjustment. ~Rachel Carson
All the flowers of summer, from June to mid-September, are featured in this short film, with Miss Pixie gracing the garden from time to time. I was inspired by the beautiful soundtrack recording of Satie’s Gymnopedie #1 recorded on cello.
Bill and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary a week ago. The cake decorator got a little confused about the number – we’re still practicing how to pronounce 44nd 🙂Pixie decided to erase the error by breaking her year-long record of no counter-surfing; she was feeling left out of the festivities and grabbed her own piece of cake. Honestly, it was a day of hilarity and celebration, from the time we removed the cake from its box and started giggling, toasted the day with Prosecco, reminisced over our wedding album photos, and laughed at Pixie’s antics. Forty-four years of loving and laughing has brought its own point of equanimity to our marriage.
When I awake tomorrow, the earth will be poised on its seasonal moment of balance. May you find joy and balance in your days ahead, no matter what comes your way. Happy Equinox!
Next year, those changes should be more evident in the number and diversity of insects and birds yet still add beauty and balance to the garden.
Pixie decided to erase the error by breaking her year-long record of no counter-surfing; she was feeling left out of the festivities and grabbed her own piece of cake. 
Honestly, it was a day of hilarity and celebration, from the time we removed the cake from its box and started giggling, toasted the day with Prosecco, reminisced over our wedding album photos, and laughed at Pixie’s antics. Forty-four years of loving and laughing has brought its own point of equanimity to our marriage.
When I awake tomorrow, the earth will be poised on its seasonal moment of balance. May you find joy and balance in your days ahead, no matter what comes your way. Happy Equinox!
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