Garden Envy

I have garden envy and I've been sitting here trying to decide if that is a bad thing. I wouldn't say that I'm jealous or "green" with envy. I just sometimes admire others' gardens in a way that makes something stir inside of me. I want what they have. I don't want to give up what I have though. I'm not dissatisfied with what I've got. I just want to make what I've got better or different.

When this feeling stirs inside me, I want to run from the admired garden and start planting furiously in my own. I get filled with ideas that are ready to pour out. I feel creative. I have a realization like "AHA! All I need to do to add this atmosphere to my garden is to plant (fill in plant of the moment here.)" Or, "AHA! All I need to do is hang more wind chimes, build a trellis, etc. etc."

When I walk into a garden that inspires me, I feel like I walked into a great story that someone else wrote. (Have you ever gotten so involved in a reading a narrative, that the fiction felt like it was your real life?) I have become one of the characters of this other story. I have become the GARDENER . But, when I finally do get home, I realize that this alternate world really doesn't fit mine.

I have realized my propensity to project other people's garden taste onto my own space for a while. I began contemplating this phenomenon in earnest yesterday after my daughter and I attended a "garden party" hosted by two of the gardeners I interviewed for my book last year. Their gardens are amazing. They spend a great deal of time in their spaces, have a lot of knowledge, and have transformed their lands into gardeners' paradise.

I walked among the first garden, which was created by Karen, and felt transformed. Her fields are already blooming furiously. My colors are just getting under way. I said to myself while admiring her lupine, "This is missing from my space. I must plant lupine!" My mind wound around the realization that lupine is a missing character in my story. "And anemones! So, this is what you can do with anemones! And listen to those wind chimes in the warm summer breeze. What a wonderful idea to hang them from all the trees." My main source of envy for her garden is of her large space between horse fields and fruit trees. Here she has a garden just stuffed with all kinds of wonderful perennials. At first glance, the space looks like a field of wildflowers, but when one looks closer, one can see that it is a well planned space bursting with color. After viewing this, I then moved on to the second gardener, Emily's space. Her gardens wrap around her house, leading one around the yard to reveal a rolling country landscape in her backyard. Her gardens are very different from Karen's, but equally enticing. "AH! primrose. I don't have those! And her columbine steals the show back here!" My mind furiously wove the gardens into my own story, trying to think of them as the backdrop for my activities in my own yard.

When I arrived home, something felt wrong as soon as I started up the driveway. My property is slanted. It doesn't resemble the spaces of either Karen or Emily at all. Everything is terraced. I can't create a large square, flat wildflower field. I have no rolling hills. The back of my house stares at trees. I sighed as I began pulling my mind out of someone else's story. Then I began admiring my little rose garden and the way I have fairy roses wrapping around a fenced area of the yard. I smiled at the daisies, running along the first terraced wall that welcomes me home. I looked for my favorite plants that feel like old friends. They are characters whom I know quite well and with which I can personally identify.

This works for me. With each bout of garden envy, I learn how to weave another person's creative ideas into my own garden spaces just a little bit. Gardeners have different landscapes that we mold based on our knowledge, experiences and tastes. The landscape, like the gardener must also be the central character of the story, for it can only be molded by the gardener so much. I realized that there were many things about the others' gardens that didn't excite me. I will not be recreating Karen's rock garden for example. It is beautiful, but I don't have rocky crags requiring this kind of gardening.

So, all in all, I think a little garden envy is not a bad thing. I think I have now come to terms with it.

(blogger isn't letting me post photos at the moment. I'll try ot put some up of the gardens later)

What's Inside Your Head?

The other day I had the honor of judging the art work of students from the Manchester, New Hampshire area. My local art association offers a scholarship each year to the student we deem the most talented, who plans to go to college with a major in the fine arts. I was blown away by this year's winner. Her use of color, composition, and medium were superb, but all of the judges agreed that what put her over the top was her subject matter. She has the ability to take a central idea, manipulate it, and let her imagination run wild to realize a fully developed story in a single image in every single one of her paintings. She got me thinking about fully realized creativity...

I am fascinated by human creativity. Whether the outlet for our creative efforts is the fine arts, gardening, dramatic arts, music, or writing, human expression is a wonder. How amazing it is to me that we can take what is in our heads, use an appropriate medium to get it out, and allow others to see our thoughts. Effective communication can help others see things in a new light. Our creative efforts can even make people feel our emotions.

One student showed a picture of her version of heaven. The painting was done in all golds. We saw the back of a girl's head, looking over a stone fence at an expansive castle-like building. This image was done for a class assignment. The object was to paint something that could not be expressed with words. From the painting I garnered a feeling of wonder and beauty before the artist identified the subject. Very effectively, she communicated her vision of something larger than herself, something that brings her peace and happiness. Immediately, I felt her emotions when looking at her painting.

In my garden photography, I aim to point out the beauty and wonder I feel while in a garden. There is no place I feel more at peace with myself and my place in the universe. My husband (who is not a gardener) once told me that I make flowers more beautiful than they really are. I don't think that is true because I see the beauty that is in my photographs when I look at flowers, but I'm glad he feels that way. I know that he looks at flowers twice now because he sees something that he didn't notice before I took up garden photography. I have helped make my vision his. I have helped him feel my sense of wonder and my happiness in the garden.

Though I am usually showing a beauty that is there, sometimes in my imagery I try to show things that are not there. One of my favorite things is to visit a field of flowers and imagine a newly formed landscape. It is a form of meditation for me I suppose. I'll sandwich fields of photos together to show my alternate vision of the landscape. The images that begin this post show samples of this type of work and creativity.

While choosing the landscape and appropriate planting for my own garden, I am out to accomplish the same thing. I have a vision of my yard. In my mind's eye, I know what the finished product of my gardening efforts will be. One day, I will realize the vision and finally get it out of my head for all to see the true potential of my landscape and the comfort I gain from it. And with this realized final product one will also be able to see a part of me, melded with with nature, at its my most peaceful self. This is what I have deemed "The Gardener's Soul." It is the creativity inside a person or a person's inner self achieving a melding with the world around her and expressing itself in the garden.

Personify Your Muse

Thanks to my daughter's influence. I now think of the muse as a fairy. We built her a house near the peonies and we wait for her to come. I noticed that the peonies are finally pushing through the soil today. The muse is near.

When I interviewed other gardeners last year for the book I have written, I learned that the muse brings a variety of riches to those who are open to it. For some, the muse sharpens the creative spirit. Working in the gardens stirs the soul to spread creativity throughout one's life. Many are inspired to channel energies toward artistic endeavors, unrelated to gardening, pursuing the fine arts to express how nature makes one feel.

In Greek mythology, the muses are the Greek goddesses, daughters of Zeus, who presided over the arts and sciences. Though today we usually consider the muse as one who inspires a fine artist, the muse can be a source for inspiration and influence other parts of our lives too. The muse helps others find a sense of calm that they can use to help others in work that requires it. The gardening muse inspires doctors to be more open to alternate treatments or ways of thinking. It helps people think outside of themselves, to better feel a sense of compassion for other living beings. The muse encourages us to transfer what we learn thinking outside of the box to others. I think of one gardener I met who shares her love of nature with her students, bringing seed pods to school and telling stories of butterflies in far-away lands. Surely she is inspired by a muse. It is a little voice in her head that tells her that what she is thinking is "cool" and inspires her to go further with her ideas.

When I"m not thinking of fairies, I think of my own living fairy. Since her birth, my daughter has served as a muse for me. Her presence helps me find new channels for my ideas. She encourages me to create wonderful garden spaces, to reach for new artistic challenges, and to share my love of nature with others.

It may help to think of the muse in some lifelike form - a fairy, a child, a forest creature, a long-lost relative. Whatever or whomever comes to mind as you work is appropriate. This identification with another living creature can help propel you to new levels of magnificence.

To see the muse in rare form, visit Ming with Esther in the Garden .

The Muse

The Muse is slowly awakening in my yard. But as the temps soar near 90 degrees, I feel her wilting.

On Monday, I dropped my photographs off at the local garden center, Uncanoonuc Mt. Perennials, where each year they agree to hang my work in their sales cabin. The gardens are just coming to life, with green popping out of the ground and flowers on their dogwood. The dogwood reminds me of a similar tree in front of my window when I was growing up. Yes, this got the muse stirring. The flowers can't bloom fast enough for me now. (May 14, 2008 - Annette Rynearson at Uncanoonuc informed me that the tree is a magnolia and not a dogwood...it still reminds me of my dogwood and now I have a new found love for magnolia too! Thanks Nettie!)

At home, the daffodils are starting to bloom. The crocus has gone back to sleep, but they really were just a quick "amuse bouche" for the season. The daffodils should last a little longer, followed by the tulips. The daffodil ruffles stir my fancy, but the colors are a bit bland for my photographic muse. The bright tulips start to get the muse giddy.

My muse is most tickled by round sunburst shapes, so it must be patient until June when the daisies, oseteospermum, anemone, and other round flowers, with small, feathery petals get going. Now is the time to track garden changes before the garden really springs to life. I generally take a step back with my camera to capture the landscape. During the summer, the muse asks me to move in with the macro lens to capture the sparkle of individual flowers.

I have a finicky muse, but I've learned to work with her. She generally knows what she likes. I need to warm her up for the season and spring serves this function. Unfortunately, we've seemed to jump quickly into summer this year. Last year we had too much rain. this year we are headed toward drought. The muse is confused and restless.

What gets your muse going?

The Creative Spirit

The garden has a way of unleashing one's creative spirit. According to the Mirriam Webster dictionary, to create is to make or bring into existence something new. The creative spirit is that part of you that comes up with new ideas. You then apply these ideas toward creating something. We create things all day long - reports, dinner, a clean house - but the creative spirit goes beyond the mundane. When we use our creative side, we tap into an inner power that allows us to make something extraordinary.

When I think of the creative spirit, I think of the part of myself that sees things with fresh eyes. This side of me is not something that I can access easily all of the time. Have you ever sat down to write and couldn't think of an idea? Do you serve the same foods over and over again at every Thanksgiving meal? Have you ever had free time and just ended up running your chore list for the week? This is not your creative spirit at work. You creative spirit helps you to think outside of a box, to do different things, to DARE to do different things. For example, you open a dictionary, point to a word and decide to write about it. (I didn't do this today by the way.)
To get rid of writer's block we have exercises to get the creative juices flowing. We have recipe books to help us rethink our meal planning. We have books and magazines to help us plan our free time and get moving in a new direction.

For me, and I suspect for most other gardeners, stepping out into the garden achieves the same effect. Last year, after a weary winter of freezing and thawing then flooding here in NH, I stepped out in April to visit the trees I have pictured above. They are located only a few miles from my house, on a hill in an office park. I've passed them on the highway many times. Actually, I shouldn't say that I "stepped" out because I remember dragging myself out. I felt low and told myself that perhaps if I got moving I could change things around. As I approached the beautiful pink blooms, I parked the car. It was a Sunday and the only people around were the landscape crew. the only noise was their lawn mowers. I stepped up to the tree and snapped a picture. "Okay, this isn't so bad," I remember thinking.

Three trees in a row and how best to capture them? I only work with two lenses, which is sometimes a detriment. Usually those two serve me well because they are meant for small closeup flower work or portraits, the primary photos I take. But shooting trees is difficult. I wanted to photograph the way my eyes saw the scene and that was not really possible for me with my fixed macro lens or my other lens (which I think is 50-120 for anyone who cares, but don't hold me to that. I'm sitting in a car dealership and can't check. I also have so many numbers in my head that I have difficulty remembering things like lens length.) I wanted a wider panorama. Anyway, I did my best. The creative juices began to flow. I walked around the trees and under the trees. I probably would have climbed them if I had been able, but the landscape crew might have looked at me funny if I had done that anyway.

I went home feeling not totally satisfied that I had achieved greatness, but the blahs were leaving me. Later, I got on the computer to see the digital files I had shot. Then it hit me. I wanted to highlight the contrasts of the road, sky, grass and blossoms. I boosted the intensity of the colors and darkened the road. I wanted more texture to shake off the flat whiteness of winter. I added some boxes of texture. I wanted to shout "Spring!" And I think I did with this picture. I created something extraordinary. No, it's not extraordinary in a prize winning photo sort of way, but I expressed myself. I let the voice deep inside of me shout out. I brought something mundane outside of the box. It made me feel more alive and content.

So, this is the creative spirit. Whether it involves creating a piece of art, helping your orchids grow, or playing with your child on the playground. It is the part of you that speaks up and allows you to do something out of the ordinary. It allows you to see the world around you from a different dimension than where you started. with any luck, your vision will help others change a little too.

This year I hope to photograph the apple trees a few towns away while they are in bloom.