Gardening
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Restoring garden and spirit
“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.” ~May Sarton I’ve spent the past week restoring the Japanese garden that’s tucked away in a corner of our backyard. My small garden oasis was inspired by the much larger Japanese garden I’ve admired for years at Cranbrook House and Gardens in Bloomfield Hills. I even wrote a story about it, which was published in Victoria. Given their simple, restrained aesthetic, Japanese “Zen gardens” require regular pruning, weeding, and trimming. Over-planting — which adds cottage charm to other garden styles — doesn’t…
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Just before the bloom
“The garden has taught me to live, to appreciate when things are fallow and when they are not.” ~Jamaica Kincaid Longtime “Life Lines” readers will remember “Apollo” from previous posts. In those photos, he was sporting a wild headdress of colorful annuals or spiky succulents, depending on how I dressed him at the time. Apollo has been featured in several garden magazines and newspaper articles over the years, always enjoying his moments in the sun. Earlier this week, I took this photo of Apollo without his blooming chapeau. I was struck by the barren beauty of the surrounding April landscape — a landscape that’s still waiting for perennials to emerge…
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Germinating
“During the times we think we’re being ‘unproductive,’ the seeds of new worlds are germinating within us, and they need peace to grow.” ~Martha Beck Somewhere along the line, I bought into the notion that I need to be working 24/7. I feel guilty if I’m not writing articles, teaching classes, organizing my home, working in my garden, or otherwise being productive. Now that I’m semi-retired, I don’t want to become useless or irrelevant. While most of us celebrate the idea of retiring from our jobs, we still live in a culture that rewards busyness. So it’s not surprising that many of us are conflicted (or secretly embarrassed) if we…
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Fresh sparks of daily joy
“Joy has been leaking out of our lives. The small pleasures of the ordinary day seem almost contemptible, and glance off us lightly.…So, perhaps it’s a good time to reconsider pleasure at its roots. Changing out of wet shoes and socks, for instance. Bath robes. Yawning and stretching. Real tomatoes.” ~ Barbara Holland, Endangered Pleasures These days, sadly, we can count on a non-stop news cycle of war casualties, airline calamities, dangerous storms, and unsettling political turmoil. Which is why I always look forward to David Muir’s “America Strong” segment on ABC’s “World News Tonight.” Concluding the nightly news broadcast, “America Strong” highlights uplifting stories of generosity and resilience, giving…
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“Winter gardening” in The Detroit News
“How many lessons of faith and beauty we would lose if there were no winter in our year.” ~Thomas Wentworth Higginson Today’s edition (Jan. 17) of Homestyle in The Detroit News includes a story about “gardening” in the winter. Design writer Jeanine Matlow interviewed me for the story and included a few of my tips on how to decorate your garden when it’s too cold to plant anything. You’ll recognize a few of my own winter garden photos in the piece. Subscribers can read the feature online or you can purchase a print copy of The Detroit News on the stands today. ~CL
