Summer is well underway, fourth of July is here, vacation approaches, swimming pool nd hammock beckon. And there is the garden staring at you with reproach. Are you feeling just a tad guilty? Do you wish you had blinders on so as to avoid noticing the many chores that await? Relax. Its okay. Enjoy the summer fully. In my view, there are three ways to approach the garden chores.

The first is to just get the bare essentials done. Weed, water and generally keep the place tidy. A little bit everyday is very doable and quite effective. Not too time consuming plus you have the satisfaction of being in relative control of the place. The garden responds by looking good, you feel good – it is all good.

The next approach is more spiritual or Zen. To not get worked up or worried about the neglected garden. To take it as lessons in personal growth. For instance, consider a rose arch that has gone a little wild. Limbs are overhanging and while the it looks utterly charming, passing under it is not easy. In being forced to bend and walk through, think of it as a reminder to be humble. To acknowledge something greater than oneself.

The plants that are sprawled out of the flower beds and in your way are telling you to be accommodating and to go around them. Not everything needs your intervention – it is okay to let things be,

Weeds that emerge readily and in large numbers are simply asking for indiscriminate acceptance and the chance to assimilate.

Dying plants symbolize the circle of life and diseased ones seek compassion and care. Plants gone to seed teach one about perpetuity and continuity.

You see?

Finally, don’t do anything at all. Ever. See example below. Why interfere with Nature and have gardeners play God?

So, what will be your approach? I would truly love to know.

This quote from Shakespeare’s Richard II…Act 3, scene 4 expresses my own inclination:

“I will go root away the noisome weeds, which without profit suck
The soil’s fertility from wholesome flowers…”

(c) 2013 Shobha Vanchiswar

The creed of the United States Postal Service is applicable to many efforts but most particularly to those who make growing living things their vocation or avocation. Farmers and gardeners are undaunted by the vagaries of the weather and the threat of climate anomalies. They persevere.

I understand the determination of the farmer. It is his noble, much depended upon livelihood. After all, he feeds the world. The sheer weight of his responsibility insists that he carry on no matter what. It goes without saying that they have our deepest gratitude but a regular expression of thanks would not be amiss.

The persistence of gardeners however is a whole other matter. It is not essential to the survival of mankind. It is actually something of a luxury. It requires time, physical effort and often, as much money as one can squander. Most gardens remain unnoticed and are created for the personal enjoyment of the gardener and his immediate circle. For the most part, the loss or devastation of a garden is not felt deeply by the population at large. It becomes a more personal loss. Sort of like losing a pet. The gardener will do everything to save or salvage his bit of paradise. A hailstorm in summer, a drought or deluge, a hurricane or tornado, an invasion of disease or locusts, personal mistakes, nothing but nothing will deter the intrepid gardener. That to me is utterly fascinating. We never give up.

We try to grow tulips in deer country, tropicals in Zone 5, alpines in Florida, coddle roses during an attack of Japanese beetles, dutifully pick off red lily beetles early each morning, risk fines by surreptitiously watering our lawns in a drought, keep vigil all night to send slugs to their death and thus saving the vegetables, rush out in a lightening storm to prevent seedlings from being washed away, mourn inexplicably and deeply for anything that dies and, continue with so many other Quixotic efforts. We are obsessed with our plants.

And why is this so, you ask? For the simple, straightforward satisfaction and sheer joy of having created something. You see, anybody can be a gardener. For everything else, we tend to qualify ourselves with credentials. As though one is not legitimate until we can say we have a degree, or have published a book, exhibited a painting or performed somewhere. If you tend to plants then you are a gardener. No questions asked. It is that easy.

Gardens have been called the slowest form of performance art. It is true. They change all the time. Every garden is an honest effort at making something beautiful and even useful. Be it good or bad, it is indeed art. A personal expression of the gardener’s taste and philosophy. A writer might start a book and then relegate it to a drawer when she gets stuck, a painter might have a studio full of incomplete canvases, the same can be said for music compositions and dance choreographies. Unless it a vocation, most artists will take breaks to accommodate what life brings along. But not the earnest gardener.

Horticultural mistakes are open to public examination, half completed projects or neglected spaces are visible and so, the gardener has good motivation to try hard to do a good job. It certainly works for me. But more than that, there is that inherent human desire to tame one’s surrounding and make of it a place of delight. To nurture something and help it grow is enormously rewarding. If it is enjoyed by others then all the better. There is an intangible value to gardening. Yet, a true gardener gardens because she must. Like all other passions, she cannot help herself. And thank goodness for that. Imagine a world without gardens – private or public. It would be as sad as removing all music from the world.

Gardens are ephemeral. Reason enough to make their time here as significant as possible.
The photos below demonstrate the transience of gardens. They are all of Untermyer Gardens in Yonkers, New York. It is gradually being resurrected to its former glory – but with a contemporary sensibility.Do visit it – free and open to the public. www.untermyergardens.org

Lovely old stairs leading to the aquaduct footpath.

In its time, the view of the Palisades was unobstructed. How the trees have grown!

The temple with a view of the Palisades

Mosaic in need of restoration.

The pool today. Can’t you just imagine how beautiful it used to be?

The amphitheater in the walled garden

Hello, my name is Shobha and I meditate.
Meditation is very in these days. As ancient and as worldwide a practice as it might be, currently, we are hearing more about it as a mainstream activity. This, in my opinion is a very good thing. The mental, physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of meditation are now in the annals of science. These weighty findings have finally given it the heft of credibility and people everywhere can publicly declare without fear of being mocked that they are meditators.

I have meditated off and on over many years but have been practicing it more consistently of late. I cannot say exactly how it helps me except that on the days I skip my meditation, I don’t feel so great. I’m more cranky and not as productive. For some reason, it is not so easy to make the time. Especially since it is best to get it done first thing in the morning. I think it helps to set a positive tone to the day. However, if one has overslept, has not slept well or, has an early morning appointment, the meditation is unhesitatingly skipped. For myself, any other time of day does not quite lend itself to meditation. I am just too distracted. Clearly, I have a long way to go to be able to meditate anytime and anywhere. Gives me something to aspire to. Sort of like the quest to achieving true enlightenment.

Until such time, I have developed alternatives to the traditional way to meditate. You guessed it, it all happens in the garden. In truth, this can be done anywhere but being outside in nature is restorative in itself. How much time you spend on this is up to you. You must be satisfied with your effort and feel like you’ve taken an uplifting break from the day’s obligations.

Once you have entered the garden and visibly begun to calm down and breathe evenly, take a few deep breaths to send a message to the brain that it is in for a treat. Bring your attention to any object in the garden. Say it is a pear. Consider how you would describe a pear. Green, tear drop shaped, smooth skin, sweet in taste, you get the idea. Then, think about tinier details such as the speckled pattern on the skin, the subtly varied shades of the color green, the asymmetry of the shape, the aroma etc., Now you’re really honed into the exercise. Finally, up it a notch. Begin describing the humble pear all over again – this time, as you would to a blind person. Somebody who has never had the sense of sight and does not know this fruit. Tear drop shaped? What is that? How would you describe the color green? You see? It is a challenge. The description can no longer be in comparison to something else. The pear acquires an explanation that is unique to itself. Give it a try.

Like most things, one gets better at this exercise by doing it regularly. It is not so simple and at the same time, it is not really difficult. Anybody of any age can try it. After all, only you are privy to how well you do. No grades and criticisms are given. But right from the start it unfailingly takes you out of yourself and gives you a purposeful diversion. The bonus is that you will find yourself looking more closely at everything. Everyday objects start appearing more beautiful and interesting. In essence, you become more mindful of the moment. And isn’t that what meditation is all about?

I have learned to describe colors as feelings, smells as textures or tastes and generally expanded my descriptive abilities in words as well as in paint. Primarily, I’ve become better at looking at something for what it is. And I accept all of it: the good and the not so good. Because everything is important in making a spider a spider or a rose a rose. I aspire to graduate very soon to doing the same with humans.

Now that meditating has gained wide acceptance and approval, I’m fervently hoping the same happens for naps.

Meditate on these images!

Cobweb in the rain

Milkweed seed pod

Pears

David Austin’s Heritage rose

Bright pink echinacea ‘Gum Drop’

Aconitum – monkshood

(c) 2013 Shobha Vanchiswar

Take the storms in stride
Let the rains come
Feel the sunshine
Ride the waves
Mark the tides

Spring has officially begun and with it comes renewal and rebirth in the garden. As much as one tires of the dark, freezing days of winter, would we be so thankful and welcoming of spring if it were not for the season before? When something is present all the time, we tend not take the trouble to appreciate it on a regular basis. Just look how often we take the people we love for granted. Or the luxury of having not just running water but hot water when needed. Think how your penchant for iced tea would suffer without the easy abundance of ice within arms reach. How frequently we fail to be grateful for the daily necessities that make our lives so livable. Even more overlooked are those details like a friendly smile, a newly opened flower, freshly laundered sheets, early morning birdsong; things that though not entirely essential, lend joie de vivre to the dailiness of our lives.

And so it is with the propensity one sees these days to have the ever blooming rose, the eternally immaculate, “no maintenance” lawn, the ‘instant’ tree or best of all, the effortless vegetable garden. If anticipation itself is half the pleasure, then the well-timed rose completes it don’t you think? To expect eagerly and then applaud the flowers that bloom but for a specific span of time cannot in any way compare to what is in flower all the time. We simply get used to things till we no longer notice them. The local, sun ripened strawberries of late spring cannot be matched by those imported at other times of the year. If we had firework displays all the time, would the fourth of July still feel special and celebratory?
Everything has a season for good reason.

The high price of a pristine lawn and the harm to the environment can hardly be worth losing the earliest sources of nectar for bees and hummingbirds – the much maligned dandelion. Much is sacrificed in the effort to keep that lawn just so that ,we’ve forgotten the birthright of children and animals to play there, pick grass to make a whistle, bury a bone or other treasure, search for four-leaved clover without worry of the toxic effects of weed killers and pesticides.

Disregard for the moment, the expense of planting a mature or almost mature tree ( they are called ‘trophy trees’). After all, if one has the funds, why must a person be judged for how they spend it. It the foregoing of the utter satisfaction of watching a young sapling evolve into an impressive tree that is the true waste. So what if it takes too long for a baby tree to become an adult tree? Would we not think it a pity if we missed out on the years it takes a man-child to become a man? Think about it. And then, with the money saved, a multitude of whips can be planted instead: to create an alley, a grove or an orchard.

What exactly is a low maintenance vegetable garden? Does that mean not enough care was given to the plants? Were the plants compelled to jockey for space with rampant weeds? Or maybe no sleep was lost when pests ate up a good portion of the crops. To get healthy, abundant vegetables, regular watering, weeding and organic pest control is de rigueur. Besides, if it were that easy, would you have the same pride when putting food cultivated by your own two hands on the family table? Gives one pause right?

Assuming one implements time and sweat saving practices, how then are those purloined hours spent? I’d be ecstatic if they were passed in noble pursuits like face to face conversations with family and friends, a pick up game with the kids, volunteering for community services or hardest of all, spending time being creative sans anything digital for assistance or company.

A better approach is to acknowledge that we are but small cogs in the big wheel of life. Invite the gifts that nature has bestowed upon us. Sunsets, rainbows, birds, butterflies, flowers, fruits, fall foliage, snow, rain, rivers and lakes, oceans, mountains, forests, prairie and, most precious of all, each other. There will be storms, droughts and the occasional locust invasion. Accept them. We’re meant to live in harmony with nature. Each day comes laden with its own pleasures, treasures and choices. Choose wisely and you will partake heartily of the day.

Lets make this a true beginning, an honest spring.

“A man’s children and his garden both reflect the amount of weeding done during the growing season.”- Anonymous

Wisteria

Bonica roses

Ornamental grass

Asters

The good life