Gardening is an experience
of the senses.
No one is talking,
drink it in.
The site will tell us what to do
if we listen.
Realize its potential
and appreciate the bounty of nature.
A human being can create
an experience out of nature.
Let in the feeling of wildness
and accept it.
We hear the leaves shaking
and smell the fragrance
of Roses.
The garden gives
musty, pungent, and earthy scents too.
Watch things change,
they change for the better.
All sorts of new things happen
that we won’t expect.
Think about it
and have a conversation
with the garden.
Believe there is magic in the garden
from fairies
who leave happy birthday notes on lilypads.
In winter, we take candle-lit walks
through the archways and
around the Oaks.
Gardeners listen to and cultivate
the horticultural symphony
of Narcissus, Lupine, Hyacinths,
Tulips, Astilbe, Iris, and Delphinium,
more and more Delphinium.
We are just performers
trying to do the best we can.
If we are blessed
we might create a work of art.
Gardening is our way
to connect on a different level
than one normally does.
Art is supposed to make a difference
in people’s lives.
Great art can move people.
Gardener’s use natural materials
as a way of expressing ourselves.
Delight, surprise, and variety
we create out of time and space.
The gardener’s sensibility includes:
an herb garden off the kitchen for fresh mint,
a clay oven could be installed in the garden
to bring the kitchen outdoors,
a stream garden to play with elusive time,
and a weeping rock to press pause on the sonata and rewind
to years before, before, before
in rays of golden sunlight.
Gardening is a physical relationship,
hands in the soil.
Everyone has a garden within them.
It’s a way of expressing creativity.
Gardeners are trying
to recreate Eden,
a corner of paradise
separate from our daily hustle.
The apple is there to taste
and it is sweet
and sorrowful too.
The garden is our whole world.
About the Author: Dana Zullo is a college counselor and mom in Atlanta, Georgia. She creates floral art with the Ichiyo School of Ikebana. Many seasons ago, she taught art in the Peace Corps in Ghana.
