Planting My Voice

Chocolate, Color and Camera

Saturday, May 19th, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (0)

I spent the entire day in the garden, from 9 am to 9 pm with breaks for water, brunch, chocolate and dinner. The chocolate must have given me an extra boost because I completed so much garden planting and maintenance today. The temperature was also perfect. I planted impatiens, elephant ears, marigolds, coleus, begonias and verbena. I also brought out all my indoor plants outside to summer on the patio. The orchids and the succulents immediately perked up when I moved them outside. It is so much easier to water them with the hose than indoors with a watering can. They love it, so do I.

I also took out every single colorful pot that I own and intend to plant them up tomorrow with nasturtium seeds. I feel motivated to surround myself with lots of color this gardening season. Nasturtiums are annuals, have colorful flowers and the leaves and flowers are edible too. They love growing in a sunny spot. In Mid-March I started zinnia seeds indoors under a light table. They are ready to be planted too. Zinnias are wonderful annuals that come in so many colors and sizes. Another busy day ahead tomorrow, with occasional breaks for chocolate, photographing and color infusions.

The photo above features red poppies (I sprinkle poppy seeds in early spring all over the garden), the perennial blue-flowered Nepeta (catmint family) and the ripening seed head of the Allium (purple) flower. I love going outside first thing in the morning to capture these colorful scenes when the morning light is soft and inviting.

Comments (0) · Categories : color, container gardening, edible landscaping, flowers, garden, heart yearnings, higher guidance, horticultural therapy, new beginnings, passion, present moment, seed starting, spirituality of the garden

Locally Sourced and Made

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (0)

It’s a gray morning and the morning mist lends a peaceful feeling to the garden. I zoom in on the rafter of the front porch roof and see a bird, an Eastern Phoebe, sitting in her own home-made nest incubating her eggs. Fine nesting materials such as sphagnum moss and mulch are plentiful here in the garden, making it easy for this momma bird to build deluxe accomodations. The Eastern Phoebe bird typically nests on buildings and bridges. She definitely feels threatened when I approach her nest, but I just marvel at the nest’s construction and the use of local materials. The garden is a wonderful storehouse of nest-making materials. I typically scatter dog hair in the garden also for use by our feathered friends. In the silence and peace of the garden, I genuinely enjoy the birds’ company. Because of the variable weather conditions, I have sighted many different birds on the hunt for food and water. On the other hand, these birds are also eating all the grass seed I have spread to renew my lawn and reduce weed growth.

Today, I made a green smoothie using a few young dandelion leaves from the garden. Dandelion plants have a bad rap as a rampant lawn weed. I now see them as a food option. Dandelion leaves are even sold in the supermarket produce section with all the other leafy green vegetables. I did add other ingredients to the smoothie such as beet leaves, baby bok-choy leaves, red lettuce leaves, mint and parsley (all growing nicely in the vegetable raised beds). To sweeten this melange, I added a mango. The smoothie had an interesting flavor. I would make a smoothie using these ingredients again. It was such a treat to go into the garden and harvest. So just like the birds, I sourced local and made my own green brew. A message from our avian friends. Shop local. Eat local. Support your local community.

Comments (0) · Categories : birds, changes in the garden, edible landscaping, garden, green smoothies, new beginnings, passion, silence, sound, vegetables, weeds Tags : garden wisdom

Breathe

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (2)

We’re 2/3′s into the month of April and the garden to-do list is long. Is your garden to-do list as long as mine? Weeds outnumbering your desirable perennials? Me too. The hot weather last week and today’s much-needed rain will encourage more growth, along with new weeds springing up in our prized garden beds. As we bend over and pull out those unwanted weeds, it’ll test our patience and fortitude. My lavender patch was gloriously robust last year and weed free. This spring it is saddled with lots of die-off and weeds. What’s a gardener to do? First thing to do – breathe. Breathe again. Repeat and remember that the breath helps to calm and center you. Call in the angelic troops to help you lessen the burden. It works. Try it. There’s lots of help from the divine realms. You may not be aware that all along you have been gardening with these beings of the unseen natural world – the elementals. The inspirational feelings that you get while you are gardening are from the deepest part within you that connects to these beings. That is what is meant by co-creative and co-operative gardening. Tuning into the desires of the Mother Earth and the deepest part of you to create a garden space that is nurturing to you and the Mother Earth. This type of c0-creation and communion with the Mother Earth is enriching and deeply fulfilling. Today, Earth Day 2012 was celebrated. As gardeners, we celebrate Earth Day every day.

The garden gives us the opportunity to exercise the body and mind, weed out mind chatter, release stress, renew and grow vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers. As we connect to the Mother Earth, we merge with our divine essence and bring balance and order into our lives.

The breathe mosaic and stained glass sign was created by Margaret Almon and Wayne Stratz of Nutmeg Designs, inspired by the colors of the green smoothie featured in the February 7, 2012 post.

Comments (2) · Categories : angels, breath, edible landscaping, elementals, flowers, garden, gifts of the garden, heart yearnings, Mother Earth, people-plant relationship, sacred gardens, vegetables Tags : garden wisdom

This Is You

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (0)

This is how beautiful you really are. This flower reflects back to you your beauty, your individuality, your depth, your colorful self, your connection to Mother Earth, your connection to the sun and your connection to Prime Source. Feed yourself a daily potion of Mother Earth’s beauty to re-discover and nourish your essence. Restore yourself with the highest form of self-love. Shed those beliefs and thoughts that just don’t jive with your divine essence.

We’ve been gifted with glorious weather lately. No April showers yet, they’re coming. Begin April showers within. Shower yourself with joy, love, gratitude and appreciation. Feel it and then radiate it as does this beautiful tulip.

Comments (0) · Categories : color, flowers, garden, heart yearnings, higher guidance, new beginnings, now, passion, pathways, people-plant relationship, sacred gardens, self love, spirituality of the garden

Spring It To Me

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (0)

To this gardener, it’s all about the flowers blooming in the garden now – pansies, violets, hellebores, forsythia, bleeding hearts and of course the scurrying around to get all the garden chores done. It is spring and now we also get to bloom in our own way. We are emerging into a new awareness of ourselves. Just like the flowers, we too, are beautiful and deeply nourished by the loving Mother Earth. We get to shine our light, and then we step back contentedly, to hang out, observe and still be a participant in this extraordinary existence we call life. Is there a springtime plant calling you to make eye to eye contact with her, to smell her, to touch her, to evoke heartwarming feelings or listen to her sweet message? The plant life is teeming and beaming with love, with joy and reminders for us to be that way too.

Comments (0) · Categories : flowers, garden, horticultural therapy, new beginnings, passion, people-plant relationship, present moment, remain in the light, sacred gardens, self love, silence

Morning Recharge

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (0)

This morning is misty and foggy. Beautiful too. Can’t discern everything, which makes it magical and serene at the same time. Off I trot outdoors to greet the newly emerging plantings. The daffodils, hyacinths, scilla, crocuses, hellebores, forsythia, corylopsis and pansies claim this time to share their beauty with the world. Yes, the weather sneaks up behind us with daily surprises. Don’t know what to expect anymore. So I go with the flow, and stay present to receive the blessings of the new day.

And the blessings are everywhere in the garden. Do you see the colors and shapes of the flowers? Hear the rustle of last year’s leaves that still haven’t fallen off? Touch the velvety flower buds of the magnolia trees? Do you feel the joy and excitement in the air? Have you noticed the abundance of birds singing with life? The bluebirds have definitely marked their territory and are here to stay. It is impossible not to be absorbed by the sensory stimuli in the garden.

There’s always lots of distractions that can take us away from the present moment. As gardeners we have a relationship with nature that brings us in close touch with the present moment. Attention to what is happening in the here and now recharges us and confirms that this is the only way to be.

The photo above features a collection of concrete pots planted with sedums and hens and chicks sitting atop the stump of the oak tree that was taken down earlier this year. These pots remind me of cereal bowls. Do you remember a commercial with the ‘breakfast of champions’ tagline for a particular cereal brand? What’s your ‘breakfast of champions’? How do you start your day? Recharge your day with a healthy dose of present moment mindfulness.

Comments (0) · Categories : color, container gardening, drought tolerant plants, flowers, garden, garden design, gifts of the garden, horticultural therapy, new beginnings, passion, people-plant relationship, present moment

Traveler

Thursday, March 15th, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (0)

I’ve been traveling a lot lately. This week I am visiting Dallas, Texas. Of course the trip would have been incomplete if I did not visit the Dallas Arboretum. My visit coincided with spring break so lots of families were here enjoying the gardens. Masses of flowering tulips and pansies everywhere. Azaleas and loropetalum shrubs were also in bloom. Wonderful colors – reds, yellows, pinks, purples, whites and oranges were everywhere vying for attention. The kids were tumbling, somersaulting, running, laughing and smiling — doing the playful things that we as kids used to do, and perhaps some of us still do. The gardens inspire kids to be kids. They get to cavort with the magical energies present in the garden. The adults begin to rekindle, to remember, to feel a connection to beauty, play, wonder and freedom. When a flower opens and invites you into its world it does so quietly. One feels drawn to its beauty and stillness. Some people are drawn to particular colors, others to particular scents. One emerges more peaceful, having imbibed a good dose of nature’s healing powers.

More blooms from the Cercis canadensis var. texensis ‘Traveller’, a weeping redbud tree, shown in the photo above. Can you discern playful shapes and images in the flowers? I see puckered lips, whimsical shoes and mouse ears. Nature has a sense of humor too.

Let the playful side of you loose. See new things that you haven’t seen or thought of before. What’s staring at you right now that you haven’t noticed before? You are traveling a wonderful life journey now. Use nature’s allies to support your travels. Happy travels.

Comments (0) · Categories : color, field notes, flowers, horticultural therapy, people-plant relationship, silence Tags : reflections on life in the garden

Top of the Morning to You

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (0)

It’s happening. You can feel it. The birds are screaming, shouting and proclaiming top of the morning to you. It’s in the air. Have you breathed it in? What’s around you and deep inside of you that will create a day of joy and excitement? Look outside. As the sun announces its arrival, how are you announcing your arrival into the new day? The flowering daffodils and scilla are arriving. What are you creating today with the accompaniment of birdsong, the warmth of the sun shining on you, the air you breathe, the wind stirring you, the smile in your heart, the awareness of your physical body firmly grounded on the earth? Receive the new day and create it with fresh and loving intentions. Claim a new and wondrous path for yourself, that only you can create for you. Pave it. Let the sun help you to energize it. Grow it. The earth is doing it now. As she wakes up from her sleep she’s got lots of growing up her sleeve. What are you growing?

Use the rays of the sun to metaphorically power your dreams and desires in the most fun and joyous way. Open yourself to new ways of doing it. Call for divine assistance to help you spring forward.

The grays, tans, golds, yellows, browns and greens of the landscape feel it and know it. They’re powering up. They are waking up. You are too, now.

Comments (0) · Categories : changes in the garden, color, heart yearnings, horticultural therapy, new beginnings, now, passion, people-plant relationship Tags : reflections on life in the garden

Sweet Tweets

Monday, March 5th, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (0)

I woke up this morning to the sweet sounds of birds singing outside my window. Later on in the day, I walked out the door with my dogs and was greeted again by birdsong. Here’s what I listened to:

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No translation was needed. I felt joy and peace. I stood still absorbing the sounds. Even the dogs stood still.

There’s an anecdote in Vanda Scaravelli’s book, Awakening the Spine, about a Zen master who sat down to give a sermon, and then a bird began to sing outdoors. The master and everyone in the room listened to the birdsong. When the birdsong was over, the master stated that the sermon was over, and moved on.

What is your morning song? I believe that birds sing of joy and magic. So can we. What are the sounds that get you moving first thing in the morning? Start your day with a sweet tweet. Mind what you are thinking and make it just as joyous and magical.

Comments (0) · Categories : higher guidance, new beginnings, passion, present moment, sound, spirituality of the garden Tags : enlightened life, garden wisdom

At Your Service

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 · By Dorothy Ernst · Comments (0)

The red oak tree in front of my house has been ailing for a few years. It started shedding its bark over the winter. After much resistance, I made the decision to have it cut down today, Valentine’s Day. As the arborist mindfully cut the tree down, I thought of the children’s book by Shel Silverstein, The Giving Tree. The book is about a love-filled relationship between a young boy and his exuberant apple tree. As the boy grows older, he moves away. He visits the tree at key times in his life and the tree dutifully and lovingly gives more of itself to the boy/man. At the end, all that is left of the tree is a stump, which the young boy, now an old man, is sitting on with a resigned expression on his face while the tree is still happy to see him and also be of service.

My tree has given much. It has surrounded me with its love, beauty and wisdom. It has provided shelter from cold, wind and heat; acorns for wildlife and now firewood for the wood burning stove. On this Valentine’s Day, we affectionately celebrate with our sweeties. I expand upon this celebration to include my sweeties of the natural world: the trees, plant life, animal life, mineral life and Mother Earth. We experience life together through all the cycles of life.

All that is left of my tree is a stump too. It’ll continue to serve valiantly as before, but now as a pedestal for an urn. I, in turn will continue to listen quietly to its daily messages of love, with an open and grateful heart.

Comments (0) · Categories : changes in the garden, gifts of the garden, Mother Earth, people-plant relationship, trees Tags : enlightened life, reflections on life in the garden

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