“In a world without color, it would be impossible to imagine Beauty, for color and beauty are sisters” ~ John O’Donohue, Celtic priest and poet
“The eye needs color as much as it needs light” ~ Goethe
There are all kinds of Gardeners and all kinds of reasons for gardening. What one plants in a garden is a decision that each person makes for a particular purpose. Some love a variety of green foliages, some love flowers, annuals and perennials, some love the delicacy and purposeful mission of culinary or healing herbs, some love to grow things to EAT ! And there are gardeners who want it all…and I was such a Gardener myself when I had the land on which to plant EVERYTHING! And I DID!

From my former garden: The year I planted a sunflower border
Today’s essay is about what might take our breath away at the the sight of BEAUTY..which is exactly what Flowers are all about…their physical Beauty and their scent and perfume that makes us..(and the pollinators) swoon, stopping and letting our senses of sight and smell be filled with delight.

from my former garden: Milkweed
The earth…Nature’s Earth..is a very sensuous and sexy place, if I may be so bold and slightly risque. But it is exactly the Beauty and Scent of flowers that are filled with the intoxicating powers to seduce birds, bees and insects to draw close and flit from color to color collecting and spreading moist pollens and sensuous sweetness for the continuation of the populations responsible for gifting us with such delightful and irresistible BEAUTY! Are we not overtaken ourselves entering a garden in blooms of all hues and shapes? Do we just look, or do we so often gather some to bring inside of the four tamed walls of our homes..How often then, do we stop and bend and sniff and admire the Beauty from our gardens, cultured or wild, that we have brought inside to keep that loveliness near us?

from my former garden: mini-sunflowers and love-lies-bleeding
There was a time, I have read, when there was such a thing as “The Language of Flowers” when little nosegays or a single flower was sent..without words…to a beloved or for consolation in a time of sorrow, or for an invitation to meet…a time when knowledge of what a particular beautiful flower “said” without words. An almost magical communique between the sender, the receiver and the Flower. How lovely that secret language!

From my former garden: The intricate Beauty of Nigella
I have a daughter who is a Gardener and until this summer, has mostly enjoyed the landscaping with green plants of interesting shapes…some flowering bushes and shrubs like roses and hydrangeas. But being home during Covid time, she expanded this year into her first vegetable garden plot and flowers. This is the summer she fell in love with ZINNIAS! Planted from seed in a special longish strip along her driveway, she texts me pictures of them as they come up, praising their Beauty and cheerful inspiration in a time of pandemic and community lock-downs. When I see the picture below that she sent to me, I can feel the joy and delight she feels when she walks by these flowers of hers!

From my daughter’s garden-the happiness and delight of her Zinnias July 2020
The Celtic poet/priest, John O’Donohue calls God “The Great Artist” and that works for me especially in the Virtue of Flowers ~ BEAUTY

From my former garden: Mountain Laurel in bloom
From Christine, the Greening Spirit
Please visit my other blogs for recipes, inspiration and music!
http://sensuoussoupsandsuppers.wordpress.com
http://pianomistress.wordpress.com
http://thewinterkitchenfarmacy.wordpress.com