Monday, December 29, 2014

... cultivating the self and a view of today's garden...



 


It was always meant to be a metaphor.

You see, my townhouse doesn’t exactly get the sun or the lack-of-sun to grow some of the types of flowers and plants in my yard *and* of course I have to abide by the rules of the HOA (insert eye roll because I’m now on the board after receiving a nastigram about the Pom-Pom aka Chinese juniper shrub appearing too whimsical when it was planted in my side yard. Yeah, yeah, yeah... it does actually look better in my backyard but I won't admit that to them.) Part of the front yard doesn’t receive any sun so a purple shamrock can grow there but that’s about it. I would love to have a Black Parrot tulip, Black Hollycock, Hyacinth Dark Dimension, or even those Black Magic elephant ears which I tried to grow from bulbs but they didn’t even sprout :-/ but I don’t have any of them… and I’m okay with that. Isn’t that why I have a Secret Garden Pinterest board?

Pom Pom HOA trouble maker
I actually love flowers and plants that are a variety of colors, not just black ones. I’m somewhat obsessed with my perennial hibiscus (especially the red ones) but it was the bromeliad who saved me.  (I’m an English professor and I know it should be *that* and not *who* but I personify my little friends).

I bought the bromeliad because she was strange. At that time I had no idea that something so beautiful, a blooming bromeliad flower, indicated that she was dying. This was when my garden was in pots on a balcony and I was very much trying to get back to the girl I was. She had to be somewhere! But just like the bromeliad which sprouts a pup, my 15-yr-old inner goth girl resurrected small. Once she began to resurface, I could save myself; and, I did.

a resilient pumpkin
I follow the definition of *gardener* simply as “a person who tends and cultivates a garden as a pastime or for a living”. That’s a Google definition by the way and at best I’m an amateur gardener.  I don’t even remember the names of some of the plants and flowers in my back, side, or front gardens… and I’m okay with that. I talk to them anyway. I cheer their growth. I thank Mother Nature for their arrival. I mourn when winter takes them away.

My nails are shit and it is all my fault. I love getting my hands dirty. I love working with my hands. I forget to wear gloves. I was actually blessed with beautifully long nail beds and that’s the only reason I can have the shortest of short nails that still look nice… when I try. (I don’t try very often.)

upcycled yard art, a whirligig, and a Chinese fringe flower... yeah, I know some of their names
All of this was meant to be a metaphor… gardening was used as a metaphor for living. I was tending my spirit; I was weathering the seasons; I was in need of some serious fertilizer which thankfully I have been receiving through (goth)living well… and through the connections I've made from this blog. Thank you to all who read this blog. My little black heart just grew two sizes larger (um, uh, yeah you know what I mean.)

All of that being said I was going to write that my current backyard garden looks a little dreary. It’s a rainy December day and much of the plant life isn't so attractive. But really my garden isn’t dreary at all. There are little bits of life on some of those shrubs (even berries!). I still have yard art and whirligigs. The garden is going through the seasonal cycle so that it can resurrect in a few months. At points in life, we all have to go within so that we can regenerate and renew. Sometimes we even look a little rough around the edges. (Aside: plug for Bat Fit!) In many ways as my sabbatical is coming to an end, I'm starting to see the work that I've put forth... I'm seeing tiny sprouts of life in my research. During the sabbatical, I started this blog as a way to reconnect with myself and the subculture. I can see growth from this as well. 

It’s a rainy, overcast day but my garden and I are doing just fine.

13 comments:

  1. Lovely metaphor! I was cross at the people telling you what you could plant! Grr! I have really come to appreciate the spirit of nature and plants again this year!

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    1. Aww thanks! I'm somewhat over it/ used to it/ accepted it now but when I first received the letter I sent a detailed (read that as lengthy) email itemizing what was allowed under rules and regulations and how I was indeed meeting the criteria. Someone on the board just thought the Pom Pom looked weird and that it would grow into a large tree. It's a topiary for goodness sake! Okay, after writing all of this I guess I'm really not *that* over it :p ha ha

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  2. Great post! I hear you about HOAs, Martin and I don't EVER plan to buy/rent a house that is attached to one. They suck big time!! Very smart of you to get yourself onto the board, heheheh...

    I love purple shamrocks (Oxalis Somethingelseis), I have one at work! And I had some close-to-black tulips in my community garden plot. I'm terrible with seeds, but not too bad with bulbs. And I adore that black dragon-bat, it's totally darling!!! :-)

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    1. I complain about the HOA but really I don't want a neighbor erecting a 400 ft Confederate flag next door so there are some benefits. I just think that growing up in the country where there aren't *any rules* and having lived in the city where people still do their own thing and it's just fine that it may be more of the townhouse suburbia that I dislike. This too shall pass.

      The bat has a vampire whirligig beside him. Depending on the winds they often appear to be chasing one another :D oh it IS the little things that bring me joy!

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    2. True, that's a very good point, but I don't like people telling me what colors I can or can't paint my house, what type of fence or plants I can or can't have, or how often I have to mow my lawn... which they won't let me get rid of. I've heard of all those problems from friends who are stuck with HOAs. One guy was disabled, so he took out the lawn and put in nice little decorative rocks; they actually went to court to force him to put the lawn back in! And this HOA didn't have a community mowing service, everyone had to mow their own lawns, which he couldn't do because he was disabled. Go figure...

      No wonder the bat thing is so cool, there's a vampire, too!! I LOVE it!!!

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    3. Okay really that was just my attempt to be a lemonade maker out of the HOA lemons :p The same thing happened to my brother... He added a rock garden and then his HOA fined him daily until he returned it to its original state. The rock garden was so much more attractive but... Sigh. I hear ya.

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  3. I'm eternally grateful to live in a neighborhood without HOAs. Screw the neighbors, I do what I want (mostly neglecting to actually plant things but instead allow the front rose planters to be overrun with stinging nettles).

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    1. Leslie, that made me laugh! I have considered planting shrubs that attract bees just to keep the neighborhood children from peeping in my windows... Because some of them do :-/

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  4. What are HOAs? They sound...irritating!

    One of my Bat Fit goals for next year is to tend my yarden better. I inherited some lovely old rose bushes that need some TLC. I never thought I'd find myself falling in love with big blowsy pink and yellow blooms, but there you go! And the old red rose in my front yard - looks stumpy and grumpy and produces the sweetest, darkest red blooms sparingly through the year.

    Your garden always looks lovely.

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    1. Aww thanks :)

      An HOA refers to a homeowner association. Most condos and townhomes in the US have them to regulate the *common area* which turns out to be the outer appearance of one's home and everything a neighbor could possibly see. It's made up of a board of directors who depending on the individuals decide what is or isn't appropriate based on their own taste. Homeowners pay fees to the HOA so that common area maintenance is covered such as landscaping and grass cutting. We're also restricted by what type of fence we can have etc. Technically I'm not supposed to have the perennial hibiscus planted on the side of my house because they grow over 4 ft but since the president thinks I keep them neat and tidy (and considers them pretty) he overlooks it while making another end unit neighbor cut down her sun flowers :( So the rules are mandated by a few people's personal taste which sucks big time.

      I completely understand you falling in love with pink roses. I think I love all colors in nature... Even brown dirt seems beautiful! One of my hibiscus plants has light pinkish white blooms. The flowers are so delicate that it melts my heart a bit.

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    2. Oh my that sounds really restrictive. The only restriction the deeds of my house have is that we can't hang washing in our front gardens! Everything else is up to us. There are few restrictions here in the UK - one down side of this is that so many people have concreted their gardens and made them into parking bays. Thankfully my street isn't allowed dropped kerbs as it has recessed parking for everyone so this hasn't happened, and most of us have flowers and shrubs which make the street prettier.

      However, I do live in a seafront wind tunnel, so its hardy plants only I'm afraid :)

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  5. Oh my gosh, I adore upcycled artwork! There used to be an artist like that here but they retired, now it's all mass produced "recycled-inspired" garden decor. Does that not totally defeat the purpose?

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    1. Hmm it totally does! The local artist store is called ReFunkIt. They did snowman which were adorable out of old propone tanks. They even reuse toilet paper rolls as gift wrapping for small trinkets.

      My first piece was a copper spider. It has always lived inside :D I can't remember what they used to make it but the legs seem a bit delicate.

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