Report From PIA – June 8
I was looking at The English Garden magazine the other day and stopped to read about a small garden tour in Great Britain, planned for 2011. Included was a visit to many of the most glorious gardens in that country. Someday, I want to see them all.
But an early morning walk with The Dog reminded me to appreciate the gardens that are right in front of me all the time. I walked up from the lake and glanced across the meadow to a chokecherry tree (Prunus virginiana) that grows on the edge of our property. This tree, and the way that it and the meadow were framed by the oaks and other foliage, looked as perfect to me as any famous garden.
I remembered that I once read that of all plants, oaks and cherries support the most wildlife. This added to my appreciation of the scene.
While most ornamental cherries in this area suffer from any number of pests and diseases, this chokecherry flourishes. And while the tree shown a bright green, the colors in the meadow plants were as subtle and filled with light as an impressionist painting.
This simple, uncultivated scene reminded me that the best gardens surround us, all the time. Be they literal or metaphorical, we are often enclosed by majestic environments…all we need to do is open our eyes and see them.
