Mindful Gardening Newsletter No 28
Mindful Gardening Newsletter No 29
Firstly, let me apologize to my subscribers for the fact that this newsletter has not been published for two weeks. The laptop I write the newsletter on is in for repair and in rural Ireland this takes time. I have put off adding a desktop setup, but it could be another two weeks before the laptop is back. So, I have cobbled together some various email programs and links to Google Drive to try and continue publication.
Spring Bulbs Catalogues
One of the things I love at the end of summer is that the autumn catalogues begin to arrive. I call this my gardening porn. So, the Autumn catalogue of Mr. Middleton arrived today and as I write this newsletter I am perusing the various bulbs on offer. One of the ways I choose such bulbs is by way of the name. I love bulbs that have uplifting names such as: -
· Narcissi Fairness
· Narcissi Altruist
· Narcissi My Story
I will be ordering a selection of these for the Rumi Garden that I am developing over the autumn and winter period. Lots of heavy work involved in clearing the weeds that have grown to over eight feet high. Whether or not I buy another 3,000 bulbs as I did last year is open to consideration.
Stewart’s Grove
Playing guitar in garden in early morning
Earlier in the week Monday I took several breaks sitting on the bench in Stewart’s Grove watching the fluttering of the colored Tibetan prayer flags and listening to the wind as it blew through the grove. This was resting from the physically demanding task of taking out the seven-foot weeds that have filled the West side of what will be Rumi’s Garden.
Listening to the breeze blow through the grove of trees reminded me of one of my favorite songs that I play on the white guitar. This is The Wind by Cat Stevens now Yusif Islam.
I listen to the wind to the wind in my soul – The Wind – Cat Stevens – Yusif Islam
One of the keyways to listen to the wind (intimations) from the soul is to sit in silence.
This is to sit in what Dr Paul Brunton writing in The Short Path to Enlightenment refers to as the “Big Silence.” This is not the absence of noise but the absence of the personal sense of the separate self that we all identify with, and which is the primary cause of most all suffering within time and space.
You cannot listen to the intimation of soul without allowing the never ending dialogue, that is the voice inside your head coming to a cessation. Any practice of mindful gardening and especially inner gardening requires this silence. It is you abiding in the womb of Creation that designed you to create and flower its intention through you. This allows you to live in alignment with Love’s Purpose.
The Bridget’s Garden
The Sweet Pea that we planted earlier in the year is climbing up the bamboo canes to form a wall of scented Sweet Pea. At the back of Bridget’s Garden, I planted perennial sweet pea along with honeysuckle. I will collect the peas from some of the pods and keep them for planting in the spring.
People who visit here at the cottage like to stand at the front door. If the wind is blowing toward the Northeast, they get the heady scent of honeysuckle and sweet pea. This autumn I will be spending a lot of time propagating the honeysuckle, fuchsia and jasmine. This means learning how to take semi hardwood cuttings. So, I have enrolled in an online course run by Rosie Hardy called Rosy Hardy’s Propagation Workshop.
https://rosy-hardy.teachable.com/courses
I will be sharing my journey of learning how to propagate within this newsletter and hope this will be of benefit to you.
The Rumi Garden
Clearing ground for garden to celebrate Rumi
As I clear the wall of weeds that include thistle, cleavers, bindweed, couch grass and comfrey I begin to feel the whole space of this planned garden begin to open up. I love to stand in the center of it and feel its spaciousness and openness. This is a kind of open-hearted spaciousness that Rumi loves to write about in his poetry.
My heart rushes into the garden, joyfully tasting all the delights. But reason frowns, disapproving of the heart’s bad manners. — Rumi
Today (Saturday) I received my order from Gardens4You.ie. This order includes various types of Coreopsis. One of these is Coreopsis Rosea – American Dream. This works well as a ground cover and flowers for an extended period of time into the autumn and fall.
Coreopsis – American Dream
I decided to plant this to invite the flowering of a state of unity that would be lovely to see manifested in the U.S.A (and all other places). So, Bee who originates from the U.S.A will be planting this collection of Coreopsis to begin the Rumi Garden once the rain stays off long enough to do so.
The Willow Den
Was over at Morag’s house last week and stood in the willow den that she has created in her garden next to the grove of apple trees. In more of the high winds passing through Cordressagagh we had another tree limb come down that for a time blocked the Penny’s Bridge into the fairy garden.
This morning, I cut all the stems from the trunk, and it was easy peasy to stick these through the black plastic that covers much of the very soggy and boggy grown to the South West of the garden. I have started to plant these in a large circle which I hope will grow into a kind of kiddies play space (and maybe a play space for the kid in the adult).
Idea for Small Bird Bath
I had the idea for planting up a pond in the large digger tyre that came from my friend Micheal’s Kabuta (mini digger). However, as you might know YouTube feeds you suggestions about stuff that reflects you interest. This week I got fed a wonderful video about how to create a bird bath.
This is a lovely mini project, but I need to be mindful of where I site this birdbath because our Sparkle loves nothing more than to bring back a little trophy to share which are mostly little birds.
So, I will be off to Poundstretcher in Enniskillen to look for a small container and off to Ardcarne Garden Centre for some plants that will fill the container. I think I might simply place it on the table given to us by Eileen McGovern so that I am able to view them bathing from a distance or maybe out in the open where I might view them bathing from the bench in Stewart’s Grove.
This Week’s Gifts
Above you see the seed pods that I was given by our postman Des. He is an avid gardener like me. These are poppy seeds and calendula seeds which are fairly easy to grow.
We returned from a trip from Belcoo to find this bunch of sunflowers left by the door courtesy of our blessed neighbour David. Such a lovely surprise and given that the Cuckson family flower is really the sunflower. A family crest would include the sunflower, the hot water bottle and a dog.
Conclusion
Directions to a place of Happiness
So, this is a quick catch up just to keep you posted on what is happening and what is planned for this developing garden of grace that I have the benefit of stewarding. Hoping that next week I get to pick up the laptop so that I get back to writing and editing various projects that I love to create, including the content of this newsletter. I hope you take time during the week to listen to the wind in your soul – Source Of Unconditional Love.