Gardening

Putting together ones life with the modern world.
Otava

Re: Gardening

Post by Otava »

I started to grow Passiflora caerulea last year if I remember right. It wasn't hard to grow at all but I was still suprised when it started blooming.
Passiflora caerulea.JPG
Straight from wikipedia, but anyway...

· The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.
· The tendrils represent the whips used in the flagellation of Christ.
· The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (excluding St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).
· The flower's radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the crown of thorns.
· The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail.
· The 3 stigmas represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).
· The blue and white colors of many species' flowers represent Heaven and Purity.


I recommend.
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Silvaeon
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Re: Gardening

Post by Silvaeon »

I've been gardening professionally for the last nearly 4 months. I've kind of been waiting to post in this thread, allowing some time for the process to occur and make itself known to me, but I feel like I am able to say a little bit now. Even if all I can really do is echo a lot of the sentiments here.

For me, gardening has certainly shown itself to echo an esoteric process I've been going through. I began at the tail-end of summer, and being outside and working in the heat was quite oppressive, and this mirrored my mental state at the time, feeling weighed down and stuck. As I settled in to the groove of the fall, nature seemed to slow down and I began to decompress more and more each day as both the trees and myself began to shed our dead weight - the trees physically, myself mentally, which was not without its pain. But clearing the clutter of leaves and mental blocks has proved to be immensely healing for me, and even in the rain I found a lot of calm during this time, especially the last few weeks, for which I am incredibly grateful. The leaves have more or less finished now, so the time has come for pruning trees and shrubs, and making room for the new growth that will come in the spring.

I've gotten to do a little bit of planting as well this fall - cedars and various shrubs so far, and I'm excited to be able to take care of them and watch them grow.

It's been interesting to watch my mental states echo my actions while gardening, and also how much more in tune with the seasons I feel, just from spending most of my time outside now. It has been a very meaning process for me and I look forward to continuing with it.
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Heith
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Re: Gardening

Post by Heith »

With the arrival of spring I am seeing the first results of last year's gardening work. I did some experiment in moving plants from the forest and these seem to all have survived, much to my surprise. When possible, it's good to favor native plants and support the biodiversity and ecosystem. Sadly I've not the large garden to go as creative as I'd like, which combined with having a north-east facing space and little light largely limits the options.

With that said I also of course have plants that just come from the shop. I've been focusing on keeping the colour scheme with flowers strictly on red, black and some white (in that order, red being the predominant colour). But I keep sketching for a kind of labyrinth garden, which is built of square and rectangle shapes, and seems to somewhat resemble a body of sorts with its chambers and in the center, a water feature symbolising the heart or perfection. Roses in that section, obviously. I'm now thinking of the winter period in this future garden which I suppose would mean hedges of trees and boxes. Skeletal shapes.
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Smaragd
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Re: Gardening

Post by Smaragd »

What a lovely plans you got there! I have been agonizing for not having a space where to actualize my gardening plans. They are such long term plans I can't do it just anywhere. While waiting for opportunities to go for the Magnum Opus of my garden work, I've been scheming ways to prototype some aspects in commercial and public forms.

My plans base on the symbiotic relationships different organisms are able to form with each other. It's about finding balance and order in nature, though order isn't visually obvious in this type of gardening. For example some plants naturally move away from their previous growing areas to avoid diseases that habitate the soil. Such behaviour patterns are to be concidered in my plans. Balancing happens with rich biodiversity where no one species gets an upper hand of the others and their sizes support each other mostly in terms of shade.

Taking a step away from the details, we can see small areas, or "guilds" as the forest gardeners like to call them, where certain symbiotic relationships take place. I'd like to make hypotheses of possible new symbiotic relationships forming between certain plants and place their guilds near each other. Not necessarily next to each other because why would they bother trying to be friends with other organisms when they are doing good already. This "I'm good" behaviour can be seen for example in mycorrhiza situations where the roots of a plant host a fungus giving it sugars while the fungus helps the plant take phosphorous etc. from the soil, but when the soil already has plenty of these nutrients the plant don't bother doing exchange with the fungus. We need to suffer to evolve from the domination of the kama manas.

One step further away I'd like to have symbolic meaning to the planting patterns like in the plans of soror Heith and the traditional decorative gardens. These meanings would have connections to the smaller scale patterns and their meanings. The symbolic aspect is for the symbiotic relationship between the higher principles of humans and the garden. The aspect would naturally suggests ritual practices that deal also with the lower areas, like the human body needing the fruits of the harvest and the garden needing ashes of the deceased.
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
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Heith
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Re: Gardening

Post by Heith »

Smaragd wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 4:42 pm One step further away I'd like to have symbolic meaning to the planting patterns like in the plans of soror Heith and the traditional decorative gardens. These meanings would have connections to the smaller scale patterns and their meanings. The symbolic aspect is for the symbiotic relationship between the higher principles of humans and the garden. The aspect would naturally suggests ritual practices that deal also with the lower areas, like the human body needing the fruits of the harvest and the garden needing ashes of the deceased.
This is a good way to look at it, I think.

In gardens, if one doesn't use pesticides (like I don't), quite naturally one begins to consider the relationships that plants and insects (amphibians, birds, and so forth) form with one another. A garden that has no harmony in its system is at the brink of destruction constantly and needs constant outside help. That is why the base work is so important.

For me the garden is first and foremost a my spiritual work materialized, so it includes an element of fantasy and constructed structure. I would for example prune trees and hedges, which is of course not naturally occurring event, at least not to the precision and extent that it is done in a garden. I am basing my gardening plans to geometry and this plan lives a little as it becomes more detailed and complex in my mind. I've been seeking inspiration from the composition of certain artworks lately -for example only yesterday The Last Supper by Da Vinci. Probably I would also use sculpture or such things, but the overall blueprint has to be ready first.
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Smaragd
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Re: Gardening

Post by Smaragd »

Heith wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 5:46 pm In gardens, if one doesn't use pesticides (like I don't), quite naturally one begins to consider the relationships that plants and insects (amphibians, birds, and so forth) form with one another. A garden that has no harmony in its system is at the brink of destruction constantly and needs constant outside help. That is why the base work is so important.
Exactly. I realise I myself as "a garden" am still a bit nearer of this pesticide solution balancing near the pit of destruction. Alot of work have been put forth to build a safer way, but it takes years and years of preparing and poisons.
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Gardening

Post by Polyhymnia »

Reading all of your garden plans has me itching to plan my own this year. I tried two years in a row, quite unsuccessfully, as the first year many slugs ate my vegetables and the second year nothing wanted to stay alive. I was discouraged by my seemingly black thumb of death. I have never thought of growing my garden in any kind of spiritual way though, and I'm ashamed to say I've been out of touch with nature for a very long time and I'll be taking this next while to reconnect, and perhaps I will try again this year but look at it differently and perhaps my outcome will be different. Maybe. If I can figure out how to keep those slugs under control or just live with it. Maybe sharing with them isn't such a bad thing.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Heith
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Re: Gardening

Post by Heith »

Polyhymnia wrote: Mon May 13, 2019 6:02 pm If I can figure out how to keep those slugs under control or just live with it. Maybe sharing with them isn't such a bad thing.
While slugs will go for most plants, not everything is to their liking. If you're wanting to grow vegetables etc then absolutely, slugs are a problem. But if you're happy with say, ferns, then you can probably co-exist to some extent. There are other tricks as well. Copper tape around growing pots works, but it's quite expensive. Slugs hate birch ash, so if you have that then can sprinkle it around and under plants. There is even a new birch ash liquid that I was going to try. Apparently slugs hate it, and it also doubles in the compost bin, controlling the smell.

In certain countries there are invasive species of slugs that disturb the ecosystem so check which ones you got.

EDIT: Also pine bark is something they don't like very much. And check your garden if you have a ideal lovenest for slugs then that probably should be removed. I had a pile of rocks in my garden with some water under. Found about a hundred slugs in there.
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Gardening

Post by Polyhymnia »

Heith wrote: Mon May 13, 2019 6:31 pm While slugs will go for most plants, not everything is to their liking. If you're wanting to grow vegetables etc then absolutely, slugs are a problem. But if you're happy with say, ferns, then you can probably co-exist to some extent. There are other tricks as well. Copper tape around growing pots works, but it's quite expensive. Slugs hate birch ash, so if you have that then can sprinkle it around and under plants. There is even a new birch ash liquid that I was going to try. Apparently slugs hate it, and it also doubles in the compost bin, controlling the smell.

In certain countries there are invasive species of slugs that disturb the ecosystem so check which ones you got.

EDIT: Also pine bark is something they don't like very much. And check your garden if you have a ideal lovenest for slugs then that probably should be removed. I had a pile of rocks in my garden with some water under. Found about a hundred slugs in there.
Thanks for the tips! I will look into this at my local gardening centre. I think I'll bypass the veggies this year and focus on herbs and flowers. Here in the part of Canada I live we say we must get most things in the ground May long weekend, which is upcoming, so I better hop to it. If anyone has pictures of their gardens once they're in bloom that they'd be willing to share I'd love to see your amazing handiwork!
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
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Smaragd
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Re: Gardening

Post by Smaragd »

I'm keen to the idea of attracting predatory species to balance some overpresentation of say, slugs. It's like letting the kama manas destroy a harmful patterns of behaviour and thought we have formed. Ofcourse if the slugs have come with the gardening business dragging plants from the other side of the world we may be short of any natural predators. Getting turkeys or ducks to take care of the situation isn't option for everyone. Anyway the idea places the natural world in its' carnally manifested form in ethically interesting position, where the gardener is sort of this controller of the streams of life and death. This could be seen as deeply and respectfully taking the role of the human in the world "as it was meant", or it might be like the mafia boss acting as the real murderer who just didn't pull the trigger. Most of the harmfully invasive species are only invasive in the areas that are drastically affected by humans — places where large part of the animal kingdom have been banished. This means the place of our houses and our gardens need to be really thought out before we are entitled to take the role (not trying to moralise, just seeing where this thought takes me. I'm a mass murderer when it comes to certain enthusiastic plants :? ). Ofcourse when it comes to actual gardens there's rarely so much as a choice of locations.
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
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