Re: Steve French's Philosophical 'Q'

> "helene.pizzi" wrote:
> 
> Every time Sean O'Hare ends his comments for this e-mail discussion
> group, he ends with the exact philosophical gardening spirit that I
> feel we all should have.  He writes:
> 
>                  HORTULUS APTUS
> 
>                     A Garden Suited to it's Purpose
> 
> This is what I have printed on a rough hunk of white marble from the
> quarries of Cararra (Micheangelo's 'Pietà was made from this marble).

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this fascinating and very
worthwhile discussion  -  from Steve who deserves everyone's gratitude
for proposing the subject to Helen who I feel most effectively rounds it
off. I have saved all your letters and propose to print them off as my
own personal copy of a series of beautiful essays on the philosophy of
gardening.

As I rather expected it has shown that gardening is an intensly personal
experience, about which any true gardener will have strong feelings, and
like all you other folks who have replied to this thread I cannot resist
adding my two cents.

I guess my love of gardening is the main expression of my very long-term
love affair with nature, and particularly the plant kingdom, which led
me to become a professional botanist and ecologist and for more than
half of my life a  passionate student and advocate of the organic way.

Though my garden is not formless I must admit my interest is more in the
plants than the design. As Tony says it is largely a plantswoman's
garden, though nevertheless many people have derived pleasure from
looking through it. One of the services I have been able to do for the
public as my knowledge of organics has deepened is to grow a pretty
successful chemical-free vegetable garden and use it both to learn
myself and to demonstrate organic methods to visiting groups. In fact it
is not a large patch, being constrained by the limited flat ground
available, but it goes a long way to feeding Tony and me with fresh and
healthful produce and we also grow a selection of fruits suited to the
area - you should taste our raspberries!!.

In one sense I have suffered disappointment with my garden of 45 years,
as in my early adult life in Africa I was enthralled by descriptions of
alpine gardens and when I exchanged Kenya for New Zealand I looked
forward enormously to being able to have just such a garden, but alas,
while there are great alpine gardens in parts of our far south, this
part of the country is simply not the right place and in fact has a
climate pretty close to Mediterranean, though somewhat higher in total
rainfall.. One thing which however went a long way to console me was
that my garden proved a great home for all sorts of Med. bulbs including
delicious miniature  Narcissus species like the bulbocodium group,
cyclaminius and its offspring, and the exquisite triandrus. It is also
apparently the perfect site for almost any  snowdrop and this is one
group in which I tend to collect any species I can lay hands on as each
occupies its own special niche in time, so that several months each year
from autumn to early spring the year is graced by a succession of these
lovely bulbs.

One other very Med group which loves my garden is the miniature Cyclmen
group and I have most of the species, except for some of the very rare
ones, with the two most vigorous kinds (hederefolium and coum)
naturalized in several parts of the garden.

So in certain cases (like the Galanthus and Cyclamen) where every
species is a superior garden plant I could be described as a keen
collector, but with many other genera, and particularly among non-bulbs,
I have found that the popular species are definitely the pick of the
bunch (no doubt why the are so popular) and more obscure sorts obtained
with difficulty have frequently proved a disappointment..

Apart from the bulbs, my ornamental garden is a grand mix of all sorts
of things from roses (mainly the English Austin group and some
old-fashioned climbers) all the way to various native species, some of
which (particularly ferns) come up in my garden without any help, as we
have some (fairly degraded) natural bush on the hillside up above us and
many seeds are brought into the garden by birds or wind. Due to the
garden's sloping site I have a fascinating variety of microclimates from
hot sunny terraces to quite deep shade, which of course call for
interestingly different treatment as far as selection of species and
soil modification treatment is concerned.

One of the bonuses of organic gardening is the gradual building-up
throughout the garden of a well-balanced ecosystem with ever-increasing
friendly bird and insect life and correspondingly ever less problems
with pests and diseases. One effect it has had is to break down many of
my predudices about weeds, and as a result I have become an increasingly
untidy gardener, as I leave odd patches about the place to shelter and
feed various insects and also as as a safe haven for my friends the
spiders.

And like all "mad" gardeners I have my triumphs when some planting works
especially well, for instance at the present moment I wish you could
visit me to share the delicious perfume of Rhododendron formosanum whose
pure white flowers are especially sweet at night. Last night when we
came home about eleven after attending a dinner it greeted us as soon as
we emerged from the car, although the garage is fifty or sixty feet away
from where it grows on the bank  by the front door..

Moira
-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata (near Wellington, capital city of New Zealand)
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