Thumbs rate pattern, gentle words
enlarge this imageContemplating the thought in Thumbs down this week, we began to think of all the best gardens we know, and the people who tend them. Every one of those great gardens is the work of a gentle soul. There was not a mean streak or sharp tongue connected to them anywhere!
Green thumbs up...
...to looking out and back over the year as it ends, to see the
big pictures and patterns otherwise missed.
Recently someone asked about an ornamental grass that hadn't
prospered, and we suggested some possible reasons that species
might falter in growth. Later, while in that meditative state that
comes with weeding, Janet recalled that same person had asked about
some pachysandra that failed to thrive. Under the energy rich,
calming influence of the deep blue fall sky she thought what she
hadn't as we talked about grasses.
That is, "Grasses like sun, pachysandra likes shade. Plenty of
yards have both sunny and shady spots, but perhaps this person's
trying to grow one or the other in the wrong site."
We discussed this and realized that each time we'd spoken to
that gardener, we focused on the plant and its unique
characteristics. We didn't ask about the site, or care. It could be
that the site or the person who planted it is the key.
We saw we should ask more questions about the site. and
care.
Green thumbs down...
...to using violent and angry terms in describing plants and
gardening. A friend who follows Buddhist teachings tells us it's
not only the plants but our own souls which suffer if we are
thoughtless in our use of 'rip that out of there' and 'whack that
back.' "It's not your green thumb or strong back that make your
garden grow," he tells me, "but a golden tongue and bending over to
see the plant's point of view."