I have a conversation with flowers in our garden, about which flowers can stay for the honey bees, butterflies and the sunbirds for their nectar and which of them will let me pluck them for the vase in the quiet room, or in our drawing room.
During the short life span of the flowers, each of the flowers is missional in its presence. It can adorn the garden or decorate the interior space.
In either case, the flowers come to occupy a space of significance. The garden is an open space where the flowers through the colour and fragrance bring a visual feast and create a sense of aesthetic feeling. The interior space of a room is a closed environment where the flowers exist in an artificial environment, without its nutrition except the hydration. They are separated from the plant. Even when a flower suffers the separation from its plant, it remains in its water bowl, stay fresh, colourful and fragrant but more fragile.
Anna and I remember a friend, who would let the flowers remain in the vase, even when they are withering, till they are fully dry and the petals fall off. He would sit quiet watching the vase each day for short time during which, he once told us, that he would receive the flowers as a gift to cheer him and take their colour and fragrance to others. He would do similarly sitting before the withering flowers and feel grateful for what they brought to make his room fresh by their presence. In fact, there were occasions when the flies, bees and ants would come to the flowers through the open window of his room. The flowers still had some nectar even when separated from the plant.
According to this friend, 'when he had a sense of fullness from the flowers', he would gather them in a nice wrapping and keep the bag in the pile where other compostable bio-degradable materials are kept. The withered flowers were not a 'waste' for him. They return to earth to make the earth nitrogen rich. The earth given to humans to 'till and cultivate' is to which all humans and all the living beings shall return!
I remembered this narration of 'f'lowers as a gift to cheer us and given to carry the colour and fragrance to others' yesterday, when I was walking in the garden to collect flowers for the vase in the quiet room!
Each flower is special in its own way. A collection of flowers in a vase is therefore a gathering of the abundance of goodness we receive from the earth.
We receive and take what we need for ourselves from our environment.
It is left to us to keep our environment nourished to give!
It was after a long time that I was tilling the bed of rose bushes and manuring them yesterday. It was during that time, the above thoughts surfaced in my mind.
There is more enthusiasm for gardening among people. That is a sign of sense of stewardship of responsible upkeep of our environment!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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