Wednesday, May 31, 2017

When is the Best Time to Visit?

Old Fashioned Garden
You learn a lot about people answering the phone and fielding their questions. You learn that the disconnect with the natural world is pervasive and cross-generational as evidenced in the simple - yet very common - question, "When is the best time to visit the park?"

The real answer, which I always give first, is that there is no one time. And that the park is always beautiful and is an ever changing tapestry of sights, sounds, and scents. The natural world is a cycle not a single point in time - this is true even for the manicured, man-created ornamental gardens. Every day of every year has its own unique beauty and unique sights that will NEVER be exactly the same ever again. That too is nature.

"Always beautiful" always falls flat as an answer. The pause of dead-air on the phone or the blank stare if you are speaking in person tells you the listener is quite disappointed in the honest and true answer you have just given. An invisible and silent sigh crosses through your mind and you begin to tell about some of the sights to look for at different parts of the season. Even though you did not answer the question, they are satisfied with this information and move on. And that is so very sad because if they come only at those times, they are missing so much.

My real suggestion as to when to come is this: visit whenever you want and visit often. You will see much and start to learn the character of the place and find that beauty can be found here every day. You will also develop your own list of favorite times and sights which will certainly vary from mine.
Breakfast Bower

Friday, May 19, 2017

It is the Small Things

Perhaps it is because I am a plant nerd and field identification is one of my great loves that I zero in small details so much. Of course it could be wired into my DNA as I'm from a long line of people that never failed to notice or forgot anything from the tiniest details to decade old feuds. (Thankfully, I am not cursed with hanging onto grudges forever.) And so to me, "God is in the details" - it is the small stuff that means the most and always catches my eye.

On a walk through Sonnenberg you can't help but to see the big things - the Italian Garden, the Mansion, the fountains, the ponds, the Tea House, and more. They are the iconic things, the historic treasures that thousands of people come to see every year. But in my walks, those are just backdrops. I see the tiny and ever changing minutia of the gardens and Nature in general. A bit of bark on moss. A green katydid on a daylily. Dew on a leaf and the patterned spread of lichen on a rock. Each with their own amazing beauty and incredible stories to wonder at.

I urge you on your next visit to stop for a moment and look. Really look. Become fully present in that one moment of seeing. You will be amazed by what you see when you drop - or elevate - to that level of seeing. Your visits will never be the same again.

Spring 2017

Self-planted violas sprinkled with evergreen pollen

Tulip tree's young leaves reaching out

Aloe in the Greenhouse

Paper Birch bark on pine needles

Weeping beech leaves opening
and looking like tiny fans

Copper Beech with blooms hanging
like earrings
Morel mushrooms in a quiet corner
The brick walkway dusted in
pollen from the Pinetum
One final thought....

Enjoying the view? If so, bring along some young people and share looking at the tiny stuff with them. The group of you will have a whole safari of exploration and fun. And young kids are really great at this kind of seeing and will undoubtedly point out things you never saw. I'll guarantee you that priceless memories will be made by all.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Learning More About the Thompsons

Archivist and Board Member, Barbara Stahl, recently did the presentation titled For the Love of Gardens: the Artistry of Mary Clark Thompson at the Naples Library. The was recorded and is included below. Enjoy!