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The Gardener's Vision

© Carol Wallace

Dan Ellsworth, in his Learning from Gardeners article, commented that gardeners seem to have developed personality traits different from those of non-gardeners. He may have a point. Gardeners are different. Whether we realize it or not, gardening is an act that almost violates the rules of modern culture. Gardening is also, in its own way, a search for meaning, a ritual that we use both to involve ourselves in and to guarantee life. Not your typical, modern-day pursuit.

Gardeners see differently. The casual visitor sees only a collection of pretty flowers, but we have learned to look past that surface to the quality of the soil, the juxtaposition of a round leaf and a fern-like one. We look at a newly planted bed and see not the bare earth and tiny sprigs of greenery before us, but all the potential that they represent.

Gardeners know a great truth about sharing. Dig into a clump and give a piece to a friend, and it benefits them -- and the plant, which responds to divison with increase. Share and you are rewarded many times over. And your garden lives on, both in its present place and with friends

Planting is reactionary, a violation of a culture that is becoming increasingly dependent on instant gratification. Fast food, microwaved dinners -- cellular phones, instant e-mail! But plant a seed, and all you can do is water and wait. Plant a garden, and unless we have spent thousands on fully mature specimens, we must rely on patience and our inner vision to see that garden to fruition. Gardening produces gratification in minute quantities. We rejoice when an ailing plant recovers, or when the roses flower abundantly. One part of the garden that satisfies; we must immediately turn our attention to the next part which needs work. Gardening is a process, painting with flowers that weather, wildlife and our own ignorance may erase without warning, forcing us to repaint portions over and over. We must be actively involved with nature to garden successfully. That, too, is an anomaly in today's world.

Gardeners respond to the outer world differently. Think about it. We spend a lot of good money trying to insulate ourselves from the seasons. If it's warm, we turn on the air conditioner; cold means turning on heaters and electric blankets. Many of us bustle from house to car to office thinking of weather as an inconvenience, something that we pass through on our way to somewhere else. Non-gardeners may be able to tell you that it rained Tuesday -- if they forgot their umbrella, or if that rain meant that their game was postponed. Gardeners remember, though. To them that rain was a gift that made the world green again.

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