Next to Godliness

 Next to Godliness

If I am feeling lost for words or a little bit on the dismal side, I find peace and solitude in the garden. And truly it works every time. Just to sit out there and soak in the beauty of the scene. I feel how fortunate am I to have been gifted with the green fingers that produce the colour, the beauty and the scent of all that grows so profusely come the months of summer. The absolute beauty of the Elizabethan rose, the petals so delicate and so fragile and the near bluest of all, Blue Moon glows in the morning sunshine to welcome the day, as if saying hello to all the buds and blooms of the surrounding flora, the wondrous fuchsia and the scintillating dahlia and the forever blooming geranium, the magic of the Livingstone daisy which only open when the sun shines, and so many more which lavish the garden rockery – the tallest at the rear and the smallest to the front, each displaying an elusive beauty known to their specie.

It is a tonic indeed, to simply take time out and feel the true karma out there in the garden. With the addition of one or two gnomes , a castle tower, windmills and animal and human images, it seems the picture is complete and all so exquisitely amalgamates – a scene to arouse a second look, from children too, discovering just what the figures are about. I would challenge anyone who feels the stress of the modern day trend, to create a garden of their own or find one you are able to visit if not tend yourself. Just put away the 'wires attached' mobile phones and the like and listen to the music of a gentle breeze flowing sensually between the blooms. Just treat yourself to an hour or two, no more – and you will feel refreshed to the core.

And who cares if you want to talk to the plants, no one would notice these days anyway, you could be relaying vocal messages on blue tooth. Many female names come from plants we all know, Daisy, Ivy Honeysuckle and so many more. And it can certainly add to the magical charm out there, the flowers displayed for the pollination of the bee, are all out there to see, to enjoy, to take in the avid scents and to cut for the vase, that we may see the beauty a garden expels, in the confines of our home. There are numerous things in life many do not sense or realise. Like the birds and the bees, the crawly things, all there in the garden. Every creature; like every plant and weed, having a crucial part to play in the survival of the species. Likeable or not we need most every single one to help secure life on this beautiful blue planet of ours. Just the destruction of the common bee would cause havoc and the end of flora as we know it.

So it is a bright 'good morning all' and the flora seems to respond, the honeysuckle bids me to remove the snail I see nibbling its stalk, the caterpillar climbing up the sweet pea, the naughty groundsel weed choking the humble begonia and the wild Ivy attempting to strangle the hollyhock – and that's not all, there is a real battle going on out there and you need to watch for their welfare, if you see an ant then ten to one there are green or blackfly lurking – all chewing away at those delicate leaves, but the ladybird is there, nature's own repellent – to create a balance so that some will always survive regardless. But a little hand weeding and a tickle of the soil does the trick – and the best of the bunch are able to show their true beauty once again, as if to say thank you and it's a strange thing, psychological or not, they really do seem to grow all the better for that unique TLC.