Splendor in the Vase: Living with Flowers

I'd rather have roses on my table, than diamonds on my neck.
-EMMA GOLDMAN.

The famous English gardener and writer Vita Sackville- West believed that gardening was like painting: "One has the illusion of being an artist painting-putting a dash of color here, taking out another dash of color there, until the whole composition is to one's liking." I am still too much of a novice gardener to have experienced her observation firsthand. 1 only dis¬cover what dash of color I've put somewhere after it blooms. But I do feel like an artist when I arrange a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Now is the season for splendor in the vase. Let's make the most of it. Living with flowers is an exquisite simple pleasure, and in the spring, summer, and fall, it's an affordable luxury. Come the winter months, flowers are too expensive for my budget. Like Emma Goldman, I'd choose roses on my table over diamonds any day. This is a real possibility if you grow your own, which is why I splurged on rosebushes this spring. In my heart and imagination blooms a fragrant English cottage and cutting garden, but it is materializing very slowly. Cutting gardens can take years of nurturing before they reward you with bouquets of flowers. So I weed and water and wait.

Choosing to Blossom

And the day came when the risk [it took] to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
-ANAIS NIN

How much time, creative energy, and emotion do we expend resisting change because we assume growth must always be painful? Much personal growth is uncomfortable, especially learning to set boundaries in relationships. When we commit to nurturing our authentic selves, people close to us are going to start noticing that changes are taking place. This is the sea¬son when growth in the garden, which had been gradual, now accelerates. It's that season for us as well, now that we're six months into the journey toward Wholeness.


For it can be difficult to express your authentic needs by saying "Sorry, I can't" when everybody else assumes you can. But it's worse to thwart the ascent of your authenticity. The day comes-maybe it's today-when "remaining tight in the bud" is more painful than blossoming. "Garden-making is creative work, just as much as painting or writing a poem," the Victorian writer Hanna Rion tells us. "It is a personal expression of self, an individual conception of beauty." Gardening is also a wonderful way to gently explore some of the personal growth issues raised by authenticity. Mother Nature is a patient mentor.


Can you find one perfect rosebud, either in your garden or at a flower shop? Place it on your desk or night table. The Talmud tells us that "Each blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.'" So do we.