My Discovery of a Flora and Fauna Nirvana

Recently my daughter, one of my best friends and I decided to visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Although It had been on my list of places I wanted to go for years, I had never gone. The decision to go was mainly inspired by this blog. I love the book Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and when I learned there was an exhibit at the Garden, I called my friend and let her know it was Educator’s Day and asked if she wanted to go. She said, “yes.” My daughter, also a certified teacher, decided to accompany us. Although the Alice in Wonderland exhibit was the major force in me going, I looked forward to seeing the Garden itself, not just the special exhibit.

I love plants, always have. I love flowers, bushes, trees and anything else that Mother Nature produces. In fact, I am the daughter of a gardener (floral and produce) and the granddaughter of a farmer. Most would never know because although I have a love of plants, I don’t garden. I used to try, but each time I bought the flats of seedlings and flowers and began digging, I would eventually meet up with a snake. I DO NOT like snakes. As soon as the snake and I met, down went the tools and away I would go. Yes, you guessed it, encountering the snake would be the end of my gardening initiatives for that given year. The only reasons I have plants at my house is because my mom planted them. My mom has always had plants, and most of the time a garden as well. Even while growing up in Boston, she had an urban garden on the side of our apartment,in the back yard, or even on the porch or window sills. She could, and still can, break off a piece of a plant and root it until it became this humongous plant.

Due to my aforementioned dislike and fear of snakes, potted plants are more my style, although I only have a few. I used have many in the house, my class, my office and on my porch, but when I use to traveled extensively, someone, usually my husband, would forget to water them and when I returned, they would be dead or near dead.

I have always dreamed of having a secret garden where I could go sit, meditate, read, and just simply enjoy and appreciate the beauty it would have to offer. I reflected on sitting in the garden and writing. ” I thought of the author’s words, “I am writing in the garden. To write as one should of a garden one must write not outside it or merely somewhere near it, but in the garden.”

Atlanta’s Botanical Garden welcomed us and did not disappoint! It was a wonderland of beauty, a nirvana. It made me think of the book, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This classic was another childhood favorite of mine that I frequently reread.

As we walked throughout the Gardens, I thought of the effect it had on the characters in Burnett’s book; the miracles that took place; the healing that occurred; and the relationships that were mended and created. I thought of how love and kindness conquered neglect, selfishness, anger and pity. I thought of the power of blooming, whether on a plant or a person.

I share the following pictures with you as a photo-journal of our visit to my newly discovered nirvana. Please allow them to share how we
engaged ourselves into nature and connected to gardens.

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Many thanks and much respect to one of literarilymyway.com’s followers, Charlene Patston of perhapsthisis.com, who recognized the hand blown sculptures as one of Dale Chihuly original creations leading to this update and my sharing of the following coverage from the 2016 Chihuly in the Gardens Exhibit. Because of her inspiration in her comment, I have learned that this Chihuly sculpture was “created for the Garden in 2004” and that this Dale Chihuly’s Parterre Fountain Installation is a one-of-a-kind sculpture in blue and white, interpreting shapes and colors of water, ice and sky. A captivating assemblage of twisting, brightly colored glass, the sculpture sparkles in Levy Parterre Fountain, where it is especially lovely lit up after dark.” It has been recommended that we can view it’s “sparkle from the top of Alston Overlook.”

See: https://atlantabg.org/art-collection/parterre-fountain-installation/ and https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/04/28/chihuly-in-the-garden-returns-to-atlanta-slideshow.html

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In addition to the flora and fauna in the Botanical Garden are several statues. Here are a few.

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Intense pondering on the names of these flowers. Are they daisies, black-eyed Susies or something else?

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Pretty in pink above and gorgeous in goldenrod below; the beauty of God’s blessings and wonders.

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As we prepared to depart and was descending the staircase in the Hardin Visitor Center, I looked up and saw this beautiful one-of-a-kind Dale Chihuly creation. Doing a little research after one of my followers, Jennifer, commented on it being a Chihuly creation, I have learned that it is referred to as the Nepenthes Chandelier. This floral hand blown glass sculpture was lit up in the atrium of the gift shop, entrance and exit. Although it escaped my notice when I entered, it definitely caught my attention as I was exiting. It was a fitting farewell to our flora and fauna nirvana and a tribute to Burnett’s The Secret Garden. I will be back!

As with Burnett’s “The Secret Garden“, I found peace in the Gardens. I’ve always recognized gardens and gardening as having the power to not only give peace, but also to heal. Just as in “The Secret Garden,” the healing can be emotionally, physically or spiritually. Additionally, it can help build not only character, but relationships with nature, others and God. Whether a Secret Garden or not, the power it possesses is limitless if you are open to its miracles and discoveries.

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Engaging and Connecting:

• Plant a garden
• Invite a gardener and/or botanist to be a guest speaker
• Plan a garden
• Engage in a beautification project
• Create a landscape project
• More ideas are at https://www.pinterest.com/literarilymyway/the-secret-garden/
• Visit a garden
• Volunteer to plant a garden for a neighbor, the school, a nursing home, a hospital…
• Prepare a Garden StoryWalk

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