Embracing Lushness

 

Day 179
The Daily DuBrule

My garden is kind of overwhelming these days. So are the gardens I visit and the ones I drive by and observe. Everything is gigantic, shaggy, and a bit out of control. It's August and it's been a insane year of extreme weather. The garden started growing early and it just never stopped. 

Sometimes I walk outside and shake my head in wonder and delight. Other times I think too myself it is too much. The other day I took my pruners and cut every other branch out of the butterfly bush next to the lounge chair on my deck. I felt closed in. I pruned the branches deep into the heart of the plant. Voila. Air and light and a sense of relief as I could see the sunset beyond once again. Sunday I was the mad pruner, lifting the skirt on my weeping cherry and removing branches that were extending beyond my idea of a proper canopy. I chopped back Viburnum carcephalum stems that had made me walk sideways down the path. Flowering oregano flopping onto the walkway? Off with it's head! Everywhere I went I attempted to reign in the lushness.

I have visited beautiful gardens in the past few weeks. Everyone is asking for help as they feel out of control. Join the club. There are two ways to look at this. The first is allowing this feeling of being overwhelmed to rule your world and try to take action. That's what I did on Sunday. The second is to relax, smile, and embrace the lushness of high summer and enjoy the jungle effect while it lasts. Soon enough we will be cutting all of this bounty back and the branches will be bare again. 

Sunday I walked up to my EIGHT FOOT tall Vernonia, craned my neck, looked up at it's purple flowers against the sky and just laughed out loud. "Look at you", I said. "Aren't you just the most amazing thing on earth today." That's the spirit.