Hearts in the Garden

Day 23
The Daily DuBrule

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and everywhere you look you see hearts. I have been collecting heart rocks for many years. It is such a fun hobby. When I am at the beach, or walking along a babbling brook, I am always on the lookout. When I am digging in a new client's garden and I find one or more heart rocks, I think to myself "this person is going to be a joy to work with". I use little ones as decorative toppings for my houseplants. Once you start looking for them, they are everywhere, even in the gravel in a stone path!

One time I went to visit a new client and noticed her gorgeous collection of heart rocks. She invited me to come inside. They had built their house, and their chimney had the most amazing grouping of large, perfect heart rocks I had ever seen. She explained that each one was for a family member. I will never forget how the sight of that chimney made me feel. 

Dicentra 'Burning Hearts'

I also incorporate hearts in the garden in other ways. My friend Kim Kuzina has made some lovely heart shaped troughs. You can see one planted in the picture at the top of this post. She also made a beautiful heart shaped birdbath for my husband and me as a wedding present. The bowl is a heart, and a smaller heart is raised in the center as a perch for the birds. It is reinforced with heavy mesh hardware cloth so it can stay out all year. The birds love it!

Old fashioned bleeding heart with self sown Silene dioica

Our native Viola labradorica has tiny purple heart shaped leaves!

Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy'

Of course there are lots of flowers and leaves that are heart shaped. From common Philodendron and Pothos houseplants to bleeding hearts of all sorts, to the gorgeous burgundy heart shaped leaves of Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy', it is easy to fill your world with this powerful symbol of love.