Heavens. A story. I live, I believe, to try to create beauty. I don't just mean visually beautiful surroundings - in gardens - I mean also that a whole creation, the creation of ourselves, should also have value - the value of warmth of heart and integrity.
I have spent a lot of my life working towards understanding what I can do and evolving into the state of grace which is knowledge, skill and sympathy towards the life which is a living plant. 'Anerca' is the Inuit word for the phrase 'to breathe it.' I have spent my summers breathing the scent which is rose and unfolding my hands, my fingers, into clipping their stems into the utmost elegance that each individual can give. Each one is different. Each one is touched, over and over again, throughout all the seasons. Each year is a study of shape, bud, bloom, leaf, stem, prickle and root. It is a fascination without end. |
I am not saying that there are not hardships. I bear great physical loads: there is the digging of holes; the weight of the bags of compost; the whacking in of metal stakes to support the lax stems of Gallicas and Damasks; the trundling of wheelbarrow loads full of clippings over acres of ground, the weight of hundreds of watering cans in a season.
And then there is the inevitable load of relationships: there are so many different ideas and values and ways of doing things amongst any group of people. I would never say that it is easy - but it is also worth it. Ultimately, I have found the right place - here amongst plants of all kinds - where I endeavour to create beauty, elegance, class and grace. |