My garden is a monotonous-free zone with Jessica Murnane
[Series] On Slow Living #14
Marietta and Ernie are icons in the plant horticultural world. I was lucky enough to work for them briefly, house sit for them often, and visit their amazing gardens when recently in Oregon this past April with my friends Denice and Rich. Having only recently retired from a lifetime in landscaping, gardening, and breeding rare hellebores, their property tells the story of a once thriving nursery. Being in their garden, meandering over soft heavily mulched paths, is like time traveling throughout forty plus years of cultivated history. It is a botanical wonderland, reflective of how tremendous a garden can be when coupled with time, seed dispersal, devotion, hard-work, and care. I absolutely love it there. Surrounded in layer upon layer of time, something indescribable happens. I feel right at home, a fragment of both the ancient and new.
The garden, especially their garden is sensational. Truly it’s a paradise full of exquisite plants from around the world. Beautiful, magical, surreal, where so much has and is taking place. Meticulous tending, pruning, culling, layering, and composting has resulted in a dramatically adaptive landscape. You can sense it.
Utterly transformed and likely irreversible, the house is nestled in what you’d call a novel ecosystem. An autonomous, wild ecosystem that deviates from the natural baselines because of human activities. They are landscapes that have characteristically passed the point of no return. It cannot go backward. What has formed is an emerging and unique ecology, an identifying force all its own. Something that has been co-created and entirely new and can only evolve.
I don’t find this sort of transformation good nor bad, just an evolution of what once was. Some may find it threatens native ecology, but that is not what’s happening in their garden. It’s light years away from a reckless disrespect of nature. Why that is so common these days, well I have my theories. Certainly an obtuse attitude of power over behavior that is extractive, short-sighted, and void of humility or reciprocity doesn’t help.
This is the gardener in me talking. The gardener on a mission to understand the essence of what it means to commingle with grace. To co-create with Nature itself. Over time growth is inevitable, but it’s through exposure to new experiences, people, ideas, and places where metamorphosis becomes possible. In this sense, I think our own lives are a little like novel ecosystems—able to be altogether new and emerging.
Jessica Murnane, my friend in today’s Slow Living Series, is certified in Horticultural Therapy (HT) and a fellow lover of gardens and flowers. She’s done so many cool things in her life. Currently she’s working with plants and people, writing, and podcasting. I believe we share a love of gardening. Something that’s more than a remedy to restore mental or physical balance, but a fierce ally, a teacher, and friend. She says, “[HT] has also helped me build a deeper connection to self and a bigger reservoir of hope (and patience) for when I need it most…You know, you don’t have to be into nature in order to have a relationship with it.”
A walk in the park, growing flowers, or simply being present in your community are ways to relate to nature. They have the potential to spark something novel, like that afternoon when I did nothing more than wander through Marietta and Ernie’s garden. I felt deeply changed and utterly healed.
Thanks for sharing Jessica. As always, you inspire me!
Yours, Erin
What does slow living mean to you?
Slow living means CHILLING and being super mindful of the energy around me. Which involves...
• Investing time / energy into reciprocal relationships and slowly ghosting those that aren't (this is a new one for me).
• Playing video games with my son. It's fun, bonding, and calms us both.
• Wearing my pajamas the second I walk through the door at the end of the day.
• Having a puzzle going at all times. When I'm feeling overwhelmed, I find my puzzle. I also have a puzzle club with my brother-in-law (Brandon), my sister-in-law (Allison) and one of my sisters (Alissa). Although we live in different states, we all buy the same puzzle and start it at the same time. We do our puzzles "together" (it's also a bit of a competition).
• Making bread every week. And sometimes making two loaves to give one away.
• A nightly 8pm 2.5mg THC/CBD eddie.
• Watching an unserious show in bed while eating a bowl of something I love – my greatest luxury.
• Zero social media. As in, I wiped it all. With launching a new business, it's a gamble, but one I am willing to take for my mental health.
• Knowing all my neighbors (cats included) and connecting with them. Very into the real life connections more than ever. See above.
What's one thing (action, mindset, ritual, habit, etc.) that's essential to maintaining it in your day to day life?
My cut flower garden. That action changes throughout the year – it could mean choosing all the seeds for the coming season, getting out paper and drawing up a map of where everything will go, watching my seedlings slowly germinate, weeding, learning new tricks from friends, or simply cutting flowers. It's truly essential for my well-being. I tell my family on a weekly basis that I don't know what I would do without it!
Monotony makes me so uncomfortable and I struggle with living in it. My garden is monotonous-free zone! Every day, something is new. Everyday something different is happening. Growing has also allowed me to feel more creative, feel less stressed, have more hope, and learn way more patience.
How do you ensure that a little bit of wildness and or nature remains close?
I have this little table in my kitchen that holds three small-medium glass vases. I make sure they are filled with something from outside at all times. I swear it instantly changes the whole space. Right now, I don't have any big blooms in the garden...so they are filled with dill, a handful of alyssum, and a twig of holly I found on a walk.
It's also so fun when guests come over to leave the vases empty and let them fill them. I hand them a pair of snips and let them choose whatever makes them happy outside. Instant smiles as they fill the vases.
Resources:
With Jessica
With me