Gardens... should be like lovely, well-shaped girls: all curves, secret corners, unexpected deviations, seductive surprises and then still more curves. ~H.E. Bates, A Love of Flowers
I don't think the curves that H.E. Bates refers to should be just in the shape of the garden as a whole, but in the individual plants as well. I love the sense of motion in plants. On my drive home from work each day I pass a home whose lawn is bordered in manicured shrubs. Those shrubs have been pruned into precise geometric shapes - entirely unnatural and stiff, with no sense of motion. I prefer that my flowers and plants look at least a little wild, looking as if they might decide to start dancing. (Maybe that's because I love to dance.) Or as if they need a little hair gel. (Maybe because I have unruly hair.) And I really love the graceful flowers, tall and slim. Those I'm jealous of!
5 comments:
That's funny ... it was so windy today and I saw a lot of flowing grasses. I thought a whole bed of them would look like water.
Those are pretty curvy blooms...what is the second and third photo? I like them. :)
The second photo is actually the remnants of a clematis bloom after all the petals fell off. The third is a Veronica Speedwell.
Hi Ginny,
I spent too many years trimming shrubs into formal shapes for Compton Acres. I'm like you, I want the simplicity of their natural shape and flow now. Nice pictures.
Good pick of quote by H.E. Bates. And same here, I prefer plants and trees in gardens with a more wild, natural look than totally neat and perfectly pruned.
I like the Bates words. And I have to agree with you in that I also think that he means individual plants as well. I'm guessing he fancied anything with curves.
I don't care to much for the very formal trimming of plants, unless the whole garden is formal and perhaps belonging to an estate.
For a small house like mine, everything has its natural shape.
Thanks for your visit today!
Annelie
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