For many years, I've maintained a gardening site on the Internet called The Southern Great Lakes Gardener.
It was my "baby", but as with so many things and experiences in life, it's reached its limits and end.
I felt that perhaps the time had come for going to the next level with my gardening experience, and blogging seemed to be the perfect outlet. I think it is the perfect format for communicating and sharing. I also wanted to take this in a different direction.
Now, any gardener will agree that gardening is much more than poking a few seeds in the ground or putting in a few shrubs and trees. It is all about satisfying the inner muse and artist in every gardener.
It is also a spiritual, meditative experience of sorts.
Most people who are avid gardeners will tell you that they have a deep respect and connection with Nature. They will also tell you that they enjoy creating a refuge of beauty and harmony in their little piece of the Universe. If you dig a little deeper, they will tell you that gardening goes beyond being a hobby for them.
I also happen to be an artist in the "real" sense as well. I enjoy working with watercolors, oil pastels, charcoal, and digital rendering. As one who has dabbled in the visual arts, I can tell you that the same holds true: An artist develops a deep respect and connection with Nature. An artist also enjoys creating beauty and harmony.
But, there are differences between the two arts.
With the visual arts the primary impact with paintings and illustrations involves only one sense: Sight. Sure, sometimes there is texture and the tactile sense of touch is involved. But the main impact involves sight.
Gardening offers an opportunity to not only enjoy a beautiful work of art through sight, but also through sound--the sounds of water trickling through a fountain or over a rock into a waterlily pond.
Gardening also offers an opportunity to enjoy art through scent--the aroma of lilacs in the spring, roses in the summer, Autumn Clematis in the fall.
Taste--the flavor of a fresh-picked peach, sun warmed and picked at the peak of perfection.
Touch--the soft texture of Lamb's Ears (Stachys).
Through gardening, one can appreciate the beauty of the artist, the gardener, through all five senses.
Which leads to the title of this blog: The Sensuous Gardener. Sensuous means to appreciate beauty through the five senses. Gardening certainly offers the opportunity to appreciate this form of creating, of art, through all five senses.
My purpose is to not only inform, but to convey through my experiences, all the beauty there is in the art of gardening. And I invite you to come along with me on this journey.
--Marilyn