And it is glorious. Have you seen Five Seasons ? Did it change your mind about "clean" gardening? Let me know in the comments below.
In the film, there is a shot of a frost-covered coneflower. Its seed head is black, brittle, and bent under the weight of ice. A traditional gardener would have cut this down in September. Oudolf leaves it standing. He calls these skeletons "the architecture of memory." Against the low winter sun, those dried stalks aren't trash; they are stained glass. They catch the snow. They hold the cobwebs like jewelry. five seasons
If you haven’t seen it, stop reading this right now and go stream it. It is not your typical gardening show. There are no talking squirrels, no dramatic "garden rescues," and no one is installing a koi pond in 24 hours. Instead, it is a slow, meditative, almost spiritual journey into the mind of a man who sees beauty where the rest of us see decay. And it is glorious
I have a confession to make. For most of my life, I thought a garden was supposed to look like a fireworks show. You know the drill: Explosive color in June, deadheading in July, and by October, you cut everything down to the nub so the "neat" brown mulch can sleep under the snow. Let me know in the comments below