Gardens Are Good For The Soul - Whether Your Own or a Large Public Garden...

Descanso Gardens located near Pasadena, CA, is a beautiful place and one that Mark and I frequented during our life in SOCAL.  We were members and would go there to see the seasonal flower changes and to walk under the natural oak forest canopy. Being from the Midwest, I missed lilacs and they have an entire lilac garden with species that thrive in the SOCAL weather. I loved walking through the lilac gardens to soak up the familiar fragrance. And, the rose garden is like no other - acres of roses. The garden is set up to stroll through and to take time to contemplate the plants.  People take their walks there, photograph nature or some paint it; others bring their children to play and learn to love and enjoy nature. The gardens are always filled with families.

If you live in the area and haven't gone to Descanso Gardens, you owe it to yourself to go. It is a wonderful place to enjoy nature at its best - and to have a picnic. If you will be visiting the LA area, it is worth a trip to the gardens.  This link describes how Descanso is taking a lead in public gardens by revamping the gardens to the tune of $64 million to make them work better considering the natural companionship of plants and to conserve water. If you are interested, check out the link for the full story.
http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-descanso-gardens-plan-20100717,0,908390.story

As I work in my garden, I have the same feelings I felt at Descanso only it is my little piece of earth that benefits from my love and work.  Gardening for me is a meditation - it keeps me in the moment.  I do yoga nearly every day now which helps me stay limber enough for my gardening movements.  Yoga ties beautifully with gardening. Some people look at gardening as work and I look at it as pleasure. When I pull weeds, or plant, or harvest, I am in the moment with nature. And sometimes I just sit in my garden and appreciate the beauty around me. Who could ask for anything better than that?

This pinkish flower is milkweed which is LOVED by Monarch butterflies. The blue flowers are Bachelor Buttons - a very old and one of the few true blue flowers.