Naturalized Cyclamen at the Connie Hansen Garden in Lincoln City, OR
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“…the creative potential of disorderly randomness…”
Ben Huberman
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Ben invites us to show photos of ‘chaos’ in this week’s Photo Challenge.
I’m not a great fan of ‘chaos;’ however much it might invite creativity. Perhaps there is that much conditioning left from my teaching days…. But I think it runs a bit deeper in my psyche.
Mother nature has her own sense of order, realized or not by the human mind, and those of us who work with her grow a bit lenient with her exuberance in our gardens. Especially when the plant spreading in all directions is so lovely!
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If you grow potted florists’ Cyclamen on your windowsill each winter, as do I, you may love these little winter blooming hardy Cyclamen coum and Cyclamen hederifolium, and excuse their untidiness. Planted as little bulbs, and hardy in zones 6-9, these lovely plants emerge in autumn to grow and spread all winter. They self-seed easily and form beautiful expanding clumps as the years pass. Once planted, they naturalize and basically take care of themselves.
These grow in an island bed between the entrance drive and the exit drive at the Connie Hansen Garden Conservancy in Lincoln City, Oregon. My daughter and I were there to let my granddaughter run around a bit. Two year olds have a lot of energy to burn, and life around a toddler always feels a bit chaotic… unless they are sleeping.
With two of us, we just managed to keep up with her, and I managed to still click off a few shots. This one may give you a better idea of that visit:
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Yes, those are my Sebagos before my fateful walk on the beach when a sleeper wave caught me…..
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As we were herding her back to the car, this beautiful stand of Cyclamen, mulched in falling pine tags, caught my eye. These have been growing and spreading for quite a few years, by the looks of this lush coverage filling the little traffic island bed.
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I believe we can always find a bit of order out of chaos, once we take a deep breath and concentrate a bit. The patterns begin to emerge. We can understand each burst of unruly, exuberant energy in the context of the whole. And so while little one was buckled into her booster seat, I framed and shot as many images of the Cyclamen bed as the moment allowed.
Exuberant energy seems to be the rule along the Pacific coast. Whether rolling waves, moss covered trees, thick rain forests, or creative people; the energy is contagious. And this special garden captures the vibe beautifully, only a few blocks from the beach.
Woodland Gnome 2016
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for the Daily Post’s
Weekly Photo Challenge: Chaos
Forest Garden 
Even if there were no flowers, the foliage would be enough. Love the addition of toddler chaos. 😉 Whew, what energy, eh? Too bad we can’t siphon off a bit of it. 🙂
You are SO right ! The Cyclamen foliage is actually much better than the flowers, at least in our garden ☺ I’m missing that sweet little girl and all her energy 😊
I think you’ve captured the energy of your visit 🙂 sounds like a great place.
Thank you ! I’m always happy to spend time there . .. never long enough . This was our first chance to visit the garden after the storm had passed . We had been indoors for nearly 5 days with wind and heavy rain keeping little one entertained. We were thankful for a break in the weather !
When we moved into this house we were delighted to see the delicate cyclamen flowering under the lime. Just six flowers that ten years later have become dense and far spreading. I love them.
How much fun to discover hardy Cyclamen emerging in your new garden ! That is a wonderful legacy left from the previous gardener . Do you spread them around each year now ? Ours are just in their second year now , and I’m still waiting for them to really establish .
I have let them be.
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