A “Dirty Hands” Garden Club

Colocasia, “Blue Hawaii”

~

I would love to join  a “Dirty Hands” Garden Club;

One whose members know more about fertilizers

Than they do about wines…

~

A gift of Glads, from a sister gardener…

~

I’d want our meetings spent wandering through nurseries,

Learning from  expert gardeners,

Or building community gardens…

~

Bumblebee on Lantana

 

~

Not frittered away in chit chat over hors d’oeuvres .

~

 

Bumblebee on Basil

~

And all of us would be at least a little expert in something,

Glad to share what we’ve learned;

~

Tiger Swallowtail on Echinacea

~

And we all would love putting our hands in the dirt

To help something grow.

~

 

Eastern Redbud Tree seedpods

~

My club would collect species, not dues;

Re-build ecosystems rather than plant ivy and  box.

~

Blue dragonfly on Lantana

~

We “dirty hands” gardeners can band together

In spirit, if not in four walls.

We can share plants and insights,

Instigate, propagate, and appreciate;

~

Rooted Begonia cutting resting on a bowl of Pitcherplants

~

Perhaps we can even help rehabilitate 

Some sterile lawn somewhere

Into something which nurtures beauty

And feeds souls….

~

A gift of Siberian Iris, from Barbara, growing in a new section of the garden.

~

Others can judge flowers,

Decorate homes at Christmas

And organize tours.

These things are needed, too.

~

Native Hibiscus

~

(But I would rather be out in the garden;

Where cardinals preside over the morning meeting,

And  hummingbirds are our special guests for the day.

The daily agenda ranges from watering to transplanting;

From pruning to watching for turtles and dragonflies.)

~

~

We  wear our muddy shoes and well worn gloves with pride,

Our spades and pruners always close at hand.

~

~

We converse with Nature,

And re-build the web strand by strand,

Plant by plant.

~

~

If this invitation speaks to you,

Perhaps we can work together,

From wherever we might find ourselves

Around the globe.

~

~

We can each put our hands in the dirt

and create a garden,

~

~

Nurture Beauty,

And restore health and vitality to our Earth, together.

~

~

Does a “Dirty Hands” Garden Club

Appeal to you?

~

Words and Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

~

Canna