The Secret Life of Plants when published in 1973 was considered kooky, new-agey, pseudo-science and granted, many of the theories that were considered to be fringe have been debunked. Nevertheless, the book still stands as place marker in my early gardening education and did influence my back-to-the-land years.
It was filled with ideas that then seemed crazy, like playing music to encourage growth. Today Granddaughter Clementine insists that corn grows better with rock and roll. Scientists consider that it might not be the music per se but the vibrations that stimulate movement in plant cells that produces growth. Either way, who doesn’t enjoy a little Roll Over Beethoven while turning and tilling the soil.
As tender, as appreciator, as consumer, I know first hand the beneficial effects of plants. Learning as I go along, gardening is a process not a product. I have learned to be attuned to plants need for water/nutrients and watch as they move towards the light of the sun. Gardening is a story of triumph and heartbreak. I’ve accidentally killed a few plants and the gophers have done plenty to aide in their demise. Some have suffered by being planted in the wrong place. Some have just failed to thrive. Try as I may, rhubarb has never done well. But, I’m champion with tomatoes and potatoes and spectacular with snapdragons and morning glories.
It was Coleus that first captured my growing imagination. Back in the 70’s during the houseplant heyday, they were the easy success plant for budding green thumbs. So easy to grow, cuttings easy to root. Rows of Mason jars on the kitchen window sill —jars with murky water thick with leggy tendrils of roots, spooky, like vampire squid specimens in a natural history museum. Those abundant roots made for robust plants. Coveted and shared, Coleus foliage with unusual (psychedelic!!!) patterns and color markings was the hippy plant par excellence.
Mind Games this week offers a meditation on finding one’s plant spirit guide. It can be listened to inside then once you have taken the instructions to heart, and now that the smoke has cleared, you can go anywhere, even outside in the yard to commune, to experience.
The guided mediation is also posted on the Compass Rose page.
WAIT!!!WAIT!!!WAIT!!!
On Tuesday when the AMAZON PRIME DAY banner flashed across my computer screen, the word AMAZON sparked a distant memory of my trip through the Amazon rainforest where I was shown the healing plants/spirit guides of the indigenous peoples of Brazil. Digging deep through my boxes of memorabilia, I retrieved my photo album of that journey. The photos were taken with a compact Instamatic camera. Although, the negatives are grainy and the prints are not very sharp, they serve to illustrate…
AMAZON — worlds largest online retailer for shopping is working its way into every aspect of our lives…including subscription services, movies and media. On AMAZON PRIME DAY we are enticed pummeled with bargains on consumer electronics with the best tech deals of the year.
AMAZON — worlds largest river as a measured by volume of water and is disputed (vying with the Nile) as the longest river in the world. Any way you measure it, it’s big. The complex ecosystem is a massive intricate water way that encompasses hundreds of tributaries. Spanish soldier Francisco de Orellana was the first European to explore the length of the river in 1541. After encountering and engaging in battles with female warriors who reminded him of the Amazons in Greek mythology, he named it el Rio Amazonas.
In 1988, after attending a conference in Rio, with my companion Thomas Hanna, our flight back home had a scheduled stop-over in Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas and the departure point for trips on the river and into the rainforest.
There are river trips aplenty with folded napkin luxury liners but wanting a more authentic experience, instead of booking ahead, we decided to just jump off (into the unknown) and let serendipity guide our way.
As we disembarked the plane there was a crowd of eager travel agents with slick signs touting their once-in-a-lifetime delux excursions down the mightiest river on the planet … see live piranha and live to tell the tale!!!
Away from the clamor stood a lone woman with a simple cardboard sign——river trips. Quiet, sincere, just our style. She took us to her card table “office” where we signed up.
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——Art—Spirit—Now—— 
Oh, how I remember Coleus in the ‘70’s. I must have had a dozen Coleus houseplants. I remember they were the goddesses I prayed to. And how is it possible that Clementine knows about rock and roll? It’s so many generations in her past. But other gods that comforted me were the Beatles and of course, Chuck Berry. They all lifted me up from the angst of growing up. How would I have ever known that Coleus would connect me w my Rev all those decades ago.
More later on this post.
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Coleus? Never imagined that we might be coleus connected. It’s surprising how plants grow us together. Yet another way that we are bound in this web of life.
It’s surprising how music savvy Clementine is…she appreciates all styles.
“Roll Over Beethoven” was Chuck Berry’s call to arms declaring the end of Classical music and the advent of Rock and Roll, proclaiming out with the old and in with the new. In those, my rebellious counter-culture days, that was my anthem too. The Beatle’s cover of that song proved to be one of their most popular.
Clem has introduced a new voice to my ear — Grace VanderWall. She was 12 when her ukulele playing and singing brought hearts to a standstill on America’s Got Talent TV show. Especially popular with tweens, her breakout song “I Don’t Know My Name” is the anthem for finding one’s identity and one’s place in the world asking the most important question…who am I?
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