Watering can FLOWERS
A Note from the Editor
“In the garden! In the garden!” “Yes,” hurried on Colin. “It was the garden that did it—and Mary and Dickon and the creatures—and the Magic. No one knows. We kept it to tell you when you came. I’m well, I can beat Mary in a race. I’m going to be an athlete. . . . I’m going to live forever and ever and ever!” —Excerpt from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Right now, it’s that just-perfect time—spring into early summer. Our viburnum tree that bursts into white blooms from green is my signal that spring is here to stay, with no more treacherously surprising freezes, as are the wave of soon-to-bloom hydrangea bushes that line a neighbor’s perimeter, a carpet of late-spring tulips across another neighbor’s front lawn, and longer walks in shirtsleeves— now with friends. But for me, the most emphatic emblem of this glorious hybrid season is the sight of my beloved husband in the garden. As I pen this, he is within view, gardening and chatting with a neighbor on our lane while the Brittany Spaniels race around after chipmunks (no, they never catch them), all to the strains of a distant lawnmower . . . idyllic. “It was the garden that did it”—that kept us encouraged, stimulated, hopeful, and at peace, even in the midst of this tempestuous year. I urge you all to enjoy the riches of the outdoors, and hopefully by now, with others. But whether indoors or on your porch like me, may the magic of the gardens in this issue give you wonder, hope, and joy. Love and SDG,
Margot Shaw EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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FLOWER
May•June 2021
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Birmingham, AL 35253
PORTRAIT BY BETH HONTZAS
ANY OF YOU WHO’VE READ THE CLASSIC The Secret Garden will recognize this powerful revelation. Colin, the erstwhile weak and sickly young heir to Misselthwaite Manor, has been healed and revitalized, given a new heart full of wonder, hope, and joy. Colin’s story is replete with experiences that culminate in his transformation, but with that simple, essential wisdom of the young, he distills his transformation to these actors: the garden, friends, animals, and the Magic responsible for that life-giving elixir. As I sit on my front porch on this gentle, breezy late-spring Saturday afternoon, Colin’s declaration resonates with me. It’s been a long winter with a stormy late spring in Alabama, and as we all know, even before the weather was inclement, conditions kept us indoors. We’ve experienced a perfect storm of sickness, isolation, unrest, helplessness, fear, uncertainty, and frustration. Throughout the year, however, there’s been the nurturing sanctuary of nature. In summer, we had warm days with the benefits of lots of vitamin D, the cool green of the generous shade of a favorite hardwood, and time on the porch watching our children or grands at play. In autumn, crisp, cinnamon-y days were filled with the explosive palette of leaves. In winter, a bracing walk down a country road or a scenic vista from indoors onto the romantic landscape of hay-colored grasses; the green of evergreens; the charcoal sculptures of deciduous trees; and, in Alabama, the unlikely increase in the bird population as they broke their travels south nourished our spirits.
