A Garden of Spiritual Healing

I sometimes struggle with the concept of fairness. 

I desperately want life to be fair; that being a good person and working hard means that you will prosper and be happy. But the reality is that life isn't fair. Goodness is its own reward and bad things often happen to good people.  

When life deals a person a serious blow what, if any, role can a garden play in the process of healing? 

This "healing" might be a simple matter of getting through tough times without lingering sorrow or bitterness, finding and giving forgiveness, or discovering the inner strength and courage to do battle with a serious disease like cancer.

Today I want to share with you a unique garden in Ancaster, Ontario. In partnership with the Bob Kemp Hospice for Palliative Care, the Wesley Urban Ministries and the Aboriginal Health Centre, the Bethesda United Church has a very special "Healing Garden".

Open to "all people of any faith or no faith"* this garden is a unique outdoor space that is intended to promote wellness in the mind, the body and the spirit.

The garden is comprised of three spaces that are "meant to be a place of reflection, healing and 

guidance."

* Author's note: all the quotes in this post come from the Bethesda United Church website.

The Wooded Nook is a "place to reflect, to dwell prayerfully and to hopefully reset our problems into  perspective".

The tree in the picture above feels almost like a big old hug doesn't it?

The Healing Garden addresses the healing properties of plants in relationship to the body. 

It is intended to be "a place to encounter creation in nature's most beautiful forms".

Finally, a walk into the centre of grass Labyrinth is intended to be a symbolic seeking spiritual direction. 

The Labyrinth is meant to be a "place for meditating, healing and praying".

Throughout this garden, there are subtle reminders that some good can often 

come from tragedy and death.

There are also many gentle reminders that in its finest moments, life can be truly beautiful.

More Information & Links:

Bethesda United Church recently celebrated its 187th birthday. It is located at:

584 Garner Rd West
Ancaster, Ontario
Phone: (905) 902-0337

Email:bethesdauc@sourceable.net
website: Bethesda United Church  

Cynthia's Garden

Today I have a local garden to share with you. This is Cynthia's garden in Georgetown, Ontario (approximately 10 minutes northwest of my garden here in Huttonville).

A walkway leads us around the side of the house to the back garden.

One of the walkways prettiest features is this Honeysuckle vine. Butterflies and hummingbirds just love this flower's sweet nectar.

Honeysuckles prefer sun, but will tolerate some light shade. They will grow in a variety of soil types and are quite drought tolerant once established. Allow honeysuckle vine to mature before pruning (2 yrs). Prune very lightly during the growing season to encourage more flowers. Thin the top half of a Honeysuckle in late February to March to prevent the lower portion of the vine from becoming woody and unattractive. Also remove any damaged or diseased vines each spring.

As you round the corner of the house, there is a small seating area, as well as an area for outdoor dining.

A mature tree casts most of the right side of the garden in shade and part-shade.

At the base of a small birdbath, Cynthia has planted a groundcover conifer, several hosta, 

and a couple of varieties of euonymus. 

Covering the fence is a Climbing Hydrangea. At its feet are a couple of shade tolerant Yew.

The corner shed.

Here is a very rough layout of Cynthia's garden. 

This next area I want to show you was my favourite part of Cynthia's garden. So often in a suburban garden you find yourself standing on a central lawn, looking with the detachment of a spectator, at plantings that run along the property's outer perimeter.  Like masterpieces hung on a museum wall, the plants often feel like they are there only to be admired from a polite distance. 

In Cynthia's garden however, a series of flagstone paths invite you to enter inside a large corner section of the garden. As you wander through the plantings, stepping on the fragrant thyme and brushing past the white satin petals of the peonies you are no longer a simple onlooker. You are a participant.

One of the flagstone pathways in Cynthia's garden.

Among the flowers and shrubs in this section of the garden are these magenta geraniums 

and vivid blue Delphiniums.

 Lady's Mantle and blue Salvia in the foreground.

When the plantings in a garden are too dense, they can become a bit of a jungle. Not here.

Groundcovers knit together to form a neat carpet that keep the pathways feeling open and breezy. 

The groundcovers include lime-colored Irish moss (upper left), thyme and veronica.

Veronica whitley (seen above): This drought tolerant groundcover has sapphire-blue flowers in spring. Full sun. Normal or sandy soil. Hardy USDA zones 3-9.

Out of sight and toward the back of the corner garden there is a small, but important black bin 

that is used to make compost.

There is also a lovely pond-less waterfall in this part of the garden.

Peonies are finally in flower here. Aren't these white peonies beautiful?

Along the far side of the garden there is a long border in full sun.

Disguising the yard's fencing there are a number of conifers and shrubs. (Above right) A Weigela, with its vivid cherry flowers. (Below) A soft, mauve-colored Lilac.

Stepping down one level to mid-height, the plantings include the False Indigo, Baptisia australis, Yew, pink peonies, and euonymus.

At the front of the long border there are among other things: 

pink roses, blue Veronica and Sweet William.

In my humble opinion, Sweet William is a cottage garden flower that you don't see in gardens often enough. 

Dianthus barbatus dwarf double mix: Height: 15-30 cm Spread 20-30 cm. Sweet William require full sun and bloom mid-summer. They are usually grown as a self-seeding biennial flower. This strain produces a low mound of green leaves and bright, double flowers in shades from white through to pink, magenta and red.  Remove fading flowers to encourage more buds.  Pruning plants back hard in fall will enourage them to live for a second year. They make excellent cut flowers. Hardy USDA zones 2-9.

I hope you enjoyed seeing Cynthia's garden as much as I did.

Third Time's the Charm (Part 2)

Musk Mallow, Malva moschata

Today, I will pick up where we left off in my previous blog post, and we will tour the two remaining garden rooms at Merlin's Hollow, while taking a look at how the garden transitions from spring into summer.

On the upper left, you can see the plan for The Fragrant Garden, which is the first room 

we will walk through.

Heading through the arbor, here is The Fragrant Garden as it looks in June.

Columbine were blooming throughout this part of the garden in the early part of the summer.

As you stroll around, a carpet of creeping thyme fills the air with fragrance.

On my last visit in July, the carpet of thyme was covered in small white flowers.

To the delight of bees and butterflies, lavender flowers also filled the air with their fresh perfume.

Now we will take a quick look at The Rock and Water Garden as it transitions from spring to summer. 

Here is the entrance to this area of the garden as it appears in May.

Spring Pea, 'Lathyrus vernus' in May

In June, there are more delicate Columbine flowers in this part of the garden.

Now here is the same arbor at the entrance to the garden in July. As you can see, a maroon-colored Clematis now covers much of the rustic, wooden arbor.

In July, the garden has filled in so much you can barely see the back door to the house!

Creamy-yellow foxglove, digitalis grandiflora

Musk Mallow, Malva moschata reaches to the top of the bungalow's low roof.

As in the other sections of the garden, there are more delightful, bell-shaped Clematis.

Here is a perennial that I am dying to add to my own garden: Queen of the Prairie or Meadowsweet (as it is sometimes called), Filipendula rubra. 

This variety has pink, cotton candy flowers in summer. Full sun/part shade. Height: 120-180 cm Spread: 90-120 cm. Queen of the Prairie likes moist or wet soil.

Here is the white blooming variety of Queen of the Prairie.

These are a summer blooming allium known as Nodding Onion or allium cernuum. 

I have never had this type of allium in my own garden, but apparently they are very adaptable, and will grow in sun or part shade in dry to medium-well drained soil.

David Tomlinson

So what is the secret to having a beautiful garden just like this one?

Merlin Hollow's big secret is now revealed.

It's not a pretty picture, but make no mistake, this stuff is gold. Rich, black gold!

All along the garden's back fence there are numerous piles of composted leaves and vegetation.

A white Hollyhock

Though it is a private garden, Merlin's Hollow is open to the public on a number of occasions each year. 

You can tour the garden located in Aurora, Ontario free of charge on the 2nd Saturday in May, the 2nd Saturday in June, the 1st Saturday in July and 2nd Sunday in July.