As records are being erased, I am gathering with neighbors…we started a group document as a way of recording the happenings in our little ecosystem: when the first hummingbird returns, the rains, soil health, the yellow Dandelion tops.
Sending love across our Asheville ridges.🌱Katharine
When we were kids we used to do this with the everlastings and other Wheatbelt wildflowers that we'd find around the farm and on our walks in the nearby nature reserve. We'd put them between the pages of the 26 book encyclopedia Britannica set that my parents bought (1967, I think).
Struggling to think what I could press flowers between these days, a meaty encyclopedia set (god knows how much they must have paid for it) really did the job. We're still finding flowers in there over four decades later.
Ahhh… beautifully written, I can feel your emotional hope for our country.
I encourage you and your readers to discover and plant the natives that are available in your area (if you haven’t already), the local ecology and insect/bird populations will be so grateful♥️.
how lovely! this piece alone inspired me to create my own herbarium. preserving (and thereby honoring) the beauty of this fragile world truly is an act of hope.
Thank you--right now it can be hard to remember what this country is really about and to feel ok about being an American. I've been wanting to dive back into Ken Burns documentaries but maybe I need to get into some American garden history too. I've never heard of Emily Dickinson's herbarium--what a lovely thing.
I agree! And same! I’ve been watching Ken Burns The National Parks—maybe you’ve seen it? It’s been making me feel more ok with being an American. American garden history sounds like such an interesting direction too. I've been reading about Dickinson's garden and it was lovely- a flower & herb forward cottage garden! Might be a good place to start.
Oh, I loved that one. So hard to believe now that the US had the world's very first national park. Really loved the Ken Burns documentary on the Roosevelts, too--lots of Teddy Roosevelt/natural conservation stuff in that one too, but also F.D.R. big government/social safety net programs that seem like a thing of the past now, sadly. :( But, yes! Definitely interested in reading more about Emily's garden.
Hi, Rowen! Thank you so much for sharing how you witness the world around you, much like Emily did. I found Emily’s herbarium to be massively inspiring too, and now you’ve inspired me to create my own too! 🤗
If you haven’t yet read Figuring by Maria Popova, I think you’ll love it. I am reading it now and Maria shares such beautiful insight into Emily Dickinson and many other 19th and 20th century artists and scientists who loved the natural world. ❤️🌳
Hi, Kayla! I just TBR’d Popova's The Universe in Verse, but I hadn’t heard of Figuring—it sounds exactly like something I’d love. Thanks for sharing here and for the rec!
I love this so much. I also want to acknowledge the beauty of those grape hyacinths; I have some tattooed on my arm. My dog (who passed away) used to love to lay in the garden near them and one of my favourite photos of her is her among the flowers. They're such a lovely one to enjoy. Thanks for this gorgeous writing.
I visited the MOMA this week and got to see the new exhibit by Hilma af Klint called What Stand Behind the Flowers. It was a collection of af Klint's botanical drawings - which were amazing. It also included some of her collected herbarium from the late 1890's Oslo. It was so cool to see those preserved plants from so far away and so long ago- still teaching and inspiring us today.
This was a delight. I just brought home a botanical book this weekend to learn more - it does feel like an honoring way to be in the world 🤍
Thank you for the peace you offer.
As records are being erased, I am gathering with neighbors…we started a group document as a way of recording the happenings in our little ecosystem: when the first hummingbird returns, the rains, soil health, the yellow Dandelion tops.
Sending love across our Asheville ridges.🌱Katharine
A neighborhood collective archive! Yes. Sending love right back across the ridges!
I love this (also an INFJ!).
Love this.
When we were kids we used to do this with the everlastings and other Wheatbelt wildflowers that we'd find around the farm and on our walks in the nearby nature reserve. We'd put them between the pages of the 26 book encyclopedia Britannica set that my parents bought (1967, I think).
Struggling to think what I could press flowers between these days, a meaty encyclopedia set (god knows how much they must have paid for it) really did the job. We're still finding flowers in there over four decades later.
Ahhh… beautifully written, I can feel your emotional hope for our country.
I encourage you and your readers to discover and plant the natives that are available in your area (if you haven’t already), the local ecology and insect/bird populations will be so grateful♥️.
how lovely! this piece alone inspired me to create my own herbarium. preserving (and thereby honoring) the beauty of this fragile world truly is an act of hope.
Thank you--right now it can be hard to remember what this country is really about and to feel ok about being an American. I've been wanting to dive back into Ken Burns documentaries but maybe I need to get into some American garden history too. I've never heard of Emily Dickinson's herbarium--what a lovely thing.
I agree! And same! I’ve been watching Ken Burns The National Parks—maybe you’ve seen it? It’s been making me feel more ok with being an American. American garden history sounds like such an interesting direction too. I've been reading about Dickinson's garden and it was lovely- a flower & herb forward cottage garden! Might be a good place to start.
Oh, I loved that one. So hard to believe now that the US had the world's very first national park. Really loved the Ken Burns documentary on the Roosevelts, too--lots of Teddy Roosevelt/natural conservation stuff in that one too, but also F.D.R. big government/social safety net programs that seem like a thing of the past now, sadly. :( But, yes! Definitely interested in reading more about Emily's garden.
Hi, Rowen! Thank you so much for sharing how you witness the world around you, much like Emily did. I found Emily’s herbarium to be massively inspiring too, and now you’ve inspired me to create my own too! 🤗
If you haven’t yet read Figuring by Maria Popova, I think you’ll love it. I am reading it now and Maria shares such beautiful insight into Emily Dickinson and many other 19th and 20th century artists and scientists who loved the natural world. ❤️🌳
Hi, Kayla! I just TBR’d Popova's The Universe in Verse, but I hadn’t heard of Figuring—it sounds exactly like something I’d love. Thanks for sharing here and for the rec!
Thank you for this reminder ♥️
I love this so much. I also want to acknowledge the beauty of those grape hyacinths; I have some tattooed on my arm. My dog (who passed away) used to love to lay in the garden near them and one of my favourite photos of her is her among the flowers. They're such a lovely one to enjoy. Thanks for this gorgeous writing.
That’s so lovely. I love that you carry them with you and I can just picture your dog nestled among the flowers. Thanks for sharing xx
Beautiful 💚
I visited the MOMA this week and got to see the new exhibit by Hilma af Klint called What Stand Behind the Flowers. It was a collection of af Klint's botanical drawings - which were amazing. It also included some of her collected herbarium from the late 1890's Oslo. It was so cool to see those preserved plants from so far away and so long ago- still teaching and inspiring us today.
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5779
Oh I absolutely loved this, I used to press flowers a lot, but I stopped these last few years. This does make me want to start up again.