THE THOUGHTFUL GARDENER, WITH DESIGNER JINNY BLOM
Today marks Day 3 of the 4 and 1/2 day Fall pledge drive on North State Public Radio, the home and producing station for Cultivating Place. I am a believer in the power of public radio just as I am a believer in the power of gardens to affect positive change in our world on a wide variety of levels. If you are a fan of Cultivating Place please consider making a membership pledge in the name of Cultivating Place to North State Public Radio today!
CP is also marking some amazing milestones, so we thought we ought to have a CELEBRATION GIVEAWAY:
TWO years ago this month, Cultivating Place was conceived and went into development and pre-production, this last year the program won two national awards for excellence and as of this month, Cultivating Place will be distributed nationally on PRX. So fabulous!!
Tens of Thousands (and growing) of listeners and subscribers hear Cultivating Place every month and we are nearing our 100th episode. This week, we want to CELEBRATE all the places we've been, who we’ve met and highlighted and the future of the places and people we’ve yet to meet. Described as the 'On Being' for gardeners by many listeners (a comparison that is high praise in our ears), the program at its heart holds a space for conversations that explore everything we mean when we garden, it brings out the essential connections between the natural world, our gardens, and our physical, mental and spiritual places in both.
To celebrate, we’re running our first ever GIVEAWAY - by which we hope to introduce more of you in the gardening and stewardship worlds to - well, to more of you.
Here’s what we have to give away to you*:
-2 individual 1 year memberships to the California Native Plant Society (which will include receiving their excellent publication Fremontia, the newest iteration of their bulletin and ebulletin);
-2 membership subscriptions to Pacific Horticulture, which includes their 4 x yearly journal specifically highlighting the power of gardens and gardeners from British Columbia to Southern California with articles, events and tours for the American West Coast.
-2 subscriptions to Garden Design magazine - a no ad magazine with some of the world’s most beautiful photography reveling in garden design around the world.
Here’s what YOU need to do to be entered by end of day October 30th, 2017:
-Subscribe to the CP monthly newsletter (unless you already are - in which case forward this to someone who's not yet subscribed :)
-Write a review of and rate the program on Itunes (follow the buttons to View In Itunes and open Ratings And Reviews) and send me an email confirmation when done (jjewell1@mac.com)
-OR, send me an email testimonial (jjewell1@mac.com) about the importance of gardening in your life and your experience listening to or following Cultivating Place.
The 6 (SIX) winners will be drawn randomly by my program producer Sarah Bohannon and me on Wednesday November 1st and will be announced on Instagram and here on the website. I will send a few more reminders to enter the give away and shout out a last call on the morning of the 30th.
*Cultivating Place is an entirely independent endeavor and neither received these giveaways from these groups, nor is sponsored by these groups. These groups were chosen as publications and organizations that Cultivating Place believes in and supports wholeheartedly.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!
NOW TO THIS WEEK'S BEST OF:
We revisit with great pleasure our conversation with Jinny Blom, garden designer and author of "The Thoughtful Gardener"
“A feeling of security enhances the pleasure of a great horizon” writes British landscape designer Jinny Blom in her new book "The Thoughtful Gardener – an intelligent approach to garden design”, published this year by London’s Jaqui Small Press, but, she continues about a particular design she was creating in the countryside not far from the city, “I dreamt of this view from my first sighting of the property when awful trees obscured it and there was no bastion. Lady Getty and I were both born during total solar eclipses, and so I knew she would appreciate a 12 foot drop with no safety rail…..we enjoyed the purity of the result.”
In this month of another epic solar eclipse (in our neck of the woods at any rate), I thought it might be fun to speak with a person who thinks and designs from such a perspective.“Seeing is not just about the gift of sight, it is about the dawning of a greater comprehension and deeper insight into a subject. Gardening is a profound holistic experience,” writes Jinny.
"...what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe,
to think, to enjoy, to love. And I would add: to garden."
I found her to be thoughtful indeed. The new book - both lush and very readable - is a summation of her distinct process of approaching the thinking, designing, building and then liberating of a garden to its owners/gardeners. During her lifetime, she has been both a psychologist and theatrical set designer. Throughout her book, it is clear that she is widely and well read and traveled, and that she has an earthy sense of humor and rhythm. Each of these aspects comes to bear on how she approaches a garden design, which is shown to be not only thoughtful but also creative, musical and heartfelt.
Jinny embraces a wide variety of styles, from formal walled gardens to contemporary installations. The book's meat explores her own insights into the creative process she has developed while designing more that 250 gardens around the world.Towards the end of the book, Jinny concludes: “Marcus Aurelius urged us to remember when we arise in the morning to think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. And I would add: to garden. The patient love and care that goes into a garden is a gift for life.”
And lucky for us, so is a leisurely, thoughtful, read of this lovely book.
