Linking About: Mimicking nature, dimming lights, and following the foxes

Of course, whatever my wishes, I can’t actually make a forest. Let’s put that right up front. Mother Nature can make a forest; I can make something forest-like, or with forest-feeling. Forest vibes. And part of the slow exploration of this creative process will be me deciding how faithful I want to be to the idea of my forest, or how much I might lean into the inherent artifice of it. Will it be a stylized forest — undisputably a garden in a clever forest costume — or will I make it as naturalistic as I’m able? Dunno yet! But having pondered this for the past year-plus, I was interested to read the recent polite debate over the question of gardens vs naturescapes at the famed RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

That and four other things that have caught my attention lately are linked below for your reading/viewing enjoyment! Welcome, and I’d love to hear your thoughts—

• ‘“Scenes drawn from nature have become integral to Chelsea show gardens,’ [landscape historian Tim Richardson] says. ‘This reflects the general move in horticulture towards ecology and specifically the trend for replicating plant communities found in the wild, but in garden form. In the Chelsea context, this is presented as a kind of quotation or slice of nature. There is a feeling among many designers that “design” itself has become almost embarrassing, and that the role of the designer is to create something that looks wholly natural.’” Annoying headline alert:
—Chelsea designers keep making naturescapes instead of gardens, and people don’t like it by Rhoda Perry, Gardens Illustrated

• “Mr. Robinson said he also plans to dim the new lights between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., which will save energy and money, and, according to the city, cause less harm to migratory birds, urban wildlife and humans. Thanks to urbanization and electrification, light pollution is growing globally by nearly 10 percent a year ... . Many areas are overlit, which wastes energy, obfuscates starry skies and messes with the circadian rhythms of plants, wildlife and people.”
—Why This Pennsylvania City Put Its Streetlights on a Dimmer by Cara Buckley, The New York Times (Gift Link)

(And yes, rethinking or doing away with any landscape lighting you’ve got going on will also help!)

• “While she was at Black Mountain College, [legendary sculptor and avid gardener Ruth Asawa] confessed to her mentor Josef Albers, that she wanted to paint flowers instead of pursuing the more formal, abstract work popular at the time. He told her, ‘You can paint flowers, but make sure that they’re Asawa flowers.’ ... Asawa would often draw flowers given to her by loved ones, and sometimes she gave those drawings to them later. According to one museum placard, ‘Asawa’s daughter Addie has mused that the artist’s practice of drawing a bouquet and then regifting the arrangement as a work of art enabled her to fully absorb the affection of friends and family who took the care to select or grow and present flowers to her.’”
—Ruth Asawa’s Flowers by Wendy McNaughton, DrawTogether

• If you too have a small space to garden, House & Garden (UK) has pulled together their best advice for small gardening, along with a big pile of inspiring scenes from — and links to — small gardens from their archives.
—66 small garden ideas from the House & Garden archive by Clare Foster, H&G

• “Sure, we could use AI and be finished already, but what would be the point? The magnetism of a new idea, the leap of faith, the joy of landing it — these are the reasons I write. To live a creative life is to follow the foxes that appear on our path.”
—Following in the creative footsteps of foxes by Willow Defebaugh, Atmos