ANEW FRIEND REMINDED ME THAT EMILY DICKINSON lived “right at the intersection of solitude, poetry, and gardening,” a place that sounds like a happy home to me at this life phase. So before April, which is National Poetry Month, slips away, why don’t we celebrate with poems, a book giveaway, and a look at the incredible herbarium, or volume of pressed plant specimens like the one at left, that Dickinson compiled as a teenager? It’s all right here.
‘NATURE’S BEST HOPE’ is the title of University of Delaware professor Doug Tallamy’s new book, and the subtitle reads like this: “A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard.” In other words, you and I are nature’s best hope. Our actions count, and they add up to counteract a fragmented landscape and other challenges to the survival of so many critically important native creatures and the greater environment we all share.
Doug Tallamy’s 2007 book, “Bringing Nature Home,” has been for many of us a wake-up call into the entire subject of the unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife, and now with more than a decade of additional research insights, he goes further.
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Solitude, poetry and gardening….
these are a few of my favourite things!
Welcome, Cheryl. Me, too. :) I suspect there are more of us out there than we know (since those of us who are this way tend to be home gardening, reading, and being quiet, tee hee). See you soon!
Oh so true. A pleasant retreat.
Although not really a poem I am fond of the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts” There are several variations. I also like a poem that I tore out of a magazine.
In the hush of morning she waits for me
And again when night falls quietly
On little birds and rivulets,
On painted daisies in flowery beds,
On wings of stillness she waits for me,
This peaceful princess…tranquility.
Loise Pinkerton Fritz
I’m just getting into poetry but have been into gardening forever. As you say–solitude is an essential part of life too. Thanks for the opportunity to receive the book.
Welcome, Margaret. You did comment to enter over on the book blog — perfect! Nice to meet you, and hear that some of my favorite things are ones you share.