The native garden should be enjoyed not only as a beautiful sight but with all the senses. True enjoyment can be found in the sensory garden. Humans have many delicate ways of enjoying the word and a native garden can provide them all. We know our gardens are beautiful but how does the garden taste?
My favorite taste in the garden is the fruit of the viburnum, tastes like a date, not much juice and lots of pit. Service berry would be my second favorite fruit. Glade onion and wild garlic taste how you would expect. The suncholk has a very tasty tuber when baked. The fiddle heads of ostrich fern can be sauteed and are a delicacy. Sometimes I beat the squirrels to the hazelnuts and have a treat. The sap of the milkweed is a bitter taste and too much of it can harm. There are many native pants in the mint family and they all are good for a little taste while walking down a path.
Mints also smell nice too. I go out of my way to brush past a big patch of mountain mint just to fill the air with a minty smell. I love to dig up the lizards tail and smell the licorice scent of it’s roots. The fragrance of dropseed fills the air in summer. In the spring a wonderful smell is produced by the golden current. When I’m hiking I like to roll the leaves of sassafras in my hand to release the scent. The scent of phlox in bloom can drift across a garden and draw you in.
Besides the sound of birds and signing insects the plants produce sounds. I listen for the rustle of the little blue stem in the wind. Trees creek and crack. The rattle of compass plant in the winter. Wild indigo also rattles as each seed pod matures. In the spring listen for the pop of jewel weed seeds exploding. A nice ripe persimmon makes a delicious splat as it hits the ground.
I can not resist running my fingers through the hair of the sedges. The wings on the stem of wingstem makes this plant easy to name even blindfolded. An unpleasant touch is waxweed as it brushes against my leg and leaves its sticky seeds on my skin. The downy fluff of milkweed, seeds and the strong fibers of the stem contrast. Thimbleweed seeds are a fun surprise as you rub the rough seed head it explodes into an even larger ball of fluff. I love the seed box because this plant makes a perfect box to hold it’s precious seeds.
With our eyes, lets look a little deeper. I’m always amazed by how many shades of green there are. The purple petal of a wine cup is transparent and the bruise from a pinch changes the shade of purple. In the winter the colors and textures of grey are unique for each part of each plant.
The garden is so much more then a pretty sight to see. Lets enjoy to the full depth our senses can take us.
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