Seeking Perfection in Imperfection

 Fothergilla major ‘Mt. Airy’ in the garden at last light

Over the years, my garden is becoming more and more like an old friend. With time, we come to love our friends less for their style and more for their substance. Tiny flaws and quirky habits become treasured character traits. When long parted, we miss the wonderful, beautiful little things that strangers might find ugly: an overgrown vine, a low-leaning limb, a crooked path, a lawn invaded by wildflowers, rough bark chewed by a fostered squirrel. Learning to see the perfection in imperfection is to discover that a garden’s beauty comes less from this particular plant or that particular combination, than from a presence, a mood, a feeling. It’s that certain something. Beautiful imperfection. How do the French say it  . . . Je ne sais quoi, or perhaps jolie laide? To me, it’s nothing less than magic.

It takes time and love to have a friend. It takes time and love to have a garden.

 Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, Narcissus poeticus and Heuchera in the Luminous, Misty Garden Today

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