When we are viewing gardens, an open garden or our own, we sometimes fail to truly see and what we see is never all there is.
Yes, we notice the lush foliage, the trees, or the colours, but do we truly ‘see’ the connections, the angles, the interplay of colours, and the play of light in a garden? How much do we actually take in when we look?
Looking at the garden each morning we can be unaware of why at times the view is askew. I recently felt that the garden looked odd and could not initially see why. Then, I realised that behind the front border and standard roses, several, other roses had no foliage at all, making them almost invisible.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
Marcel Proust
Over the long wait for the roses to leaf up again and recover made me aware of how much we actually see when we look? Sadly, I had looked at the garden many times and not seen this happening. Apart from the concern of seeing so much damage, the incident highlighted the need to see with fresh eyes every day.
Bernhard Berenson
‘I walk in the garden, I look at the flowers and shrubs and trees and discover in them an
exquisiteness of contour; a vitality of edge, or a vigour of spring, as well as an
infinite variety of colour that no artefact I have seen in the last sixty years can rival…….each day as I look, I look wonder where my eyes were yesterday.’
The defoliated roses are now beginning to leaf up again and some have pushed out new rose blooms, whilst others are lagging, and slow to recover fully. My guess is that it was caused by a combination of snails and blackspot. Blackspot is the constant curse of roses and something one has to be vigilant with all season. Having had a rural, more dry garden before, I had no experience with snails though, but since then, I’ve found numerous ways to combat them.
6 Ways to Control Snails and Slugs
- Eggshells crushed and left in the garden
- A dish of beer will act as a trap.
- Pick them off by hand.
- Copper tape as a barrier,
- Organic slug bait.
- Grow plants snails don’t like such as lavender, rosemary, and sage or other woody plants, ornamental grasses, and plants with prickly, leathery, or fury foliage.
“If the artist has outer and inner eyes for nature, nature rewards him by giving him inspiration.”
Wassily Kandinsky
Viewing the garden as an artist does is helpful to fully appreciate what we are seeing. Seeing as an artist requires an open, curious mind, an ability to be in the present moment, and a more discerning eye. Viewing the world like this is often called looking with an artist’s eye, looking slowly, or seeing through an artist’s lens. All are much the same and a sure way to change our perspective, be inspired and allow our creativity to flow.
Artists do see differently. They see the details, the play of light, and the connections between what may appear to others as unconnected elements beyond the ordinary. Whatever is being viewed has an emotional connection to them.
It could be called a unique inner vision and is based on what is already known or spontaneously intuited from experience, such as seeing negative space, light, colour and colour variations, tonal qualities, textures, shapes, and other design principles or the use of the golden ratio.( more on this next time)
The more you know, the more you see and recognise creative opportunities. Our experiences, interests, and prior knowledge, our culture, genetics, gender, and brain all contribute to how much we actually See.
“A great thought begins by seeing something differently, with a shift of the mind’s eye.’
Albert Einstein
How to develop the ability to SEE?
I came across this simple trick for seeing a garden.
When you visit a garden or view your own, look at a section and ask yourself,
What do I love about this?
Take the time to consider what it is is about this aspect that makes you like it?
Choose one element that is an absolute must-have – a plant, a colour or colour combination, a feature, a sculpture or any aspect you consider your favourite.
Afterwards, reverse the question around:
What is my least favourite thing in the garden?
Pick one aspect that you don’t like, such as a plant, a colour or colour combination, or anything about what you’re looking at and what makes you not like it?
By choosing one favourite and one least favourite aspect, you reduce the passive nature of viewing a garden and force your mind to see things more clearly.
Also, this will consciously build up an impression of the things that you really like and the things that you are not keen on.
Viewing more critically stops the approach of thinking, ‘This garden is nice.’ and it cements our ideas of what we like and what we don’t like- honing our ability to actually see.
“One eye sees, the other feels.”
Paul Klee
This simple exercise is a good tool when designing a garden. It is also useful when tweaking the garden after summer storms and rain damage have made it wild, and unruly, and you are attempting to make changes with fresh eyes.
This often means deciding what to keep, and what needs to be cut back.
A word of warning, though: Be careful and polite when viewing friends’ and neighbours’ gardens and use the exercise wisely. Although this tool builds the ability to see critically, not everyone likes criticism. It is a good tool to use for yourself, and perhaps when seeing others’ gardens, you might think it, but don’t say it.
Vita Sackville- West
“Every gardener should be an artist along his own lines. That is the only possible way to create a garden, irrespective of size or wealth.”
Throughout the season, the That’s Life Rose has been outstanding with a continuous array of brilliant, richly coloured blooms that cascade in large clusters fading to a gorgeous, soft apricot and blush as they age. The fact that I’ve mentioned this rose so often this season, is testament to the bountiful supply of roses that That’s Life produces.
The That’s Life Rose is gangly and needs a stake to keep it upright from the weight of so many roses that appear to be always in bloom. This one is worth the effort to have an abundance of roses all season. And no matter what stage of development, the That’s Life rose has beautiful colouring; even as the flowers fade and fall, they turn a nice aged vintage look blush colour.
No matter the size, a garden is a gift and a joy!
Rosa That’s Life was bred by Wendy Mather in South Australia in 2011 and named to honour the late Dr Allan Campbell, a doyen of the National Rose Society of Australia and Rose Society of South Australia. That’s Life is a Floribunda rose and was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the National Rose Trial Gardens of Australia.
Another charming new rose in the garden is the Coral Lion Rose. A Floribunda Kordes rose bred by W. Kordes and Sons in Germany, 2010 and Thomas Proll in Germany, 2010.
Coral Lion was Introduced in Australia by Treloar’s Roses in 2024 as Coral Lions-Rose with the registration name KORzwanlio.
Coral Lion rose is an upright shrub with salmon to apricot blooms and subtle fruity scent. The blooms will grow in clusters and have frilly petals. It is expected to be robust and resilient to diseases. The outstanding feature though, is the rich kaleidoscope of colour, that stands out in the garden as a beacon amongst the greenery. This one is only small as yet, living in a pot and thriving.
The roses on Coral Lion are stable and do not flop or wilt but are steadfast changing colour from subtle apricot to warm rich orange, and salmon during the season. As the rose fade the petals are a tender blush pink,
Coral Lion is named after the town of Elmshorns’ Lions’ Club in Germany and will grow to 80cm x 50cm so is perfect for pots or close to the front of a garden bed.
Sight is a faculty, seeing is an art
The pictures here of the Elysium Fields Rose are not in keeping with the nature of this abundantly flowering rose. When I grew it previously, it was prolific, and flounced around a metre tall and wide through the garden, with huge clusters of roses all summer into Autumn.
Elysium Fields – KORknvsna was bred by W Kordes in Germany in 2001. It has flat blooms with a swirling mass of petals and a continuous repeat of buds and blooms. The colouring is superb- orange apricot with yellow undertones and pink highlights. It is great in humid weather and has good disease resistance.
Last but no mean least, what more could you ask for than a French Rose with fragrance ? Heidi’s Wedding is such a rose bred by Guillot in France, 2016. The Guillot Family have been breeding roses since 1829 and sold their famous nursery to Olivier Mathis in 2016. Other Guillot French Roses can be found here.
The Heidi’s Wedding Rose s a fantastic rose with masses of bright china pink buds that open to a cupped and quartered shape with shell pink blooms that will fade to a delicate soft pink. It was introduced into Australia by Knights Roses in 2016, and has bright green disease resistant foliage, spreading to 1.2m x 1.2m.
Who was Heidi, I hear you ask? The rose was chosen by a bride to be and handpicked from a selection, and the name subsequently stayed, so the story goes!
Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.
Johnathan Swift
All the roses are getting some much-needed rain and a dose of fertiliser this weekend to set them up for fresh blooms in Autumn. Until then, I am practising the ability to see more, and I hope you will see all your plants with fresh eyes, too.
This post highlights the roses Coral Lion, That’s Life, Elysium Fields, and Heidi’s Wedding Rose.
Content and images Di Baker 2025.
Image below courtesy of Unsplash
The Title quote is by Henry David Thoreau.
The Header image is the Blackberry Nip Rose.