Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

October 15, 2019 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

It’s time for me to share some spooky reads! .

I enjoyed this a lot though it was a bit dark. It seems to lose color as one progresses into the story, which is a result of Wilde’s genius. It seemed, in my memory, to begin with pink gardens in the light of day with light and jolly conversation and ended in a dark room, leaving behind a sinister residue of death. It gradually smudged away gaiety until Dorian’s soul was completely void of life. .

Pictured is a 2000 edition Penguin Classic hard cover against a vintage framed print and some nasturtiums I recused from the frost last night. 😄

#bookish #bookshelf #reading #readersofinstagram #writersofinstagram #bibliophile #bookphotography #library #faulknerhousebooks #booksandloststories #book #amreading #amwriting #death #pictures #flowers #booknerd #bookgeek #booknerdigans #museum #halloween #spooky #change #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

My Summer in a Garden by Charles Dudley Warner

September 16, 2019 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ As the summer draws to a close I’m compelled to remember the stages of my garden with Mr. Charles Dudley Warner. In 1870 he documented one summer in his garden recording every week. He talks about women voting, his neighbor Harriet Beecher Stowe, the visit to his garden by Ulysses S. Grant, and the curious life of his pet cat, Calvin. I read this on a road trip to Cleveland where I visited the most beautiful cemetery I had ever seen. (Pics of family crypts posted below)

Reaching the end of this book, with my kids and husband in the car, all restless, hyper, and obnoxious, I began to cry because Warner’s beloved cat was dying. He described his passing in such beautiful detail while granting the animal humility and grace. My family saw I was crying and made fun, of course, but I couldn’t stop and continued shedding my tears—laughing at myself also—as we checked into our hotel. .

Pictured is the 1888 edition. Some weathering with inscription: Lizzie W. Nothe (?) from Parents—Xmas 1889 .

Coming Home…

March 2, 2017May 15, 2018 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 8 Comments

We have been warned that there may be a shortage of certain flower seeds after the unnaturally wet and sunless summer of 1954, and that it is therefore even more advisable than usual to order in good time.

-Vita Sackville-West
More For Your Garden
January 2, 1955

I haven’t written in a few weeks. During my time away, I was working on a couple books but through the toil of turning words, characters, and plotlines, I acquired an unprecedented lack of interest for all things green.

After reading the letters of Vita to Virginia Woolf I put Vita down for a while, her books sat on my shelf unopened. I became so entrenched in my own writing I completely forgot the garden. It went alright for a while. Some of what I wrote turned out well and I was proud to call it my work. But the creative juices eventually ceased for lack of nourishment and writer’s block hit me. I wondered what had happened to spur the drought. I read Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, thinking the prose would inspire something in me, but it had the opposite effect. If anything, it spurred a desperate yearning to be a better writer and work more intensely on my craft. Forget the garden all together for there is real work to be done.

The writings of Virginia Woolf make everything I’ve ever written seem trivial and frivolous. She holds a profound understanding of humanity at a distance, yet so close to the chest. She writes with a cold intensity that could only be matched in warfare, yet soft like a passing thought or a summer’s breeze. How does she do it? The word genius comes to mind – that word which separates the masters from mere tradesman.

I finished the book last night; placed a four star review on goodreads and lifted Vita’s More For Your Garden off my nightstand. Reading just a couple lines brought me home again and I instantly remembered why I was drawn to her in the first place. Vita Sackville-West is my muse and my inspiration – not only for the garden, but for my writing. She takes nothing away from her readers. She will not strip you down and smugly examine you. Instead, she will let you be just as you are, but nurture your growth. Right there with you, she’ll hold your hand through the journey; a comfort and a joy. She is a reminder of the consistencies in nature – the earth will always smell like earth, a rose will perpetually surprise you with its beauty, and if you cut a branch it will sprout anew.

Vita possessed the grounding element which Virginia lacked. On the other hand, Virginia possessed a keen understanding of the human condition which Vita lacked. I find this balance in their writing useful for my own. However, there was nothing more refreshing than opening Vita’s little garden book after so long a winter; like a sudden warm breath of freesia and jasmine in the cold. Indeed, it is good to be home.

To The Jungle…

January 13, 2017January 20, 2017 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 10 Comments

…As monks will seek in contemplation’s cell
An increment of quiet holiness,
Prolonged novena,- so the Winter gives
A blameless idleness to active hands
And liberates the vision of the soul.
Darkness is greater light, to those who see;
Solitude greater company to those
Who hear the immaterial voices; those
who dare to be alone.

-Vita Sackville-West
The Garden; 1946

In winter, one tries to distract oneself with projects. I have begun another novel (I just finished my second). This one takes place in a jungle- somewhere, I haven’t quite placed it. I’ve been watching documentaries on South Africa, South America and I threw in one about the Galapagos while I was at it. I’ve also been listening to a lot of African music and much of Yo-Yo Ma’s silk road project-which takes its listener all over the world and back. So I don’t quite know yet- and I may just shelf it all together. Right now, I’m praying for focus since I have another story I shelved a year ago. To which do I devote my time? Perhaps spending so much time with my orchids is putting this foreign jungle in my head. Should I shake it? or let it be?
But the orchid set in rock and rooted in trees – like nature’s intention: their white, moth-like flowers cascading…

I had a dream last night that my spring bulbs were coming up. However, I feared not all would not make it. Then Vita’s voice reassured me by repeating a little known fact: some take two years to really get going. But what about my hellebores? Have they begun… I woke up on my way to find them – waking to the harsh reality that I will not find them for another nine weeks. So again, I must find a little delight indoors.

I was delighted yesterday when I saw my chocolate oncidium had shot up a flower spike and will bloom soon. I have not seen its little dark purple flowers (above) for a year now. It is called “chocolate”, because their intoxicating fragrance is just like chocolate with a hint of sweet vanilla. Oncidiums are much like Phalaenopsis where they must be watered once a week and they require a similar atmosphere and light.

The Dendrobium Nobile also require water once a week, sometimes twice a week depending on how dry it is. They also require a lot of sun and humidity. But in order to bloom they need a six week drought period. Mine bloomed two weeks ago…

If you have more than one orchid, watering can be a dreadful task-especially if you have to fertilize or if you are using special water. In my case, I use distilled. Distilled water is an extra expense and one not to be wasted. In order to conserve as much as possible I pour a quarter of the gallon-perhaps more, into a large bowl. First I let my tillandsia soak a bit (but that is another post). One by one I bring my orchids to their bath; oldest to newest. Why in this order? Because my newest are still being monitored for disease. I water them last in order to keep them isolated from my healthy orchids. After you’ve had them in your possession for two-three months and you don’t see any evidence of pests or disease, the order will not matter.

So I will set them in the bowl, and taking a tinier bowl or cup, I’ll lift water onto the roots (only) until they are thoroughly soaked. I will then let the orchid drain and put it back in its decorative pot by a window. After watering, some experts recommend you place a blooming orchid exactly in the position you found it so it will not twist its flowers – they will do this to find light.

It’s simple once you have a little routine established. I have a friend who is mother to forty orchids-all phalaenopsis. She places them all in the bath tub and gives them a “bath” literally. It’s really what is easiest for you. She and her orchids don’t seem to mind the chlorine water we have here in Detroit. I’m sure most orchids can handle regular tap water so make it easy on yourself if you’d like. They are easy to care for and their blooms last for months – really a great way to occupy yourself until spring. Perhaps in the meantime they will inspire me to finish what I’ve started in my novel. Back to the jungle I go…

A Gardener’s Haste Makes Waste

December 9, 2016December 9, 2016 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 10 Comments

No good comes of repining, so let me note one special thing I saw at Nymans on that rather bleak March day, a thing that can be planted by any of us during the coming autumn with an assurance of immediate effect next spring. You know how truly right daffodils look in grass? It may be a very obvious and orthodox way of growing daffodils, but I never care how obvious and orthodox a form of planting is, so long as it is satisfying for the eye and pleasing to the plant.

-Vita Sackville-West
April 18, 1954
More For Your Garden

I imagine daffodils would look rather interesting planted among the grass. However, it is an idea like this which I read about or plan diligently all winter which slowly dissipates. The haste of the season spins me away from doing what I’ve planned on doing all along. I find myself scrambling to get my garden in order and plant as many things as I can so I feel the summer was not wasted. But by the end of the summer, I look at my hodgepodge of a garden and wonder what went wrong. I have finally discovered the problem.

Last spring, I planned on focusing all my energy on roses. But as the season unraveled, I found myself coming home with other plants and seeds which distracted me from my previous goal; nursing a fabulous rose garden.

I have discovered my problem lies with the short Michigan growing season. As the snow fell outside my window yesterday, I suddenly remembered my original love for roses. I bought six last year (pictured throughout this post) which all got put on the back burner as I hurried to collect other flowering plants that would bring me pleasure. In this haste, I had forgotten my first love. As a result of my increasing neglect, they began to suffer from black spot and other pests I struggled to control.

There is a group; The American Iris Society. Amongst other gardeners I follow, they have an obsession with the Iris. Everyday on Twitter, they share new pictures of a beautiful Iris I would otherwise never have the pleasure of seeing. I had no idea the Iris made such fascinating color combinations and had such diverse growing seasons. I admire these folks. I’m sure they love other flowers too, but they love the Iris most. Perhaps it is where their love for gardening first appeared. They know where their focus lies, and their gardens are top notch because of their mutual patience with the flowers over the years.

As nothing in the garden seems to give me greater pleasure, I would like to do it right this year and really focus on my roses. Yes, I love my honeysuckle and my clematis very much (among others), so much so I could kiss them, but there is something about the high-maintenance rose. It is not easy to love you back like other plants. You must earn its love, work for its love. Yes, they are prone to pest and disease, but when they bloom for you it is all the more fulfilling. So I have determined, and you can take my advice or leave it, when planning a garden one should travel back to the beginnings of their love for gardening. It is here you’ll find your true calling or at least refocus your efforts.

Ask yourself: What was it that drew me to the garden in the first place?
I think in figuring that out, you’ll find your purpose and perhaps rekindle your lost love.

Indoor Gardening: A Happy Journey Through Winter.

December 2, 2016December 3, 2016 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 13 Comments

The fashion for growing plants indoors is very understandably on the increase. The lead had been given to us by the Scandinavia countries, where the climate must be more difficult to manage than our own, and where the inhabitants go to the most elaborate lengths to ensure a supply of living vegetation and greenery in their rooms throughout their long winter. It is a pleasant fashion, and I hope it never proves to be ephemeral.

-Vita Sackville-West
November 14th, 1954

Rather on the contrary to Vita’s fear, I think indoor gardening is on the rise. I myself, don’t think I could live without the pleasure of gazing at my blooming houseplants all winter long. I feel so blessed to have a collection that provides me with something at all times. I no longer dread the coming of winter because I know my work indoors will begin. Just because the roses are gone and the dahlias are dug up doesn’t mean I won’t have flowers. In fact, I will have plenty.

Forget fresh flowers in each room- what about live flowers instead? With all the positive research which proves plants provide clean air for our stagnant wintery houses why wouldn’t one want a plant to bring some new oxygen and color?

My love for flowers began with the cactus- if you can believe it. They were inexpensive and there little pots did not impose on the limited space in our home. However, as I was trying to roll myself out of a wintery funk, gazing upon one little cactus wasn’t good enough. My broken spirit needed something more- something bigger than me. Soon that little pleasure took the form of a therapeutic obsession which branched out into the interest of other plants and soon tramped off to expand itself outdoors. I followed it willingly and found myself feeling the greatest pleasure. I attached myself to a positive energy that spun all the heaviness away.

In the dead of winter, we can all get a little run down. So when this happens, I venture off to my favorite place: Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy, MI. Their collection of house plants is out of this world and the displays are nothing short of inspirational. Stepping out of the cold and into their greenhouse (pictured above) one is immediately struck by the humidity and the most wonderful smell of wet dirt. Find a nice greenhouse near you and make it your safe haven.

People tell me they kill cacti, succulents and orchids too. I myself cringe at the times I threw phalaenopsis orchids away when their blooms died. Not anymore. I have one that has been blooming consistently (taking short breaks here and there), throwing up blooms since two years ago. Don’t let anyone fool you, their care is not challenging.

My latest achievement however, is getting my dendrobium to bloom this year. I’ve been waiting two years and my hard work has finally paid off. Since dendrobium’s and cacti need a drought period in order to bloom, they are such rewarding plants when they finally shoot up some color for you. Indeed, they teach patience and perseverance.

Sounds complicated and annoying to have to wait so long, but that’s the fun of it. If you need a distraction or feel a bit heavy, get out into the garden and start with something simple. I promise you, gardening can cure all mental ailments if you’re willing to be cured. Whether indoor or outdoor there is an endless amount of knowledge to learn and practice. Be well this winter; allow the flowers to lift your spirit.

Winter Rebels

November 25, 2016May 2, 2017 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 2 Comments

It is amusing, and also useful as a record of what to plant now, looking forward to twelve months hence, to make a compact little bunch of what may be found flowering out of doors in this drear empty month. Prowling round through the drizzle with knife and secateurs, I collected quite a presentable tuzzy-muzzy.

-Vita Sackville-West
More For Your Garden
Nov. 15th, 1953

If you’ve read my post What Is A Tussie-Mussie? you’ll know Vita is referring to a small bouquet of mixed flowers – a sampling of one’s garden. Now, since the frost has come and gone and come again, it is almost impossible to find any flowers now. However, there are plenty of spent flowers remaining. Flowers which stand, brown and suspended on their stiff spikes will make striking displays for drying. I implore you to take up this challenge and see what you can find out of doors. It is a wonderful reminder as one hunkers down for the winter to gaze upon the little dried beauties with hope – it is but only three months away.

My mother is quite funny, sometimes she’ll come up with ideas that have us rolling with laughter. As we sat in the last blaze of summer sun at her cottage we contemplated the coming winter and she vowed, in jest, she would, “defy the seasons”. She came up with many hysterical instances on how she would do this and we had a good laugh. However, now it’s getting serious. It will snow soon! My mother’s ironic humor resonates and I think she was right; there is no better way to “defy the seasons” than by going out to pick a bouquet of flowers as the blistering icy wind blows.

As you take up this idea and venture out keep your eyes open and use your imagination. For instance, my uncle once made a sculpture out of our dried sunflowers and their incredibly sturdy stalks. As for me, for weeks I have passed by a grouping of dried garlic chives on my run. I soon got it in my head that I must have them. They were beautiful spikes with balls of delicate seeds that seemed to glisten in the sun. One morning I asked the owner of the property if I could have some. He said I could take what I needed.
With the holidays coming or rather in America, we have already begun, sometimes it’s fun to find spent blooms on the more woody stems or perhaps pine cones and spray paint them gold or silver. They look very good stuffed in a Christmas tree or placed in a table setting.
Don’t be shy. If you happen to walk by and see, for several weeks, spent blooms which are failing to be clipped, ask the owner if you can take some. It’s the holiday season after all; a season of giving. I’m sure they would love to share the wealth.

Garden For The Eyes-Write For The Ears

November 15, 2016May 2, 2017 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 6 Comments

The watchers out on the grass could see the interior of the rooms illuminated by the savage glow. The paneling of the hall had caught, and even as they looked they saw the canvas of a portrait give an extra little spurt of a yellower flame and flutter without its frame to the floor. This was the odd thing to observe: the mingling of such small detail and Wagnerian holocaust.

Vita Sackville-West
The Easter Party; 1953

Since we are approaching winter it seems appropriate for one to think about hunkering down with some good books-or perhaps finishing that novel or collection of poems you’ve been working on. Can I please then, for a moment talk about writing? I just finished the most glorious little forgotten book. As most old books are forgotten let us not forget Logan Pearsall Smith and his little book of reminisces, The Unforgotten Years. Beautiful little piece of history. I was excited to sit and read each weathered page of my old copy.

There seems to be a lack of appreciation of good writing today. It seems the style that has come into fashion is a very dry prose with an over use of BIG words. In reality, by doing so and too often, they are only extracting the richness out of their descriptions. When reading some of the modern works today. It feels as though the heart is taken out of the prose. The humanity, or the human condition is no longer a factor to be examined.

Ironically Smith complains about this same thing occurring in his old age with youthful writers over one hundred years ago. He says:

“The truth is that almost all that makes the reading of old books delightful is neglected by those who wield their steel nibs in the age of steel. There were arts, there were blandishments, there were even tricks, which were intended to beguile the older generations, and which have succeeded in beguiling subsequent generations as well. In the first place good prose used to be written, not, as it is written to-day, for the eye alone, but also for the ear.”

When read aloud your writing should sound as elegant as intended. If the reader must stumble over ostentatious verbiage most of the time- your point will be lost. You see what I did there? At least in my humble opinion this is the case with writing today.

Now, back to the garden for it too must hunker down and get to work. Like the roses which must turn their fine petals of silk into rose hips for the birds, you too must do this with your writing. Give the world something to feed upon that will enrich as well as caress the broken hearts and the lonely souls of this world.

In Themes Of War…

October 27, 2016October 29, 2016 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 10 Comments

Honour the gardener! that patient man
Who from his schooldays follows up his calling,
Starting so modestly, a little boy
Red-nosed, red-fingered, doing what he’s told,
Not knowing what he does or why he does it,
Having no concept of the larger plan.
But gradually, (if the love be there,
Irrational as any passion, strong,)
Enlarging vision slowly turns the key
And swings the door wide open on the long
Vistas of true significance.

-Vita Sackville-West
The Garden; 1946

I love Vita’s poetry. It took me awhile to like poetry and even still sometimes it’s hard for me to understand. I think in order to love poetry one must know the author and the times in which they wrote. Vita loved her garden. Her compilation of poems The Garden cover all four seasons. However, there is one recurring theme which trickles in every now and then. It is that of the second World War. I’m sure she had written these poems in the last year of the war at least. When the poems were published in 1946 there was still a residue of it in England at this time. If one reads carefully it is there, quiet but ever-present…

“Yet shall the garden with the state of war
Aptly contrast, a miniature endeavour
To hold the graces and the courtesies
Against a horrid wilderness. The civil
Ever opposed the rude, as centuries
Slow progress labored forward, then the check,
Then the slow uphill climb out of the pit,
Advance, relapse, advance, relapse, advance,
Regular as the measure of a dance;
So does the gardener in little way
Maintain the bastion of his opposition
And by symbol keep civility;
So does the brave man strive
To keep enjoyment in his breast alive
When all is dark and even in the heart
Of beauty feeds the pallid worm of death.”

Did you hear it? The themes of war?

She speaks of it often in her writings. She describes gardens abandoned or neglected in the years of war. She talks about rose bushes, relinquished for that time being, growing wild because they had not been pruned and were more beautiful than ever before.

But for the purpose of this post I’ll speak of a different type of war. Sometimes I feel like preparing for winter is akin to preparing for war. Protect those you love as the blistering winds are upon us. In other words, it is time to shut one’s garden down. The frost will come soon. So save those that may still bloom behind the comfort of glass on your windowsill, and clip those you can dry. A reminder of the summer sun will remain in the dehydrated petals for you to gaze upon all winter long.

I have clipped my sweet woodruff to dry for Christmas sachets. It hangs for now in my kitchen as you can see below. In my post Short and Sweet Woodruff I explained that if you clip sweet woodruff in autumn and dry it, it will make lovely sachets that smell like freshly cut grass all winter. Vita mentioned keeping one under her pillow to capture the scent while she slept.

Similarly, I dried the lavender and my astilbe spikes. I talked about astilbe in my post
Astilbe & The Romanovs. I’ll use the astilbe in vases around my house to add interest to a space. The lavender however will be crushed with the sweet woodruff and stuffed in the Christmas sachets. I love homemade Christmas gifts.

The one cut flower that will dry amazingly is the zinnia. Since we’re getting very close to a heavy frost I will cut them all. It pains me to do so since some have yet to bloom. But the bud stage actually produces a very interesting dried specimen. Also hydrangea are very interesting too.

So go out and save a bit of your garden before it’s too late. You’ll applaud your own resourcefulness. When times get a little too dreary this winter always think about next year’s garden, entertain yourself with fantasies and possibilities. Think of the most outrageous thing you can do and make it happen!

“…But gradually, (if the love be there,
Irrational as any passion, strong,)
Enlarging vision slowly turns the key
And swings the door wide open on the long
Vistas of true significance.”

A good gardener is not afraid to experiment.

Above: My Experiment: Morning Glory in a vase. Do you think these buds will open?

Inspire us, in what ways have you experimented lately?

This Morning…

Short and Sweet Woodruff

May 24, 2016May 24, 2016 ~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 3 Comments

There are things we grow in our gardens and forget about, and then remember suddenly, as I have just remembered the Sweet Woodruff, that meek, lowly, bright green native of Britain, so easy to grow, so rapid in propagation-every little bit of root will grow and extend itself-keeping weeds down and making a bright green strip or patch wherever you want it.
It is not showy. Its little white flowers make no display, but it is a useful carpenter for blank spaces, and it certainly makes sweet bags for hanging in the linen cupboard to discourage the moth or to put under you pillow at night.

-Vita Sackville-West
May 14th, 1950
In Your Garden

I read about these late one night and was intrigued by a certain useful quality the Sweet Woodruff possesses. So intrigued and attracted, that I headed to the nursery strictly to get my hands on some. I’ve since planted it all over my flower beds and under trees, so my supply is great and my harvest will be plentiful.

Vita advises that if you cut the leaves in autumn, which, if they grow as rapidly as I’m told, I would just cut their long stalks of leaves and hang them upside down as you would a spice. They will not have a scent until they are dried.
After which, you can make them into little sachets which smell of freshly mowed grass and lingers for years. Imagine the lift you’ll receive when in the dead of winter you’ve forgotten what grass looks like let alone smells like! Slip it under your pillow to remind yourself. You’ll sleep peacefully knowing that spring is always right around the corner.