"Great is the virtue that is in the plants of the ground and in the fruit of the sea,
were we but to hold them in esteem and turn them to good use -
O King, great indeed!
The Being of life never set a thing in the creation of the universe
but He set some good within it.
He never did. O King, many a good is in the soil of the earth and in the depth of the sea, did we but know to make good use of them -
many and many a good, O Thou perfect King of life!"

Isabel MacEachainn, Bunessan, Scotland
(mid to late 1800's)

What is the job of a plant in a garden? To simply be itself. To grow, flower, be beautiful or unusual or simply present. To live and then die.

And you can trust them to do their job well, assuming you've given them the conditions they need. These, of course, vary from plant to plant, but that's your business as a gardener, choosing plants that are well suited to your garden.

Being themselves, they bring great richness to the garden in many ways. Richness for the eyes, with color and shape. For the nose, with scents sometimes pleasant, sometimes merely unique. For the fingers, with leaves soft and yielding, smooth, fuzzy, or prickly. With petals of great delicacy and thorns to be avoided.

And with a certain indescribable quality that affects both our emotional and our spiritual selves. During one conversation I had with a professional homeopath, he likened the effects of his medicines to sitting by one plant or another. And those who practice the art of Flower Essence therapy use the qualities of plants to bring a deep inner healing to bodies with physical ailments.

Quite often people who need emotional or spiritual healing will find themselves drawn to the presence of the plants who can help them most. They may even avoid plants with qualities they don't need. Pay attention to your loves when you're shopping at a nursery (though use your head to avoid bringing home plants you have no place for!)

Wild plants, in particular, can bring a glimpse of a whole ecosystem, of the places they have grown for thousands of years. Not every flower from the high mountains or the tropical forests can be grown artificially, of course, but if you have a longing for a particular place, perhaps the plants can give you a taste of what you're looking for.

So, spend some time in your garden simply sitting, watching and listening. Pay attention to what you feel, what you see, who you are when you're with the garden, and with individual flowers or trees. Pay attention to whatever sense of invigoration, or peace, or delight you experience. Give thanks for the smallest of these gifts and they will increase.