March is almost past, but we are coming up on the Vernal Equinox, about the 21st of March, so they say, which is another powerful turning point. 'Vernal' comes from the Latin for veneration, flourishing, and the opening of young leaves within a bud; and 'Equinox' is Latin for equal night, this being one of the two times per year when day and night are approximately of equal length. The celebration of Easter is calculated from the Vernal Equinox, that time during which all of nature ressurrects, gains momentum to a new existence.
April is the month 'par excellence' of beautiful epiphanies, many of which are bittersweet twinges of ecstacy and pain, which in lovely ephemeral moments very subtly suggest, or at least intimate, death. It is also the month of the unexpected, of tricks, of things that seem terrible yet provide a seedbed for growth. The word 'April' comes from the Latin 'aprire" to open. Allow me to explain how I feel about this. Those happenings of April--such as the first pure flowers and scents--are so intense and subtle in their spiritual being, in their living moment, that I feel they will not last physically forever. They will not last in time, but they will last in the eternity of the Soul. So, I see that these moments must be appreciated and loved as they are. The poets knew this. Especially Rainer Maria Rilke--"Be ahead of all leaving" from his Sonnets to Orpheus, "Sonnet 13, II". Human beings and April blossoms are complicitly inseparable. Emily Dickinson said "every flower a resurrection". I look at a flower and I hear her words as though she is living in my ear. I believe her!
I would like to quote Robert Sardello again. He has said it so well as no one else has as far as I have read; Sardello says "it is no accident nor just a personal "quirk" that the new elected pope ( Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina) chose the name of Francis. . . ." from St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis is the Spirit of Love for nature and mankind.When we love and witness nature we are doing something that nothing else in the cosmos can do. Nothing else can bear conscious witness as human beings do. Nature needs us--to bear witness. Otherwise, where would the caring exist? Are not St. Francis and his followers called the "Little flowers"? I fiorellini who care. Evidently, one need not be a "true believer" or a member of the instituion to see the truth of this universal phenomenon, and Pope Francis acting within the Roman Catholic Church has acted as vehicle for this spiritual archetype, which is so openly positive to all. I believe that his name, Francis, Francesco, Francisco, Franciscus is a portent symbol for that opening of doors that has already occurred, and it will continue.
I planned to open this plant-meditation with practical directions on how to grow Freesias, but I could not contain myself until I expressed the above comments. Anyway, when I smelled the first scents of my Freesia leichtlinii a few day ago, it was like a sweet fresh kiss, like the ones all of us have received and given with our first girlfriends and boyfriends when we were young. Perfumers will never be able to imitate the scents of Nature, although I do love their Neroli. I suppose it is best that perfumers remain artists of scent and create beautiful scents of their own making. They have indeed created some lovely scents. I think of them as artists, magicians, alchemists.
Freesis derive from South Africa and are comfortable growing in the mild climes of California and the Riviera, as Pizzetti and Cocker write. I will always tell you who says these things and when they are not of my own generative experience. Yet, when I do write from living experience, I feel free to proceed honestly at length. Too many "writers" these days copy, plagerize, others' words as though they originated them, and they do it unknowingly or too casually. They think that because they have thought similar ideas at one time or another in their lives, that they can use them as though they own them. And, some so-called artists lift poems and images at random. Of course, I feel quite differently about this. Lifting is intellectually dishonest and it is bad scholarship as well; those who created the primal work in publications or other venues have rights. There are such things (in most cases) as copyright laws. Actually, in all truth, no one can ever imitate perfectly another person's work, unless, perhaps, one has devoted a lifetime to it as some professional forgers have that I have seen in television documentaries. But even so, it is wonderful to have a work from the hand of the original artist--it is somehow ensouled with a special spirit. I consider such work as a remnant of the artist. Finally, lifters come off as pretentious phonies. And, this can be perceived by sensitive observers. What other does an artist have than his or her original creative productions whether they be words, images, or music? I say this for myself and for all my fellow artists. Yes, ideas and images are universal, but some people work hard to produce them in a particular artistic, original manner for a living, and if not for a living there is certainly a moral integrity involved.
So, we get cold down to about 38F here in Del Mar where freezing rarely occurs, but Freesias can stand temperatures down to 20F with ease (Pizzetti and Cocker.) And, they are pretty easy to grow. Buy the corms or little bulbs in the fall, plant them in a very sunny location about 2-3 inches deep, water them in. Don't even worry about them all winter.They will suprise you in the Spring. Freesias grow best in a loamy, sandy, well-draining substrate, commonly called earth, although I have had mine growing in sandy clay for the last thirty years. They have even naturalized from seeds among the gnarled old roots of my olive tree. Some I planted, some simply migrated.
The F. leichtlinii are blooming now, sending out envigorating scents. I bring a few blooms into the dining room, and at dinner the room is rich and bountiful.
Freesia lechtlinii has cream flowers streaked with greys and a faint violet. Other Freesias, the hybrids, are red and purple, yellow and white, orange and violet, single and double petaled. There many colors among the Dutch and Tecolote hybrids. They really brighten up the garden during these days when the clouds are deminishing and the sun is out most of the time. My favorite garden writers Ippolito Pizzetti and Henry Cocker in "Flowers, A Guide for You Garden", present the best cultural, historical comments. They are equals of Helen Perenyi--"pare intra pares." And, I mean by 'cultural' significance the complete range of information from practical growing to the mythological, to the historical. And, the prints are in beautiful color taken from "Curtis's Botanical Magazine". "Flowers" is published by Harry N. Abrams, New York, and I treasure my inscribed copy--it was given to me by my father, a gentle gardener, years ago, 'molti anni fa'. I think it is out of print, but do work to find it and get it if you can. You can bequeath it to friends or children or grandchildren. Most of all you can savor enjoying it in the present. Remember what Rilke has said about that. Always, best regards to you, and may you have health, and happy, rewarding gardening. Frank.
