LAWN AND ORDER

There is still quite a bit of lawn on our property…but where there isn’t lawn, it is different. There are waves of movement. There are a host of things happening that I can’t even see. A native plant garden is a ripple effect radiating outward shaping not just your garden, but life itself. Usually, though, people are too busy to notice. Their choice is a instant gratification element of grabbing what is blooming now in the store. And couple that with the urge to replace it in the fall. A native plant garden is much less hurried, and full of unexpected surprises. Part of the allure that this blog hopes to show people, one post or page at a time. True stories from a yard that stopped playing by the rules of manicurization. The native plants are rooted in a purpose to connect biodiversity. I feel as though the simple act of watching an entire season of a growing plant from tiny sprout in spring to a dried stem in winter has immense power.

I posted a reel about this and, one of my followers had this to say:

“Love it. It’s also an anti productivity anti perfectionism healing mechanism… it’s not about making everything perfect and efficient and obsessing over it. It’s consistent and patient and forgiving mindful attention and care. It’s sometimes imperfect. It’s sometimes leaves eaten by animals, under/overwatering, too much sun, etc. And watching them survive and bounce back, simply because you watch them and do your best to remedy the situation. That’s why I love native plants like milkweed so much. It’s not manipulating nature to your advantage– it’s just a conscious overseeing and occasional intervening.”

@ vegandharmacoach, Laura Nadia 

Here’s what they don’t tell you when you decide to plant native plants:

You’ll start looking at everything differently.

You’ll plant a few things for the butterflies — and then find yourself learning the names of all sorts of things, listening for birds you never noticed before, and waiting all year for the bloom of something you nearly gave up on. Native plants are teachers in resiliency and patience. A native plant garden will change more than just your front, back or side yard. Even a balcony. The changes ripple over the ground, over the pots, and into you.

In 2015, it was just turf lawn out here. I didn’t know what would survive, or how any of this would look. I just knew I was tired of looking out of our windows and seeing emptiness.

So we started small.

And the small things led me somewhere entirely new — toward a messier kind of beauty, a quieter kind of purpose.

That’s how Flutter By Meadows began.

If you’re somewhere in the middle of your own rewilding, or even just curious about the edge of it — you’re welcome here.