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Yin and yang….the root and the stem, sun and shade, dry and wet, day and night, even hardscape and softscape….all describe the everyday balancing act that goes on in our gardens and even more so in nature. Yin and yang are described as opposites that are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world. They have equal qualities that are bound together by a mutual whole.
I have yin and yang going on within me when it comes to nature and it comes out in a scientific streak. One day I was talking to a friend and describing to her the stomata in leaves and how cool it was that they act like the leaves lungs. Interesting, but she really just wanted to enjoy the beauty of the flowers and trees and not too interested in the details. To each their own and granted flowers are beautiful, but it is also amazing how a sequoia tree can transport water all the way to the top of it’s canopy, how plants know when it’s time to send forth new growth in the spring, how plants have evolved to wind pollinate or insect pollinate, all according to it’s environment, how plants communicate with each other, a seed, how a root searches out nutrients, the soil, the list goes on and on. Sure, the beauty is what catches the eye, but the details are both awe inspiring and mysterious.
As a gardener, I’ve finally come to embrace my scientific side while balancing it out with my appreciation for a beautiful sunset, a flower or the way the wind blows the tall grasses. Yin and Yang.
deargardenjournal 
We just scratched the surface of botany in our Master Gardener class and I just learned about stomata – I find it all very fascinating. The more I learn the more I think plants are more highly evolved than us! Beautiful and yet so efficient and well designed – yin and yang – perfect balance.
Kathy, I love the link you put on your blog to “The first flower” documentary. You’re right, it is so fascinating! There was another documentary listed beside it called “Pure science specials-In the mind of plants”, so I watched it too. And it seems plants actually do have more genes than we do. Who would have thought!? Both were great. Thank goodness for youtube, I seldom can catch one of these on regular tv.
Annie I will have to watch “In the Minds of Plants!” Thank you for pointing it out. I watch most of my “TV” online – cut the cable long ago. It seemed they always cut the shows I liked. I still miss A Gardener’s Diary, though.
Kathy, I sure miss it too, it was my favorite. HGTV used to have some good gardening shows, A Gardener’s Journal was pretty good too. I also watch most on line…thank goodness we have that! 🙂
GREAT POST!!! So true, I was saying to someone the other day, ” It is amazing that a seed has all it needs to take care of itself until it gets its first true leaves.” I find that amazing,don’t know if they did.You are so right about our scientific side… when I am busy growing plants, I become a science/horticulture geek! I just can’t get enough of it, read enough, but you again are right about the “awe” of it’s beauty stops me in my track just as often as the amazing scientific side of how a plant accomplishes all it needs to do with not much of our help:-) ( exhale-just got that all out)…. thank you for a great post:-)
Sometimes I think that is why I blog, so I can connect with other “ying + yang” souls….you helped me understand it is okay to be a little nature nutty-lol:-)
“Yin and Yang souls”…I like that description! 🙂 And you’re right, seeds are absolutely amazing! After all these years of growing plants, I still am in awe of what a tiny seed produces. There are some really good youtube videos put out by a Canadian scientist about how plants communicate. It’s really incredible. Sometimes I feel like I’m the oddball out because most of my friends and family just roll their eyes when I get started. 🙂 I especially love the history of certain plants. I did a blog for a couple years where I highlighted a plant and then went into depth about it…I didn’t have many readers. 🙂 So, I essentially gave up writing on it, but go back to it now and then. So happy to connect with another “nutty” gardener! 🙂
I know what you mean my family gets that “look” on their face when I ramble on about heirloom flowers/vegetables, saving seeds, fragrant plants, stories behind a plants name, native, yadda yadda yadda-lol…If I had known of your blog a year ago, I would of been a devoted reader!, I just can’t find anything about the history of heirloom plants.There are a few books, Thomas Jefferson Monticello, Select Seeds carries some interesting circa dates with their plants, but sometimes I would like to learn more….I hope you post some of your old posts about history+ plants again….I do tend to lean toward the heirloom flowers/plants due to their fragrance + stories. I am growing more this summer. I am saving seed from a few, for example, Black Prince which is a red snapdragon circa 1915 + some victorian snapdragon vines I saved seed from last year which( they want 4.00 dollars for 30 seeds!) are delicate and bees love them too…oh well, here I go again…I look forward to more of your posts:-)
It sure is hard trying to find information on the history of plants but luckily it’s getting a tiny bit easier as more people get interested. I remember years ago when I was first getting interested in heirloom tomatoes and before the big seed houses got involved, the only person I could find selling the seeds was a gentleman that lived in Maryland and sold them on his own web page and out of his house. His list of plants came with a description and a brief history of each tomato variety, which was so interesting. I never dreamed there were that many variety of tomatoes at the time. Of course, I had to try a bunch of different type of seeds and ended up with 200 tomato plants that year! I got a little carried away! 🙂 I wish I could remember his name and see if he still has his web site.
I get most of my info from old garden books I pick up at used book stores or yard sales. Seem the old books are more informative and less fluff. A few modern books that are good is the Rodale Encyclopedia of Herbs for just about any herb you want to know about. They do a good job on a bit of the history and what the herb was used for as well as growing and even cooking tips. Well worth having for herb info. Another book that gets you thinking is Seeds of Change by Henry Hobhouse. His writing can be a little dry but the concept of how 6 plants changed mankind is really fascinating. You won’t look at these 6 plants the same after reading and gets you to thinking on most all other plants.
Your snapdragons sound beautiful, especially the vine variety. So much fun to grow old favorites. Like being with old friends!
🙂 so true!
and don’ t feel badly, I have grown A LOT of different tomatoes over the year because I just HAD to try that one-lol-it is my obsession, but a good one!:-)
There is probably some medical term that describes gardeners that can’t control the amount of seed they plant! 🙂 I found the website where I used to buy tomato seeds….heirloomtomatoes.net……..The man’s name was Chuck Wyatt but it seems he passed away back in 2002. 😦 His neighbor that used to help him package the seed is running it now, so I don’t know how reliable it is. Guess the site is current? They do have an e-mail address.
seedaholic! lol..there is actually an interesting seed company by that name in Ireland. It inspired me to call myself a plantaholic:-) It is an addiction!
I have ordered from them before, and really nice seed.
http://www.seedaholic.com/
Robbie, that website is wonderful!!! And I haven’t even got past the plants for bees sections yet! 🙂 I like how they give a bit of history to each plant. Thanks for the link!
I know they are a nice company. It takes a bit longer for their seeds to bet here, but they send them with a lot of information. I did get my smallage( leaf celery) from them last year, I could not find it ANYWHERE. I like seeds from odd places:-) well, not odd, just faraway and a myster:-)
They offer seeds for some really nice and different bee plants…I’ve got my list about narrowed down! 🙂 I like that they picked many that aren’t fussy, are perennial and even prefer to be direct sowed. Nice. A couple on their list are invasive here in the Tennessee, not that the bees would care, but my neighbors might! 🙂 But there are so many to choose from, it’s easy to substitute.