OcT 2023

Every now and then, the thought flickers in my mind that we could do something more useful with the 90 square meters of our cut flower garden. Is it an unnecessary luxury? Unlike our perennials, the blossoms for the vase don't grow on their own. Cultivation and care require time, attention, and resources. What's more, not every flower in the cut flower bed is a paradise for insects – that also concerns me. These thoughts are not without reason – they fit in quite well with our performance- and optimization-oriented society. But should a garden really serve the purpose of being as ecologically sensible, efficient, or purposeful as possible? It's easy to lose sight of how valuable the mere joy of looking at these flowers is. Standing amid this abundance of colors, shapes, and scents, knowing that everything has been produced from seeds or shriveled tubers, feels incredibly inspiring. And how connecting and nourishing it is to stand at your neighbor's door with a bouquet of colorful garden flowers and look into their beaming faces. Beauty, joy, and connection, in whatever form they may appear, are not a useless luxury – they are a deeply human need.