Mother's Garden in Georgia

Introduction

Mother's Garden in Georgia, in the southern part of the U.S., is north of the capital, Atlanta, a drive of about an hour and a half. The area is at the foothills of the three thousand mile Appalachian mountain range. Spring is long, summer is hot and humid reminding one of Pondicherry, autumn is beautiful and winter, though once every few years a light snowfall descends, is usually mild until freezing temperatures in mid January. In late February the first daffodils (Power of Beauty) appear in masses of 10,000-20,000. Soon after the strikingly beautiful hybrids of the ÔCup and Saucer' magnolias (Magnolia soulangeana) and the star magnolias (Magnolia stellata) crown the landscape.

This garden, offered to the Divine Mother, is perhaps not even 1/1000^th of what the Matrimandir Gardens will one day be, but it has been built with love and prayer and special attention to the spiritual significances of flowers as given by The Mother. Visitors come to work or view the beauty of Nature, inhale the multitude of fragrances and find peace in this near paradisal setting on a private lake where no motor craft are allowed and the requirement for silence is written in each property deed.

Throughout the year Mother's Garden is filled with the songs of birds and from late February, a progression of unparalled splendour in an atmosphere of joy and reflection. As the only constant in any garden is change, one always comes upon new discoveries. Planting continues each year with the introduction of hybrids chosen for their durability and surpassing beauty. Recent plantings include many flowers that are still to have their true spiritual messages revealed by those who love them and have an inner contact with their particular vibration. Among recent planted species and hybrids are double flowered Lenten Rose (Helleborus), new varieties of geranium, columbine, yellow blackberry lilies and others.

Hundreds of giant blooms of Japanese iris (Aristocracy of Beauty) grace the green lake (so named because of the reflection of hundreds of trees in its clear water) in June, beds of bearded iris, Siberian, Louisiana and aquatic iris (all Aristocracy of Beauty) and peonies (Beauty in Art) are filled with a rainbow of colours, flowering cherry trees (Smile of Beauty), lilacs (Distinction), dogwood, stunning displays of azaleas and rhododendrons (Abundance of Beauty), magnificent viburnum (Collective Purity), roses (Love for the Divine), flowering almond (Smile of Nature), camellias (Static Beauty), more than forty hybrids of hydrangea (Collective Harmony), honeysuckle (Constant Remembrance of the Divine), gardenias (Perfect Radiating Purity) and many other shrubs, small trees, perennial plants and bulbs provide months of beauty as the seasons unfold. In late fall the woods are aflame with brilliant maples and other trees in yellow, gold, red and orange.

When in autumn the garden prepares for its winter sleep and the last joyful chores are completed, I leave for the Ashram for 4-5 months, returning to see the renascent blossoms of spring.

"All this is for habitation by the Lord."

Isha Upanishad

Narad (Richard Eggenberger)