-21_The Regal Peony (Part 2) - 24 May 2015.htm The Regal Peony (Part 2) Beauty in Art In the physical world, of all things it is beauty that expresses best the Divine. The physical world is the world of form and the perfection of form is beauty. Beauty interprets, expresses, manifests the Eternal. Its role is to put all manifested nature in contact with the Eternal through the perfection of form, through harmony and a sense of the ideal which uplifts and leads towards something higher. The Mother In the g

Some Very Special Flowers We have covered the lotus in our previous blogs and learned that Mother named the pink form, The Avatar and the white form, Aditi, but there are a few other flowers that Mother gave significances to and these also are very special. In 1971 I germinated seeds of Lobelia erinus 'Cambridge Blue' at the Matrimandir Gardens Nursery and sent the flowers to Mother through Tara. I don't believe I have ever experienced greater joy with flowers than hearing that Mother named this particular cultivar, Remembrance of Sri Aurobindo! There are a number of different v

-27_Magnificent Magnolias (Part 3) - 05 July 2015.htm Magnificent Magnolias (Part 3) We continue our series with photos of magnolia trees in bloom, a sight never to be forgotten. Before we look at the photographs you will notice that I haven't mentioned that any of the magnolias were given significances by Mother. Well, she did name one, the stately Magnolia grandiflora with the largest flowers of all magnolias. This species can grow to 100 feet and it has pristine white flowers and beautiful glossy evergreen leaves. Individual flowers are often 25 to 30 cm across! What significance did Mother give to this spectacular

-07_The Iris, Aristocracy of Beauty (Part 2) - 15 Feb 2015.htm The Iris, Aristocracy of Beauty (Part 2) Lastly, this very important question and Mother’s inspiring reply: “What is the best way of opening ourselves to the deep influence of flowers?” Mother: “To love them. If you can into psychic contact with them, then that would be perfect.” Mother’s words are echoed by Max Schling, a much admired florist and seedsman who owned a shop in New York City in the early 1900’s. He wrote The Book of Indoor Gardening and is fondly remember

-51_The Joys of Annual Flowers - Zinnias (Part 2) - 27 Dec 2015.htm The Joys of Annual Flowers - Zinnias (Part 2) Early Forms & Courageous Below are two early forms of zinnias. True, they are definitely imbued with the power of endurance but they lack the beauty of the modern hybrids to which man has lent his hand in collaboration with Nature. In fact it is well known in the plant world that many breakthroughs in the hybridization of flowers have been achieved by amateur gardeners, notably among them Portulaca or Moss Rose which Mother has named "Sri Aurobindo's Compassion".

-24_Orchids (Part 3) - 14 Jun 2015.htm Orchids (Part 3) Spathoglottis are terrestrial orchids and very easy to grow. As with all plants one must find the best situation for a plant to express most fully its silent aspiration. The ideal rule-of-thumb is 'A plant in the right place'. A fertile, well-drained soil mix, the correct pot size (this is often a mistake some gardeners make), i.e. over potting a plant. I use the example of putting a young child in a bathtub vs. putting him in the ocean. Plants need to adapt slowly to their environment and moving a plant up in pot size when its roots fill out the existing container i

-02_Nature^s Window - 11 Jan 2015.htm Blog #09 - 11 January 2015 Nature's Window Though I had been readingSavitrisince 1961 after meeting A.B. Purani, Arabinda Basu and Jyotipriya, and having been given Mother's blessings to be the first to readSavitriin Auroville, which I did for ten years, Mary Helen and I read this gift of all gifts to humanity many, many times and during the late 1990's and we read it cover to cover eight times to write theLexicon of an Infinite Mind.

-19_Daylilies (Part 2) - 10 May 2015.htm Daylilies (Part 2) Some unnamed flowers (as yet), many from Mother's Garden A Feast of Beauty Daylilies Blooming late in Spring daylilies bring sumptuous colour and plentiful blooms ranging from white to pink to purple, to orange, gold and more! Question sent to Mother There are many plants we are trying to grow here which suffer because of our climte. how can we help them to grow and blossom here?

-28_Magnificent Magnolias (Part 4) - 12 July 2015.htm Magnificent Magnolias (Part 4) We conclude this series with a grand display of magnolias in bloom. Most of the close-up photos were taken here in Mother's Garden with various macro lenses. All of the tress are in various stages of bloom today, march 28, 2015, although the 'Star' magnolias are toward the end of their display and 'Pink Goblet' and Ivory Chalice are just beginning. Is it not one of the greatest joys to connect of a deeper level with Nature, revere the Divine beauty that is everywhere, from the structure of a blade of grass, to the lotus growing in mud, rising through

-50_The Joys of Annual Flowers - Zinnias (Part 1) - 20 Dec 2015.htm The Joys of Annual Flowers - Zinnias (Part 1) Physical and Integral Endurance Yes, it is true, annual flowers last only one season yet whether that season is brief as in Alaska or long as in the tropics and semi-tropics, annual provide a display of beauty that is often breathtaking. Mother has named many annual flowers and in this and forthcoming blogs we will study their messages as revealed by Mother. We begin with Z! This is the realm of zinnias and the significance Mother has given to them is 'Endurance' and I have seen, on the physical plane,