Rush Hour Respite at Brookside
Botanical Gardens in my Life
June 17, 2025
I had just spent the day, a fun day, with our five-year-old grandson. His preschool was finished for the summer before his mother’s school (she’s a teacher) had completed the semester so he needed adult supervision. Not that a grandfather is much of an adult, but I can manage when I need to. I picked him up in the morning and brought him to our house. He played outside, we walked through the garden talking about plants, tasting herbs, and also nibbling on cabbage and lettuce leaves. We made a wooden bird feeder from a kit, ate lunch, played with Lego, and even watched a little television. After a full day I drove him home later than I had expected which I didn’t mind, except that it put my return directly in the middle of rush hour. As I was figuring out the best way home I saw a not-too-busy back route that went by Brookside Gardens, the county-run, free botanical gardens situated almost midway between our house and our daughter’s family’s. So on my way home I stopped to walk through the gardens and imbibe the beauty.
Brookside isn’t Longwood, but it is certainly lovely, obviously tended with care and cleverness, horticultural expertise balanced with a winsome aesthetic sensibility. A botanical garden provides a forum for a unique combination of science and art.
As I walked through the gardens, admiring the plantings it began to rain, not heavily, not a downpour, but only very gently, not even enough to completely wet the pathways but enough to be refreshing. Rain in particular, and water in general, goes well with a garden. Plants and water are a natural pairing. I wish my garden had a fountain or a stream; my only “water features” are a bird bath and a painting of a stream on the back fence. Much of my garden is built around a dry creek bed, so at least I found a way to evoke water, though I’d prefer an actual creek.
Verbena bonariensis has become one of my favorite plants. I first learned about it watching the British gardening show “Gardener’s World,” hosted by Britain’s celebrity gardener, Monty Don. If you haven’t seen this show and heard Monty’s soothing voice speaking practical and wise words about gardening, I highly recommend it. Verbena Bonariensis is a delicate looking, but hardy growing flower. It took me a year to figure out how to grow it from seed. The seeds need to be stratified which means putting the seed planted in soil in a refrigerator for 60 days, to fool it into thinking winter has come and gone, in order to break its dormancy. I was thrilled to finally successfully grow it. Now it has become almost an invasive plant, albeit a welcome one. Not only does it readily re-seed itself, producing hundreds of baby VBs the next spring, but it also comes back from the root at least about three fourths of the time. I’ll post some pics of my own Verbena bonariensis.
There are few botanical garden exploring surprises more pleasant than seeing a bright bunch of astilbe, pink or white or red, their feathery flowers waving in the breeze. I planted some in a shady moist area of my garden and they can make for a real bright spot in a dark place.
I also grow monarda, also known as Bee Balm, in my garden, but my version is not a hybrid like these beauties. The wild version I grow has smaller flowers a delicate shade of lavender. These maroon blossoms are striking surrounded by green and with flowing water in the background.
The great thing about stopping for a walk in a garden is that it doesn’t take too long, but the results are powerful. After being amongst all those flowers, trees, and shrubs, walking paths that wind in and out between the various plots and beds, I feel calmer, at peace, and more optimistic about life and living and what might come next.
