The Garden Musings Project – Muse No. 9

Muse No. 9 – May 26, 2020

Return to your spring observation object. Make a record of the date and conditions of the day. What changes do you notice from your earlier observations (maybe look back at your records). Make a color palette or a line collection (see Muses 1 & 4 for instructions).

Musings on Spring

Spring is the perfect time to start observing and recording the timing of seasonal change events in your backyard or neighborhood. At Santa Fe Botanical Garden, we partner with the Rio Grande Phenology Trail to track the timing of seasonal changes in a number of plant species. Volunteers keep weekly data and share with the RG phenology network, and the larger National Phenology Network. What signs of seasonal change are you seeing this week – flower buds? buds bursting? new leaves? leaves increasing in size? eggs? larvae?

 

The Garden Musings Project is an open invitation to look more closely and broadly at our backyards, front yards and neighborhoods. Each week we’ll send three prompts focused around a theme – color, texture, lines, interaction to name a few. These prompts will include ideas to guide a musing or conversation between you and your nearby outdoor spaces. Try each of the exercises, or stick with one that evolves into a regular practice.

Every few weeks, we’ll have a live-stream conversation (via Zoom) to share our experiences, and to chat with artists, educators, writers, poets and gardeners from New Mexico and a far about their own practices observing and interacting with their gardens, landscapes and other natures around them.

Ways to Join: Participate at any level in the project is welcome. Try the weekly musings  as they come up in your social media feeds. Sign-up for the project emails below to receive the weekly musings in your inbox, as well as the information for the group gatherings via Zoom through the registration list.