WHILE THE WILD IRIS BLOOMS

Photo from a series on an artist's garden. 'Irises After the Rain', J. Franks, for Saint George's Society, Presented in an album of Canadian gardens for His Majesty, King George III, on the occasion of His Majesty's birthday, 2022.

'What in your life is calling you? When all the noise is silenced, the meetings adjourned, the lists laid aside, and the wild iris blooms by itself in the dark forest, what still pulls on your soul? In the silence between your heartbeats hides a summons, do you hear it?' ~ Rumi

To start the New Year (of the garden Rabbit), we thought readers might enjoy seeing one of a series of photos, which were chosen for an annual album of Canadian gardens for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 'Irises After the Rain' stems from a curatorial project I conducted with an artist (Ontario College of Art and Design), whose William Morris-style garden was the setting for this photograph. The vignette seen here is representative of the main garden's overall design, where swaths of flowers were planted to resemble a painter's brushstrokes. The peacefulness of these 'Irises after the Rain' evokes the idea of growth in the midst of hardships.