The Parsley Patch

Fascinated by the great monolithic stone circles of the Celtic lands we wanted to incorporate that sense of mystery and spirituality into the garden, but Stonehenge was a little too big. Being inspired by E. Barre Kavasch’s book, ‘The Medicine Wheel Garden: Creating Sacred Space for Healing, Celebration, and Tranquillity’, we decided to use the Native American medicine wheel as a model that would also pay respect to the Lenape people who hunted and farmed our land before us. Research and planning for the project took a year and construction nine months. Be sure to scroll down to read more in the captions below the photos.

Stones With Purpose The outer ring of stones are native to the land and knew what their ultimate purpose would be. When rebuilding other gardens we excavated tons of rocks. At a loss as to what to do with them, we just blurted out, “Where do you want to go?” They sort of said, “Just start piling us on the side of the house, please.” So there they sat without purpose for a few years, or so we thought, until the idea for this project began to stir.

Enter, Ye of Kind Heart and Spirit Stone circles are entered from the East through an arch of three monolithic stones called a trilithon. Here, an iron arbor serves as the gateway to the wheel and is planted with morning glories, salvia ‘Indigo Spires,’ dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ and hollyhocks. We started out with beans and cucumbers climbing the sides, but the groundhogs thought it was a display for “Today’s Special.”

The Guiding Light 36 stepping stones line the path of the medicine wheel. To guide a seeker on the journey of the year and life, moon and sun gazing globes on three-foot long copper stakes move easily to mark the months and seasons.

		Walking the Wheel The large slates represent the four cardinal directions and the cobbles, the moons. Spirit path stones run along the spokes to the inner path’s stones that mark the eight festivals of Ostara (1st day of Spring), Midsummer (1st day of Summer), Mabon (1st day of Autumn), Yule (1st day of Winter), Imbolc (February 2nd), Beltane (May Day), Lughnasahd (August 1st) and Samhain (Halloween).

The Great Totem E. Barre Kavasch’s book, ‘The Medicine Wheel Garden,’ suggested anchoring the center of the circle with a peace pole with inscriptions for the word “peace” in a different language on each side. We wanted something different and a little more personal. We created this “totem” made from an eight-foot cedar 4×4 post and a railing ball finial and used a wood-burning tool to carve sayings and pictures. It also serves as the arm of a giant sun dial, although it runs a bit slow! The streamers, or wind horses, are changed seasonally with different colors. Each streamer represents a blessing, prayer or wish being cast to the winds for fulfillment, much as a horse whisks a person off into the countryside.

Pretty Poisies The center bed changes with each passing season starting with white snowdrops and purple crocuses for Imbolc and Ostara. Later, apricot tulips and purple iris bloom for Beltane and Midsummer’s zinnias, petunias, echinacea, verbena, and cannas bloom through Lughnasahd, Mabon and even into Samhain. But autumn is not the end, for the echinacea seed heads and iris leaves will carry on through Yule as a reminder of what is to come as the wheel continues to turn.

Coleus can be just as colorful as flowers, sometimes even more so. This year, the coleus in the pots at the patio corner exploded in size and color.