Garden enshrouds us from tension and anxiety (LWNC San Vicente Botanical Garden Series)

LIVING WITH NATURE CENTER
San Vicente Botanical Garden Series
San Vicente, Ilocos Sur Philippines

Garden enshrouds us from tension and anxiety 

"When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, 

there is always the garden." – Minnie Aumonier

Dr Abe V Rotor

A scene of the garden appears like a natural curtain, cool and soothing to our senses. The curtain enshrouds our physical and psychological well-being, and takes away tension, fear and anxiety which characterize our postmodern living today.

San Vicente Botanical Garden

Silhouette of trees against the sky makes a perfect blend of green and blue in 

varied hues and shades, revealing like x-ray leaf arrangement and venation, 

architectural patterns that differentiate plants into divisions and species. 

Lianas, shrubs and ferns envelop the trunk of a native mango tree considered as heritage tree for having withstood the test of time and the elements for a span of four generations. 

Towering trees up to five storeys high dominate the landscape, rising above houses and other structures around, and adjoin other trees nearby, creating a contiguous stand that serves as barrier against wind, dust, glare and noise. They harbor organisms that live on them as symbionts and tenants, and also transients such as migratory birds and seasonal organisms. 

Views overlooking the garden's arboretum simulating a tropical rainforest in a 

storied pattern where the canopy represents the roof, emergents as the tower, 

and the undergrowths as lower floors, mezzanine and ground floor likened

 to a multi-storied building. 

Pruned umbrella trees Terminalia catappa (talisay or lugo Ilk) reveal a virtually empty sky. Soon the trees will grow new crowns and fill up the sky until the next pruning some five years later or earlier. Pruning saves trees from strong wind, and prevent danger of dead limbs falling off. Pruning gives a breather to clinging vines such as philodendron or water plant (right photo), as well as undergrowth of annuals, herbs and lichens. 

Left, A flock of doves meet the morning sun at the edge of a forest.  Right, A kaleidoscope* of butterflies crowds a garden in summer. Details of a wall mural painting by the author in his residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

*A group of butterflies is officially called a kaleidoscope. Sometimes they are referred to as a swarm. Groups of caterpillars are called an army. A cluster of butterflies is called a roost. ~