CP New Moon Newsletter - April 2025
Happy New Moon of April,
"To me, Cultivating Place means tending to and recognizing the plants that bear witness to our histories in this world,"guest host Abra Lee recently shared. We were sitting beneath an historic 150+ year old Southern magnolia, laced with a clambering white Cherokee Rose (the Georgia State Flower), species narcissus bobbing in the spring breeze beside us, in the center of acres of native and historic plantings of the Oakland Garden Cemetery (established 1850) in downtown Atlanta for a CP Liveinterview experience around Abra's work as Director of Horticulture at Oakland.
If the complexities of humans, gardens, past and present are true in most gardens, they are particularly true in an historic cemetery garden. In the US South. So many hard and beautiful stories these plants and grounds have witnessed.
When I heard Abra's articulation of plants bearing witness with us and for us, I thought this is what Cultivating Place does too: this 10 year accumulation of long-form audio representing Garden Life stories and voices bears witness also. CP bears witness and documents so many of the ways the great diversity of plants, places, and cultivating humans in relationship with them have the ability to hold us together. To bring us together and grow us better.
This is now one of my favorite questions to ask–and to listen for in others:
What does the concept of Cultivating Place well, and with care,
mean or look like to you?
Gardeners (like everything) exist on a spectrum. Gardeners with a capital G (aka Big G Gardeners) are special. Working in the best interest of plants, places, and humans they are akin to Keystone Species. They are a subspecies if you will: Homo Sapiens subsp Gardener. Plants, Gardens & Ecosystems tended by these kinds of Gardeners and cultures across time in our world serve as Keystone Spaces.
Spaces which bolster biodiversity to be sure - but which also know, nurture, nourish, nurse, and nudge-toward-fullness whole histories, whole communities, whole cultures, communal health & well being, communal cultural literacy. These Keystone species Gardeners and Gardens model sane and reciprocal economic systems, and spiritual centers that welcome and care for everyone - us and all our planet mates....
The new moon is noted for being an auspicious time to grow things up - to visualize and manifest how we want our lives and the world by extension to grow. So, welcome back to a regular monthly CP A View from Here newsletter - keeping us as a community a little more connected and in dialogue around all things CP.
While our CP New Moon Newsletters won't always be this long, they will always provide behind the scenes views and updates on how to listen in, look carefully, read a little, respond a little. Scroll down for more on CP Podcast, CP Live, Past & Upcoming Events, AND A SURVEY on new CP thank-you gift merch we'd love your input on (*and there's a bonus ;)
So grateful to be growing along together,
Jennifer + The CP Team
To receive your Cultivating Place New Moon Newsletter subscribe here or enter your email in the box below!
