Wayward Lilies

Such exuberant creatures these lilies. . . . Shunning the dictates of conventional garden form, they do their own thing, in their own way and their own time. Every other plant in the garden behind the little blue house potters along and observes the niceties related to height, form, symmetry, texture and demure colour. My lilies (however) are all over the place, taller than any other flowering residents except the Constance Spry and Maiden's Blush roses, more brightly coloured than anything else in the garden, ecstatic, eccentric and cavorting in the wind at the drop of a hat — the faintest breeze sets them dancing exuberantly in their place in the southeast corner of the garden.

In morning, my lilies open and turn their faces to the sun, and in evening they fold themselves up and dream until the light returns. There are times in afternoon when I can hear them through the kitchen window, exchanging earthy jokes and laughing among themselves. The whole flamboyantly coloured troupe have been giving some thought to hiring an old school bus (orange of course) and taking their act on the road.

Photographing the lilies takes time because of their persistent cavorting in place and their refusal to pose for the camera — one must have patience and wait for them to pause for breath in their frolicking and their revelries. I feel just the slightest bit like Georgia O'Keefe when I manage to capture them on a memory card and transfer the results into this system.

If the lilies could speak, what would they say? The garden divas (or sibyls) would no doubt tell us to live according to our deepest instincts as they do and be what we were meant to be — they would tell us to bloom as only we can bloom and pay no heed whatsoever to how everyone else is going about it. They would tell us to go with the flow and make a eloquent plea for colour, freeform blooming, creative expression on one's own terms and spontaneous dancing in the wind.

To those of you below the the 49th parallel, Happy Independence Day. To quote a dear friend, "a very happy everything".