On Contrast

In My Garden Today
Hosta 'Sum & Substance'
Autumn Fern

This morning I paused to appreciate the beautiful combination created by the big bold leaves of Hosta 'Sum & Substance' and the delicate, finely cut foliage of Autumn Fern. These two plants are nice enough individually, but put them together, and they make a striking combination. Both are green--the same shade of green. And they are about the same size. It's the contrast in texture that creates this outstanding duet. That's one of the keys to good garden design: knowing how to put individual plants together so that the resulting contrast is an appealing composition. It's the contrast that creates the clarity and beauty.

And so it is with our lives as well. It's the contrast that gives life its richness and meaning, that helps us clarify what we want and what we don't want, that makes us interesting and keeps us interested. It's the contrast that makes life real and worth living.

If there be light, then there is darkness; if cold, then heat; if height, depth also; if solid, then fluid; hardness and softness, roughness and smoothness, calm and tempest, prosperity and adversity, life and death.
~ Pythagoras ~