March 12, 2004

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Between two worlds

by Ann Duwe

P alo Alto garden designer Susie Mader has three blue totem poles leaning against the front wall of her College Terrace house. The poles will be featured elements in her space at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show at the Cow Palace, March 17-21.

Mader is one of 22 professionals invited to create garden designs for the exhibit hall. The title of her space, "The Shaman's Garden," derives from her keen interest in the spiritual and healing properties of plants.

"I want to show people how they can have an interesting, intensely appealing place for meditation and silence or for chanting and wild drumming. I imagine it as an intermediate place between everyday life and the invisible, usually inaccessible spirit world," Mader said.

"Most likely, this kind of garden is a place within a larger landscape, a secret place, perhaps. It's probably small -- just big enough for you and maybe a few others. It can be tucked in anywhere -- in a grove of trees, in a backyard corner, even on a balcony, if that's what you have."

For Mader, such a garden might include an altar, not in the traditional religious sense but as a focal point for photographs, family mementos or other personal treasures of special significance. A cross, a Buddha, as well as a star and crescent will be woven into the design of the show garden.

"There might be a comfortable spot to sit down, close your eyes and 'journey' to another world to commune with the spirits of nature," she added.

The details would be different for every person who built such a garden, and for Mader the demonstration garden will feature faces as well as plants.

Three totem poles carved by Redwood City landscaper Leon Kunke are the starting point. Each pole is 6 feet tall and approximately 8 inches square. Kunke finds these poles as flotsam in San Francisco Bay, where he either carves them on shore as he pulls them out or carries them home to his studio. Masks and family photographs continue the theme of faces.

While the masks and photos have meaning for Mader personally, the plants have universally recognized symbolic and healing properties. For example, Mader plans to use a number of sages, the leaves and stems of which are burned to create aromatic smoke. She will bring in lavenders for color, knowing also of their use as a wash, a disinfectant, a treatment for headache and a source of soothing oil for burns. She will bring in rosemarys for their disinfectant qualities. Mader will use several kinds of mint. All have cooling properties and have been used to treat fevers.

"I don't want people to rely upon me for healing advice," she said. "I only cite the folk medicine uses associated with these kinds of plants. I don't want to be sued for medical malpractice!"

Mader will bring in an olive tree, a plant sacred to the goddess Minerva. The olive branch is famous the world over as a peace symbol. The bark has been used to treat cold sores and is currently under investigation as a source of anti-oxidants.

She wanted an apple tree and rose bushes for their symbolic messages. Since both are dormant at this time of year, Mader will substitute a basket of apples and cut roses. The apple has never escaped its association with the Garden of Eden even though it is reputed to be good for dental and intestinal health. Roses are symbolic of love.

Other plants still under consideration because they have been used by shamans for centuries are lemon balm, artemesias, tobacco and datura.

Mader's show garden will express the four points of the compass -- north, south, east and west, as well as the four elements -- earth, fire, air and water. These directional points form a kind of framework for the garden.

To convey the idea of north and earth, Mader is relying on a friend to create a small cave. South is associated with fire, ashes, red and high noon. Mader hasn't decided yet just how this element will be conveyed. Fire and incense are not allowed in the exhibit hall. Nonetheless, she's sure she'll find a way to create the idea of this element.

East and air is also a challenge. Mader is looking for a subtle way to create a barely discernable breeze. She would like to add scent to the showplace garden since scent is an important quality to look for in choosing plants for pleasure.

The west and water are simpler matters for someone like Mader who is a licensed contractor accustomed to dealing with watering needs and irrigation systems.

"A garden installed for a show is an illusion," Mader said, yet it can be an illusion in the service of practical reality. "As much as I am able, I will stick to good horticultural practices. The lavenders, for examples will be installed on the south side, where they would get sun in a California garden. I'll use Chinese angelicas for the cooler north side of the space."

She also plans to put a small rug into the design. Clearly one wouldn't leave a rug in an outdoor garden in March, but one could certainly imagine bringing a rug into the garden on special occasions.

As Mader talks about the logistics of creating a living arrangement in a temporary, indoor space, she acknowledges that she first refused the invitation to be an exhibitor.

"I am a one-person outfit. I often hire subcontractors to help with jobs, but this is different. In the end I asked whether I could do a very little garden, and when I was given the go-ahead, I agreed to do it," she said.

How did Mader, a skeptical New Englander, "suspicious of too much woo woo," become interested in the spiritual aspects of gardens?

"I've lived in Palo Alto for 30 years and worked on gardens for the last 20. During the '80s I started reading about metaphysical matters. I read books on Buddhism and Zen. In the '90s I became involved in goddess stuff. I attended workshops given by Michael Harner on the spirits of nature. His book "The Way of the Shaman" was particularly influential," she said.

No client has ever asked to have a shaman's garden. The closest she has come was in working with a Woodside client who asked to have a labyrinth, a spiral pathway of rough stones that leads to a central place of worship.

"I discovered that running a landscaping business doesn't preclude studying the unseen. Surprisingly enough, it helps," she said.

In addition to Susie Mader of MaderGreen, Foothill College Department of Horticulture will be participating in the garden show, which features 22 landscaped spaces. Exhibitors include ColleZione (Tuscan terra cotta pots) and Sunset Books, both from Menlo Park; Brookside Garden (pond supplies and kits), Mountain View; Filoli Center and Summit Springs Design (redwood recycled garden furniture), both of Woodside.

There will also be 35 workshops with horticultural experts, 40 educational booths and 360 vendors selling garden-related items and rare plants.

Box Information
What: San Francisco Flower and Garden Show When: March 17-21, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday; 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sunday Where: Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave., Daly City Cost: ranges from $16 for individuals in groups to $65 for a 5-day pass Info: (800) 829-9751 or www.gardenshow.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.