Through our virtual programming series, Nature in your Neighborhood, we challenged volunteers to go out into their neighborhoods or backyards to see what plants sparked their interest. Whether plants are native or non native, we can all appreciate a connection to nature and the curiosity that it can spark!
By: Greg MacWilliams
Rosemary, with its beautiful flowers is tended by the bees, who subsist on its nectar. The bees spread the pollen to make sure the rosemary can grow. Officially named Rosmarius officinalus, it often grows near the sea. Its name translates to dew of the sea. Rosemary was first grown in Italy and North Africa. While it traditionally has blue flowers, Rosemary also has white flowers. According to legend, this is because the Virgin Mary laid her cloak on top of them when she fled to Egypt. These white flowers evoke purity, suggesting their healing power over the ages. When I look at Rosemary I am reminded of the cycles, permanences, and endurance of a natural world that does not care about the pains, errors, and victimization of humankind. Weare and pass on, paradigms are thought up, refined, and forgotten, but like the bees and the rosemary, our individual relationships are definitive.