The Pi Garden
What is the Pi Garden?
There used to be a trampoline where Liam bounced with friends at birthday parties, alone with his own thoughts and imagination, or with just one friend making up stories, jokes and games.
Now a growing circle of plants, many donated by friends, displays annual transformations of perennials, grasses, bulbs, succulents and herbs through the seasons:
Forget-me-nots, bergamot (the Earl Grey tea leaves favored by Liam), late-fruiting raspberries (for pies, smoothies, and also shared by deer and robins!), oregano (for pizza sauce), columbines (to attract hummingbirds and butterflies), lungwort and liverwort (because they are wonderful and weird), and many more…
Painted stones, odd and beautiful objects, ceramic, stone and metal sculptures from classmates, friends, neighbors and family decorate the garden. Some stones have been brought from countries Liam may have wanted to travel to: the Czech Republic, Austria and Italy.
This garden was conceived after reading a book called “The Grieving Garden” in which parents share deep sadness and supportive understanding about the deaths of their children, newborn to adulthood. From it, this garden came to be, stemming from grief and also love, as every worm and mole crawls through its soil, as every wayward seed or dug-in rhizome takes root, and as flowers wither and bloom through the seasons.