Many people ask:
WHY “HARLEQUIN’S” GARDENS?
There are many reasons:
- Harlequin means colorful, cheerful, playful and fun.
- Harlequin represents a wide diversity of plants, people and persuasions (that create a lively performance or ecosystem)
- Harlequin is a patchwork where small pieces of cloth become clothing, stones become a wall, plants become a garden, or ideas become a vision
- Harlequin was a stock character in early Italian street theatre who acted, juggled and played music. His performance might be found in a market place where people would be talking, laughing, telling stories, sharing information, selling wares, socializing and networking. We want our nursery to be more than just a place to run over and buy something.
- Many varieties of colorful plants are called “Harlequin”, like Harlequin Euonymus, Harlequin Honeysuckle, Harlequin Marigold
- The only way to think outside the box is to loosen up, have a sense of humor and try the unusual.
- Harlequin’s Gardens loves the coalition of many colors, the diversity of many species, and the cumulative effect of small acts of kindness and cooperation.
- One of our favorite stories is about when Harlequin was a young boy. He was invited to join his friends at the masked Carnival. But his mother was very poor and could not afford a costume for him. His friends were very disappointed that he could not come with them, but one of their mothers had a good idea. She gave Harlequin the scraps that were left over from making her son’s costume, and when the other mothers did the same, he had enough cloth. His own mother sewed all the pieces together into the colorful patchwork that became his signature costume, and he was able to join his friends at the Carnival. The story illustrates our appreciation for recycling, kindness, cooperation and resourcefulness.
- You would never remember us if we named the nursery:
Brawner and Reshetnik.