Visiting another garden term from yesteryear…a conceit was a frivolous garden feature, design, or perhaps decoration that had little or no use. Are these fanciful posts of mine a conceit? I’ll let you be the judge.
Of course the word conceit drew me to the word conceited and ultimately to narcissism, that state of mind where you fall in love with yourself to the point of not being able to think of anyone else. The mythical figure Narcissus died of thirst and starvation because he couldn’t draw himself away from the pool he gazed into. Ah such a beauty am I, he thought…
Now back to gardening…there is a flower called Narcissus. I imagine it leaning over a pond, gazing at itself lovingly, no thought to sunlight or rain or growing upright…and I forget to help it, chaotic gardener that I am…until the narcissus dies.
