Photo by Jan Yarborough
When I walked through Sarah P. Duke Gardens with my friend Jamey and her Seeing Eye Dog, Yoko, I realized how much more alive my senses became. Walking beside someone who experiences the world through sound, scent, and touch instead of sight reminded me to truly notice – and share – what I had often passed by.
The path in the Discovery Garden challenged feet to outline and explore a mill wheel, a large mosaic carved butterfly and several large carved ants embedded in the path.
The Discovery Garden held other tactile joys:
- Many differently shaped miniature pumpkins lined the ledge outside the Tobacco Barn.
- A variety of spinach that is a vine with copious clusters of blueberry-like berries.
- Huge leaves of collard greens
- A butternut squash with a very long, very curved neck.
- Carnivorous pitcher plants (which also fascinated Yoko who explored with her nose).
I described (but did not offer for touching) the flowering mustard plant that was being pollinated by a very large bumblebee.
We both still wonder what becomes of the beautiful vegetables growing in the garden.
Entering the Asiatic Garden, I was last to notice the faint smell of garlic and the quiet sound of falling water of the waterfall.
We stopped to explore a Japanese aralia just beside the path. The seven lobes make up the huge leaves fanned out like inviting hands and the large bumpy round balls from that year’s flowers just called out to be touched.
Deeper in the Asiatic Garden, what was possibly a pineapple cycad, scientifically known as Lepidozamia peroffskyana, was a treat to touch (but difficult to describe!)
A delicate rose, carved in one of the stones in a short stone wall, reminded us to stop and touch the roses.
The huge banana tree leaves felt surprisingly like thick plastic; we wondered what caused the giant splits in so several, but not all, of the leaves.
The redwood leaves felt like feathers and smelled like Christmas.
The large grove of thick, tall bamboo invited us a walk around among them as if escaping from a maze. But, as we got into just the first trunks, I read Yoko’s eyes as she looked up at me. I am pretty sure her expression translated to “What on earth are you doing, lady?” So, we exited quickly, and Yoko was back to her usual calm, confident strides.
The red bridge sealed the adventure. Navigation without sight up and down an arched path takes a surprisingly different measure of balance and trust in the dog than ordinary paths – or even stairs. Jamey and Yoko expertly met this challenge as if child’s play!
I experienced Duke Gardens for the first time again. And look forward to doing more of the gardens with Jamey and Yoko!
Essay by Duke Gardens volunteer Jan Yarborough