The title of this posting is taken from an Oscar Wilde quotation. He was attempting to make the point that the flower, like a work of art, has no practical use for humanity, that it does not guide or instruct, and that it simply brings joy. It blooms for its own joy, and from that blooming we derive joy also. Wilde also says that humanity might take the flower and sell it, therefore making it useful to people, but this has nothing to do with the flower itself, that this is simply a function forced upon the flower by humanity. This is not to say that Oscar Wilde did not think art and flowers important - he spent a great deal of his life surrounded by both - but he felt that not everything of worth had practical applications.
I have sometimes pondered, as I walk solitary countryside paths, lost in the flowers and the open sky, if part of nature's appeal to me is the lack of care for one another between us. For my part, I go out there and I fall in love with its beauty and its grace, I appreciate its intelligence and the interconnectedness of it all, but I know that there isn't really much there that I need in a practical way. Supermarkets, doctors' surgeries, scientists, and other human inventions have solved the problems that I might have turned to nature for. Of course, those inventions and the people that work in those sorts of places still need nature, for inspiration and resource. But it is no longer vital that I have the knowledge of nature that I am sure some of my ancestors carried in their heads.
For Nature's part, I am sure that she would prefer it if I were not there at all. Indeed, I see this in every animal that runs or flies from my approach. I see it in every step I take along a path worn that might otherwise be a stretch of flowers. I see it in the statistics that report ever decreasing numbers of almost everything. No, Nature does not require my presence to survive and thrive.
It is perhaps a very one-sided relationship that I have with nature. I go to her for the peace of mind, the joy, and the excitement that she gives to me. I hope that in my little efforts to grow a flower, or feed the birds, or take part in some citizen science project, that I am giving a little back to something so great. Though I am afraid nothing could repay what she has given me.
There is, of course, one thing wrong with Mr. Wilde's comments about the uselessness of flowers, and that is that he was only really considering the relationship between human beings and flowers in its most direct way. He wasn't thinking of how human beings benefit from flowers in the, sometimes tangled, interconnectedness of nature that is the basis for the study of ecology. We are all still, despite our sometimes apparent best efforts to remove ourselves from it, part of that interrelationship of all things. And forgetting that will be our downfall.
Common poppy; Papaver rhoeas. (Photo from personal collection)
My interest in gardening grew from my concern for pollinators, and how the loss of these fantastic creatures impacts other life. So, I planted wildflowers and watched them grow, discovering a fascination and wonder in the journey from seed to flower. Before that, my interest in nature had been almost exclusively in the apparently much more dynamic animal life - plant life was just a supporting player in the drama. What an idiot I was!
I now have a small garden that includes a mixture of wildflowers, containers that home Oxeye daisies and Poppies, strawberry plants, chilli pepper plants, and some Evening primrose. It brings me a little peace, some concern, and wonder in their strength and resilience. And their intelligence. Recent strong winds have battered my daisies a little, so I am experiencing some concern for them right now, but they are still green and standing, and I have seen these plants, with a little care, restored before. I hope that they are okay - I only planted them last year and have not seen a flower on them yet!
When I consider Oscar Wilde's comments about the uselessness of flowers, I understand what he means; he says that not everything that is useless has no value. We find joy in the flowers, even though they have no practical applications to our daily lives, or apparently so. And, perhaps, all those studies done since Wilde's death 122 years ago, those studies which have found there are great benefits to our mental health and wellbeing when we spend time in nature, back up what the Victorian author and playwright said - the flowers give us joy simply in their being, and for that alone they are of value.
Then, we consider the part of the flowers in the wider ecological sense and how they figure in our survival, just as they figure in the survival of other lives. And, in that sense, perhaps Wilde is proven a little wrong, and flowers are practical and useful after all, as well as being beautiful givers of joy and peace of mind.
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