May You Always Be the Blessing Nature Needs

Cheralyn Darcey

Living on the central Coast of NSW, Australia, Cheralyn is a gardener with a passion for ethnobotany and botanical history. She produces and presents a weekly gardening radio show, The Gardening Gang, on Coast FM Classic Hits and is the Community Relations Coordinator, a gardener and gardening instructor at Doyalson Community Garden. Cheralyn has written and illustrated nearly twenty botanical titles (all beautifully published by Rockpool Publishing), that share with readers her passion for plants and lifelong research that explores the relationships of the botanical kingdom and us. She is a popular guest on national tv, international podcasts, radio and print media for her extensive and engaging knowledge of botanical history, garden folklore and practical gardening knowledge.

Colourful story of Cheralyn’s journey

If you asked me when and where my fascination for the botanical world began, I suppose it would sound rather a cliché that it was collecting flowers in the tiny pockets of nature found within the urban closeness of inner-city Sydney when I was a child. Then again, isn’t that the place that passions are awakened? In the seemly mundane acts and tasks that we all participate in but for some, they awaken a pulse that beats clearly and rises a knowing that this, this is the place we are meant to be. Maybe it was climbing a tree, helping Grandma plant her spinach or arranging flowers with a teacher but for those of us who make the botanical kingdom our home, there is a current stirred within us a little stronger than most. I feel my most happy and accepted in this world when I am immersed in nature and especially with plants. There is no fear, no destination and there are no goals in my work either. Researching, writing, experimenting, creating art. All of it is just what I do, there are no defined crowning goals because nature is organic and the environment, the inhabitants and the changing world will dictate what needs to be done today. Of course, I have rough plans, as I do with my gardens, but I work in directions, not destinations and I travel along to where they need me to be. Although this can sound somewhat ethereal it’s actually science. To be our most effective, we need to bend and grow in the directions that nature requires us to take. Who knew that right now we would be in the middle of a pandemic and that the needs of everyone and the world have changed so much? The core of my passion for plants has helped developed a fascination for ethnobotany, the study of the relationships between people and plants and so now more than ever before, I find myself at the very roots of a new wave of people picking up the garden trowel for mental health, spiritual growth, physical health and a myriad of personal reasons to become closer to nature and plants. Personally, my physical skills as a gardener are much more called on, particularly helping people establish vegetable gardens at home and grow more plants indoors. I am also the Community Relations Coordinator at my local Community Garden and at present am busy propagating plants on site for the garden market we hope to have in Spring, such is the rise in interest and demand for plants. So, I am swapping two days a week in my own world to be physically at the gardens, working with the plants there, getting them ready for what this new world needs. What has come from my connection with the botanical world has been my research and art and in 2014, after about 20 years of publishing rejections, I decided to self-publish a deck of cards featuring my artwork and research and this was ‘The Australian Wildflower Reading Cards’. I liked the way a deck of cards could feature the aspects I found in my work with plants and share them with others in a tool. This deck can be used to understand the physical, the scientific and the various metaphysical aspects of each flower and their plant and that is what all of the decks I created after this share with people. To use my card decks you can simply randomly select a card and use this as the inspiration for your day by reading the accompany text in the guidebook or use as prompt for journaling, writing, artwork and so on. The decks work very well with complimentary therapies and counselling as my work is all based on the actual therapeutic qualities of plants and so can be used as a visual aid for clients, a supporting tool in prescribing and as an oracle deck for those who enjoy working with the spiritual aspects of the botanical kingdom. I find that people respond better and deeply when they can actually see not only a photographic image but an artistic representation of a plant. The emotional connection stirs to deepen the experience. Who can deny what they feel when gazing upon Sunflowers by Van Goh or Water Lilies by Monet or even a delightful bunch of crayon-drawn daisies by a child? The success of The Australian Wildflower Reading Cards took me by surprise and I again approached publishers with not only this deck but also manuscripts and ideas for other botanical and gardening titles and was this time given offers, by all I submitted to and within a week. Although I had offers from Australian and American publishers, I did decide on a local company as I felt they could better understand my work and what I wanted to share with people. As of now, I have had published seventeen botanical titles (eight decks and nine books) and these have enjoyed a lot of success overseas, particularly in the USA and been translated into French and Russian. My latest book, The Language of Houseplants, (released 1 st June 2020,) felt like a journey through the jungles as I explored the origins, ethnobotanical usage (therapeutic, culinary, physical, cultural) history of the plants that we have invited to share our living and working spaces with. I wanted people to not only respond to the visual aesthetics of their houseplants but also understand the various energetic aspects of these plants so they could better place them, gift them and enjoy them indoors and naturally I’ve shared my gardening advice and experience in this book to ensure they thrived in these areas. I don’t consider my work, work, it’s just that I share what I love and I’m so happy to be able to do that through my published titles, online platforms and in person talks and workshops. At the moment I am happily developing community initiatives with Doyalson Community Garden, my local community garden so we can encourage more people to grow something no matter their skill level. I adore teaching so I am looking forward to being able to do that again both in the garden and beyond. I think my biggest message is, don’t be afraid of joining your local community garden or botanical project! No matter your skill or interest level, we would love to have you! We have people who just adore to be in the Community Garden here and their contribution is baking the occasional tray scones for the volunteers! Others are experienced beekeepers, advanced gardening technique masters and there’s loads of people like me, just someone who loves getting her hands dirty and watching people spark up when they see stuff grow and blossom. Community Gardens and Botanical Projects are filled with people who love to share what they have found makes them happy and they are always welcoming of others to join them. So, when you ask me what I do? I just grow plants and listen while they teach me a thing or two along the way and then I share that with others through my titles, through community gardening by growing with the people and places along the way.