Poppy Okotcha's new book, "A Wilder Way: How Gardens Grow Us," emphasizes the cyclical nature of gardening and life. Meeting her on the spring equinox symbolizes the balance of endings and new beginnings. She eloquently discusses the importance of decay for new growth while sharing her childhood experiences across various gardens, notably in South Africa and England. Okotcha highlights how her mother’s passion for gardening became a healing force post-divorce, underscoring how transforming spaces can profoundly connect with personal healing and emotional renewal.
Okotcha sees the garden as a kind of guru, and one of its lessons has been the importance of things breaking down. A really valuable takeaway from engaging with living landscapes is the idea that decay or an ending is required for newness.
While the idea of a horticultural life cycle isn't new, Okotcha's equal appreciation for every stage of it, and the parallels she draws between gardens and the human condition, feels fresh.
In South Africa, Okotcha and her siblings attended a Steiner school where she learned about compost and played in the dust, a far cry from the mainstream education she returned to in Britain.
Realizing how the effort of transforming a garden healed her mother after divorce was, says Okotcha, a defining moment, seeing her love for the flowers and how they loved her in return.
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