This local resident loves to take long walks early in the morning to see all of the colorful gardens (like this one) in Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill.(Photo by John Colgan-Davis)

by John Colgan-Davis

The earth laughs in flowers. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. -- George Bernard Shaw

One of the great things about this time of year is the explosion and profusion of color, shape and design that are bursting in the gardens and parks that surround us. It is glorious and spectacular as the plantings that were so hopefully started a few months ago are now coming to fruition.

Watching this happen fills my morning walks with joy and wonder. It is a marvelous way to greet the day. I walk different routes along streets in Mt Airy, Chestnut Hill and/or Germantown, areas that feature lots of places with yards, gardens, walkways and more.

And these neighborhoods also feature gardeners —people who plan and plant their own spaces in their own ways with their own design ideas. And I get to look at this most days in the early morning light, a wondrous way to encounter the world as I explore a variety of answers to that age-old question, "What can I do with this little piece of earth?"

I get to view some of my favorite plantings as I walk West Mt Airy near where I live. Bryan Street, Cresheim Road, Gowen Avenue, Mt. Airy and Germantown Avenues all feature yards and walkways that show individuals demonstrating their own very individual styles.

Some have walkways up to and beside the house that are lined with a variety of different grasses and small plants. Some have big sunflowers that line both sides of a walk or fill a yard, attracting darting and whizzing goldfinches that amaze and delight the eyes of young kids passing by.

Still others have plants in pots of different sizes and colors neatly set on steps or porches with a variety of plants and flowers. Some have grasses of all shades of green, varying thicknesses and a wide array of shapes.

My favorite garden on Gowen Avenue is one of these, and I cannot count the number of different types of grasses and cacti that make up this wonderful space. I also noticed this year that there is a proliferation of monarda, Joe Pye weed and butterfly bushes that all attract hummingbirds and butterflies are common in Mt. Airy, as is the purple cone-flower.

Sunflowers and lilies are in abundance as well, adding both color and height to the neighborhood. Virginia creeper, daises and irises also regularly pop up. Of course, I did not know the names of many of these plants and flowers at first, but seeing them regularly on my walks intrigued me, and now I am slowly starting to learn their names and things about them.

There are gardeners I call "The Wild Bunch" who like a lot of different plants growing together in a relatively untrimmed or untamed fashion. Their yards and walks have plants seemingly growing in all directions with leaves crossing the edges of walkways, running along borders and seemingly crashing into each other and fighting for space and sun.

There are others who are more of the "proper English Garden" types; their plants are laid out in rows, neatly trimmed regularly, and it is clear that careful thought was given as to what color or shape was going to go into what part of the garden.

And there are gardeners who are all over the place, with some sections of a yard carefully and neatly planted and other parts in wonderful disarray. This range of approaches fascinates me as I walk. I can look at a whole block and see different approaches to what a garden can be.

So I continue to enjoy my early morning walks. It was a bit too humid to walk for a while in mid to late July. It was muggy and stifling even at 6 or 6:30 in the morning. I missed my walking and my enjoyment of the early morning sounds and sights. But the heat and humidity have both been lying low for the most part, and I have been able to happily amble in the neighborhood. A friend asked me why I am up at 6 in the morning when I am no longer teaching; it seems ridiculous to him for people to be up at that time when they do not HAVE to be up.

To me, though, that is the point. That time of day was meant for people who do not have to be up. For being up to see the world at that time in a way that allows you to truly see and experience it is a gift to be enjoyed and savored. And I am so glad that I get to do that.

John Colgan-Davis is a long-time Mt. Airy resident, recently retired public school teacher and harmonica player for the rockin’ blues band, Dukes of Destiny.