The Magic of Dew

Posted in Gardens and Collections on April 16 2009, by Plant Talk

Jan Johnsen is an instructor of landscape design in the Garden’s Continuing Education program and a past recipient of the Instructor of the Year award. She is a principal of the firm Johnsen Landscapes & Pools.

It’s a sunny spring morning; the air is crisp and the sky is blue. I am on my way to teach a class at The New York Botanical Garden and, as always, am reveling in the lovely green setting that surrounds me. This particular morning I notice the water drops glistening atop the blades of grass and remember that the season of dew watching is upon us.

Dew appears when the days are warm, the nights cool, and the air is moist. The earth cools overnight, chilling the air, and like magic, drops of water appear out of nowhere and settle on whatever is near the ground. But it does not last long. By late morning the dew evaporates and our momentary watery celebration of spring is over.

Spring flowers are lovely when covered in dew. The blossoms of daffodils, pansies, clover, dianthus, phlox, and euphorbia sparkle in the morning sun with the jeweled globes of water perched lightly upon their petals. One of the best dew catchers is lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis). Alchemilla is Arabic for “little magical one” and refers to the healing properties of the water that collects on its wide, crinkled leaves.

The idea that dew contains healing powers was echoed in the 1930s by Dr. Edward Bach, an English physician who developed the famed Bach flower remedies. He surmised that the dew sitting upon a blossom absorbed the healing energies of that flower. He reasoned that ingesting a small amount of a flower’s sun-drenched dewdrops could rebalance key emotional energy patterns that were behind many people’s illnesses.

So, when you walk out among the Garden’s tranquil spring flower borders, look closely and see how the dewdrops, nature’s ephemeral wonder, act like little crystal balls, magnifying the early morning sunlight. Herein lies the magic of dew.