In short, Haiku Horticulture is a weeklong writing process where writers work on an idea seeded by #HaikuSeed_HH prompt that yields one haiku at the end of the cultivation period.

Writing a haiku is a lot like cultivating a plant. You sow a seed, an idea sprouts from it in your mind. You see the potential, so you pour your efforts into the seedling. You cultivate it with patience and care, trimming the leaves that are detrimental to the growth of the plant if necessary. And after some time, a flourishing bloom appears in your garden.

With Haiku Horticulture, we expect you, the writer, to ruminate on and cultivate your haiku for one week before you decide it has bloomed fully from the first day you have seen it sprout from Haiku Horticulture prompt (#HaikuSeed_HH).

We often stick with our first idea. We often also neglect the potential our ideas have and trade it for fruits that can be reaped instantly, a sign of impatience. We want to make haiku writers see the fruits of patience in haiku writing. We also want to help haiku writers understand and observe more closely how their mind and heart shift and change perspectives ever so slightly, maybe just a word or two. It may not be quite different from the first version, but you would have spent a week cultivating it and you’d know that this version of your haiku is the best expression of your idea.

Haiku Writing and Submission Guidelines

Below we outline a rough idea about how you could approach writing a haiku for Haiku Horticulture:

• Write a haiku (Day 1)

This version is the one you’d post if it was any other prompt.  Keep it in your notes. This is haiku you want to cultivate and get it to bloom. Submit this as an entry for Sprout (Version 1).

• Cultivate your haiku (Day 2-6)

Over the next few days, work on your haiku, see if can be improved. You can do anything that is required to cultivate it – change one word or re-write the whole haiku, but do not change the core idea that you’ve used in Sprout (Version 1). Keep a track of all the different variations you have tried in your notes. Select on of them and submit it as an entry for Cultivation (Version 2).

• See your haiku bloom (Day 7)

You have spent a week cultivating your haiku and it has bloomed to its full potential. Submit this as an entry for Bloom (Version 3).

Selection Process

We expect you to submit 3 versions of your haiku through the submission form in the order in which you’ve written them over a period of 7 days. As described earlier, the 3 versions are named Sprout (Version 1), Cultivation (Version 2), Bloom (Version 3).

While evaluating the best written haiku for a feature on Haiku Seed Journal‘s Haiku Horticulture column, only the final version i.e., Bloom (version 3) will be considered. But we shall post all 3 versions of the selected haiku in order to showcase how haiku evolve over time in a creator’s mind before they become the simple yet tremendously artistic verses that they are.

Haiku Horticulture – Twice a Month

• The prompt post Haiku Horticulture – Prompt shall be posted on Mondays of weeks #1 and #3 every month. Submissions close on Mondays of weeks #2 and #4 respectively.
• The feature post Haiku Horticulture – Showcase shall be posted at the end of weeks #2 and #4 every month after selection process is completed.

Misc.

• The 3 versions need not be written exactly on the days we mentioned above. We know great haiku can often be written impromptu, but our initiative focuses on patience and cultivation. So we hope you honor the spirit of Haiku Horticulture initiative by cultivating your haiku for a few days until you can say to yourself your haiku has fully bloomed.
• The progress you show in the 3 haiku versions need not be drastic. It could be as simple as remove one word or adding one from your initial versions.