juneSCENE IN OUR GARDEN: June 2014

Forest Park Boulevard Yards/Gardens

(Above) This is a silver maple tree - at least 200 years old, we were told!

(Above) We learned the pink tree seen here and in another photo are beech trees.

We saw several while on tour and thought them most attractive.

The day was hot and humid. We navigated eleven of the twelve homes and gardens open to the public before the rain set in. It was a lovely and local way to spend the morning. Hampered by heat and encumbered by cane, phone (camera) and the housewalk program/ticket, I didn't begin to take photos of everything that caught my attention!

Garden Tours - Real and Virtual

It's too hot and humid to do much. I'm kind of a wimp that way....

Anyway, I'm having too much virtual fun touring gardens with the West Coast Contingency!

Here and Here!

How I wish I could have been at this study weekend/tour with them...

Meanwhile, these two photos of stalwart plants

from our simple space brought me pleasure this morning.

AND in a few minutes, we're off to The City for a real Garden Tour ourselves!

We'll be packing plenty of water and wearing loose clothing!

Bouquet-ing

Inspired (as usual) by my daily fix at the Tangly Cottage Gardening Journal
which included the photo of a sweet bouquet,

I headed out to see what I could find to assemble one for the Salad & Dessert Luncheon

I will host at noon.

I don't have NEARLY the variety or amount of flowers to choose from,

but I'm pleased with the randomness that resulted!

I'm not sure the clematis will survive its cut-flower status,

but for the moment, I will enjoy it.

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I'm not sure WHY it takes an "occasion" (or a prompt)

for me to remember to bring flowers inside...

Everything is Beautiful....

Everything is beautiful....in its own way.

It's OUR Turn

Seems everything is a little slower on our property....

but it finally IS our turn to bloom!

We had really cut back these rose bushes along side one side of our sleeping cabin out back...

My! How they bloom...

Garden Tour/Perennial Sale

It was advertised as a perennial plant sale and was accompanied by

an invitation to view the rock garden in the back yard.

How could we resist?!?

It was an enjoyable excursion at so many levels....

Ideas galore!

I came home with three new plants AND a determination

to be sure to get to this sale on its first day next year!

Not-So-Strange-Bedfellows

Perennials romp in all the flowerbeds on our little property.

As I looked at them this morning over a cup of coffe

(1/2 Folgers Gourmet and 1/2 Hazelnut cream decaf),

I realized the commonality of our plantings...

Hosta and sedum seem to be comfortable bedfellows....

and we have several varieties of both.

"Don't mess with success," is my gardening mantra.

Diversion & Definition

Friday afternoon, our diversion was a walk along the River Greenway.
(One could wish the river wasn't so brown....but it is what it is.)

The scenic paved pathway is appreciated by bikers and walkers alike.

I took THESE three photos from the bench I warmed while my husband

walked a bit further (path can be seen to far right above...).

The sky was unusually beautiful above the tree tops.

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Returning home, my husband turned his energies toward definition--

Few things are more attractive than a newly-defined (and weeded) flower bed!

and this one was not an exception!

My part? To admire and transplant a heuchera
I found under an overpowering hosta in another flower bed.

I was actually able to divide it into three - two of them seen below.

43rd Anniversary

This is how we spent the early part of our 43rd wedding anniversary evening.

Having celebrated a day early with a meal at our favorite restaurant,

we pulled some of our lighter lawn chairs together

and spent some lovely time reading our novels....

A beautiful way to spend a beautiful evening.

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony. William Henry Channing 1810-1884

Irises come in many forms, shapes, colors and sizes and the sword-like foliage is attractive when the plant is not in bloom. The genus Iris is a large genus of bulbous and rhizomatous perennials.

The Iris was named after the goddess of the rainbow because of its many colors.
A flower on the Sphinx is considered to be an Iris, and another appears on a bas-relief of the 18th Egyptian dynasty.
Pliny also knew the Iris and praised its medicinal virtues.
The Iris was also a favourite flower of the Moslems, who took it to Spain after their conquest in the 8th century.

Bought at a local plant sale, Spring of 2009 Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium; syn. Chrysanthemum parthenium (L.) Pers., Pyrethrum parthenium Sm.) is a traditional medicinal herb which is found in many old gardens, and is also occasionally grown for ornament. The plant grows into a small bush up to around 18 inches high, with citrus-scented leaves and is covered by flowers reminiscent of daisies. It spreads rapidly, and they will cover a wide area after a few years. It is also commonly seen in the literature by its synonyms, Chrysanthemum parthenium (L.) Bernh. and Pyrethrum parthenium (L.) Sm.

I'D PICK MORE DAISIES
If I could live my life again
I'd be a little lazy
I'd stop this rushing to and fro
And stop and pick more daisies
Through all the lovely summer months
Though days be clear or hazy
No more to fret over tasks undone,
I'd stop to pick a daisy
Not so important what I did
This fact time now discloses
While running through life's garden green
I'd stop to smell the roses
If I could hold my little ones
The children in my care
I'd scold them less and love them more
With so much love to share
If I could pass this way again
Though folks might think I'm crazy
I'd work and worry less, but I'd
Take time to pick a daisy
The rush of life has passed me by
Now I have leisure hours
But time has taken such a toll
It's too late to pick the flowers.

Mildred F. Rowe

MEASURE YOUR HEALTH...by your sympathy with morning and spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature, if the prospect of an early morning walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you--know that the morning and the spring of your life are past. Thus may you feel your pulse. (Thoreau)

"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on the trees and flowers and clouds and stars." (Martin Luther)

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

The soul of a child is the loveliest flower
That grows in the garden of God
It's climb is from weakness to knowledge and power,
To the sky from the clay to the clod.
To beauty and sweetness it grows under care
Neglected, 'tis ragged and wild.
'Tis a plant that is tender, but wondrously rare,
The sweet wistfull soul of a child.

Be tender, O Gardener, and give it it's share
Of moisture, of warmth and of light,
And let it not lack for th painstaking care
To protect it from frost and from blight.
A glad day will come when it's bloom shall unfold,
It will seem that an angel has smiled,
Reflecting a beauty and sweetness untold
In the sensitive soul of a child.

...Author Unknown

Thy Word is like a garden, Lord,
With flowers bright and fair;
And every one who seeks may pluck
A lovely cluster there.
Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine,
And jewels rich and rare
Are hidden in its mighty depths
For every searcher there.

Thy Word is like a starry host:
A thousand rays of light
Are seen to guard the traveler,
And make his pathway bright.
Thy Word is like an armory,
Where soldiers may repair,
And find, for life's long battle-day,
All needful weapons there.

Oh, may I love Thy precious Word,
May I explore the mine,
May I its fragrant flowers glen,
May light upon me shine!
Oh, may I find my armor there!
Thy Word my trusty sword,
I'll learn to fight with every foe
The battle of the Lord.

(Edwin Hodder, Thy Word Is Like a Garden, Lord)