juneSCENE IN OUR GARDEN

So Much. So Early.

Thought I'd best get some photos of these brave blooms

before they meet Jack Frost tonight...

I'll be sad if this tree's beautiful blossoms

are damaged tonight.

Some of the buds are just beginning to open...

We've dubbed this trio of viburnum bushes "the three sisters".

They're at their peak of fragrance and beauty right now.

So much! So early!

I know that so many people have lilacs.
For me, I can't get enough of them.
The sight of them amazes me every spring.
It's as though I see them for the first time each new year.
The weather has turned very, very cool.
I took our grandchildren to our favorite nursery yesterday.
It was almost too cool to enjoy it.
I DID get the two of them to pose on the bridge.
Just look at those beautiful flowering trees behind them!

Getting There

The Circle of Friends

reassembled and tweeked for Spring/Summer 2012!

I have an idea.

I think we'll move our semi-dilapidated fire pit

to the center of the Circle of Friends...

(after cleaning it up, of course).

We're getting there.

Record High Temperature Today

Walking to the post office this morning...

this scene at the bank.

How beautiful-- this 87 degree day in N.E. Indiana!

Come-As-You-Are

Spring is just around the corner.

so we're having a party!

A "Come-As-You-Are" party.

Look who all is coming!

I'm expecting many, many more.

Guess I should get busy tidying up a bit!

In Like a Lion...

...or so it seems. Wind blew hard all night. It's still dark, so I can't see if there is pick up to do. Thankfully, we haven't had the tornadoes or damaging straight winds that other parts of the country have been plagued with!

No such thing as bad weather...

Out a car window earlier this week...Impossible to capture the REAL beauty of it...

Sunshine is delicious,

rain is refreshing,

wind braces us up,

snow is exhilarating;

there is really no such thing as bad weather,

only different kinds of good weather.

John Ruskin

I couldn't help "lifting" these lines from FlowerLady today!

(Sometimes I need to remind myself--or CONVINCE myself.)

She had rain. We had snow last night.

Not so much. Just enough to cover things well.

February Eve

Sunny and mild. Odd.

It's hard to know how to decorate.

If you look closely below, you can see a spring bulb "hatching" under the stork!

HERE it is!

Such a delight to be out and about this February Eve.

Views from the Front Porch

I cut back only a few perennials in the fall.

Winter wouldn't be as beautiful without them!

The Inside Scoop

a curiously healthy poinsettia purchased by my husband at Aldi's

and watered twice since purchased w-a-y before Christmas...

...a forlorn and forgotten Christmas cactus

and not a bit bigger than when it came home with me

a year ago (maybe TWO years ago)...

...a fine plant that also thrives on neglect.

That's the inside scoop.

(You're probably wondering why I have a "gardening" blog.)

And outside it's going to get up to 50 degrees today!

In JANUARY!

I feel like I ought to be planting some spring vegetables.

I'm so confused. I wonder how the critters feel?

Outside our Christmas Cabin

This sign hangs over the entrance to our backyard Christmas Cabin...

Looks like we have a little touch up to do on the Christmas tree that

hangs beside the doorway.

Santa stands beside the front "porch".

For a look inside, click HERE to go to another blog of mine...

Snow

After WAY too much rain....snow.

Wet snow.

Snow with no sign of stopping.

I hate to complain.

So I won't.

(But I'd like to.)

Nature's Pallette--Rich and Wonderful

I'm not sure it gets any more beautiful than this!

Just luxurious in its red...

...and in the back, close to our sun porch, this bush sports blue berries.

I'm not sure I noticed the berries before...Wonder what kind of bush it is?

Oh, the gorgeous display just outside our windows!

November's palette - rich and wonderful...

Here and There

Here....

(Mulching leaves in the back yard)

...there

(Christmas Open House at a Neuhouser Nursery)

November Chores and More

The frost was on the "pumpkins" this morning...

not as bad as Sunday morning though.

Saturday evening we had some help. Ten young men

for whom we were providing dinner grabbed items in our yard

and brought them to this general area.

My husband will sort and stack and eventually cover it all with a tarp.

The men saved us many, many steps!

This sedum plays watchdog over the pile

while the mums just keep on beautifying our flower beds,

undaunted by the frost.

I couldn't resist this last picture. The sight was too incredible to me...

I think I'm correct in calling the bush a viburnum.

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)