juneSCENE IN OUR GARDEN: porches

Showing posts with label porches. Show all posts

Sunday Snow

These three angles were about my only options for photographs

from our back door...

There appears to be no end to this snow.

View from the Front Porch

While the snow goes about its business,

I read gardening posts guided by links in my blog's sidebar.

Stunned by the philosophical tone of THIS one, I stop and ponder.

Then I comment:

Do you intend to be so philosophical or does it just "happen"? Cases in point:
*It is in my best interest to be patient.
*The more of the Lush I let decompose, the easier they are to find.
*The garden's bones are growing. I get to see them clearly in the barren time.

...

Unsophisticated Splendor

I stepped outside into temporary sunshine to check the rain gauge.

Another 2" of rain has fallen here with more forecast for the next three days!

I couldn't help but notice the unsophisticated splendor of the hosta...

right "up there" with the unsophisticated assemblage on our front porch!

I had to document even MORE unsophisticated potential

represented by this first of a multitude of flowers waiting in the wings!

What Unsophisticated Pleasures do YOU enjoy in your garden?

Views from the Front Porch

I cut back only a few perennials in the fall.

Winter wouldn't be as beautiful without them!

more october

The tree in foreground is almost bare--its leaves on ground in prior post...Very few walnuts this year. What's up with that?

Newly composed vignette on front porch

My husband wired this lamp yesterday -- one of a pair purchased at a garage sale.

It Was a Very Good Day

Last evening, I watched as my husband unloaded two trailer loads of mulch around our newly formed tree-bed. He borrowed the trailer from a friend and our neighbor Jim's pick-up. I sat with Jim's wife, Shirley, on their front porch and watched.

Below is the ONLY tulip that bloomed in our yard this year
(and at that, quite late)!

The lily-of-the-valley just began blooming yesterday.

They make the fairly large St. Francis appear small!

Maybe it's the camera angle...

A few feet further toward the front of the lot,
this tree blooms in all its splendor.

It seems to me that each year it appears a little differently.

I SHOULD organize & compare my photos.

Earlier in the day (while Blogger was out-of-order),
I sat on our back porch and read.

This was the sight from my chair...

It was a VERY good day to enjoy the outdoors!
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Wonderland by Night II

These scenes greeted me as I stepped out our front door this morning.

Crisp air;

Skiff of snow.

Wonderland by Night

Mid-October Touches

We added the lights to the front porch last night;

this arrangement sits on a small table thereupon.

This is probably as beautiful as our tree will be!
The next strong wind or rain storm will bring its leaves down.

Across the street, the sun puts on an evening show.
The sky glows in applause.

Goodnight, Moon!

Autumn Finery

Thanks to the generosity of Tom and Shirley, our front porch is decked out in great autumn style!

September Sadness

I'm not sure why I was sad as I strolled through our yard this morning...

Could it be the thinning of leaves,

the straggly awkwardness of once-proud perennials,

the strong hints of the coming "deadness" of winter,

or the regrets for things neglected in season past?

The squirrels seem to notice NONE of it - scampering and screeching

far too fast for my camera to catch their activity.

I'll take a lesson from them and apply myself to tasks at hand today.

Focused, thorough and (hopefully) productive.

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)