Dear Reader:
Yesterday as I walked slowly around the yard… it was pretty depressing… the extreme cold , over Christmas, had left once beautiful hanging vines and flowering pots moldy, black, lying all askew … ” death” scenes at different angles. It must feel what police or detectives witness at a crime scene filled with carnage.
And because of the erratic weather and then my unexpected illness… pots had not been cleaned up… or put up… so the gardens resembled a devastated bombed out area.
The only flower still surviving intact is the camellia… the royal tea plant that serves as ambassador to a southern winter….
As I started through the garden gate an ugly brown dead-looking mum stared back at me forlornly. The least I could do I figured was give it a haircut… it was then I saw it… hidden deep inside protected by the ugly dead stems… life… vibrant green life.
After staring at this once beautiful vine daily that earlier hung proudly in my side garden…it’s deplorable condition now saddened me.
Then as I rounded the porch I noticed my spell-binding pink vine …just as gorgeous as the day I got it. The HOPE sign holding strong- I smiled… hope was alive and well indeed!
Today we see many sculptures of Janus, the Roman god, for whom January is named. The dual face looking back and forward… a metaphor for past and future.
I was thinking yesterday someone should make a ” Janus” gardener sculpture – to help us remember the beautiful gardens of past seasons and the future of even more innovative flowers and plants in the new year. The thought makes me happy!
So until tomorrow… Let’s be thankful for the beauty in our presence now… and not be in a hurry to toss poinsettias but enjoy every beautiful moment of joy they give us…
Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle
It’s 4:30 a.m. here in British Columbia, Canada. To wander through our garden these days is just what you describe there. Carnage; drooping; darkness; death. All this tends to lead one to depression and despair and a deep longing for the warmth and new growth of spring.
BUT! The other day I took time to pause and look beneath our giant, moss-covered maple tree and behold! I noticed brave little green shoots poking through. On one side of the trunk I discovered Snowdrops pushing through the ground and on the other side there were the first sprouts of the lovely Trillium flower. Both of these happen to produce white blossoms. The Snowdrops are a miniature flower that bloom for a long while during the cold months of winter. Then the Trilliums arrive later with their pure white triple petals which also last a long time and gradually change to a pink and then burgundy. They are the provincial flower for Ontario.
Seems they come first and then the spring parade of many colours follows…. forsythia, crocuses, primroses, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips. And yes, lets not forget those camelias that often bloom early in the year as well. Your pictures of these were indeed refreshing and lovely, Becky. So even as we walk around and look down, let’s not forget the tiny signs of spring that can bless us here early in the new year.