I only stepped out the door for a moment, just to cut a single stem, but my world was waking and calling me to come and see once more before the flower season ends. One stem led to another…
Tag Archives: Flowers
Seed Time
I was given a pot of lovely calla lilies in the spring. When they finished blooming, I moved the foliage to a large pot outdoors and then remembered rhizomes I had saved from last year so I added them to the pot. It was rather late for them but they sent up leaves and two blooms. Usually, I am attentive to remove the faded blooms but these were forgotten, the pot drying and the older foliage withering away.
It was a sad sight and I decided to move the pot away from our sitting area when a flash of color caught my eye. It is these tiny sightings that lead to amazing discoveries.
Seeds! Seeds forming in the faded bloom! I had no idea of this. 
I am learning about these seed kernels and waiting for them to ripen, turning yellow or orange. Each kernel will have 2-5 seeds. This one cone could yield 50 seeds!
I’m so glad now that I “neglected” these plants so that their amazing fruitfulness can be displayed.
So easy on the eyes
Annabelle and the deer
Working at the dining room table, it was as if I could feel the stare; I looked up and through the window. That deer had been prowling the yard for days. I was a bit concerned for there had been rain those days but all seemed well. Until now. I grabbed the camera and walked to the kitchen door, opened it and stepped out. There she stood, bold and bad; posing behind the remains of an Annabelle hydrangea as if to say, “Spray, spray, but I will find a way to feast where I please, so there!” All those stalks had held bloom buds. <sigh>
Sparkling Days
Refreshing spring whites and all before Memorial Day! Nature wondrously does not conform to the dictates of the fashion idea of “only wear white between Memorial Day and Labor Day.”
Scent of spring
Early in the morning on the warm spring air, scent drifts through the garden chores and speaks to me of Mom.
And I remember the bottle with the French name that sat on her dressing table tray. She taught us to take the tiniest bit on a finger and daintily apply it to wrist and neck. Muguet Des Bois Eau de Toilette.
I only pick a few Lily of the Valley blooms but they are enough to bring back her smile and her laughter this spring morning.
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Small spring joys
An early spring morning with hyacinth and coffee is such a lovely gift.
The Roses of Lent
“Delectable”, “luscious” are used to describe Lenten Roses in Seeing Flowers by Teri Dunn Chace with photography by Robert Llewellyn. Exquisitely complex comes to me.
Nourished in shade and deep composting tree litter, they are shy blooms rarely lifting their heads to gaze back at you. 
To see their beauty requires determination and the humility to bend low or even kneel in the woodsy damp round them. 
I’m sitting in the coffee shop surrounded by human bloomings and thinking about the passing of time and people and how difficult it can be to see the exquisite beauty of each person. How difficult it can be to lift my own head to look into the eyes of others. In the Book of Malachi, these lovely words are found, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;” 
I think about how hard it can be to lift my face to the Sun of righteousness Who has healing in His wings so that I might then serve others with humility.
The journey is a grand adventure, The reward to see exquisitely complex beauty is before me.
Do you find it easy to find the amazing beauty in others? I know I have often walked by without even noticing.
Spring searching in Virginia
I have a family member who hates to talk about the weather. Certainly it is a boring topic this year. Snow, wintry mix, ice, freezing rain, wind, rain… March continues roaring about but spring is beating in the heart of the earth. We were blessed to go to Williamsburg last week. One of our favorite small places there is the Botanical Gardens. We roamed and sat in warmth for hours, listening.
One day, we took the ferry from Jamestown to the lovely town of Smithfield. The other month Cathy at Morning Musings wrote about bronze sculptures. This is my sole attempt to follow her lead – hubby and George Washington.
In her post last Monday, she quoted Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, so this one is for Cathy. The sculptor, George Lundeen, portrays the author writing that very poem.
There are seven stops to view these marvelous works. All are historical figures except one.
This is “The Valentine Couple”. 
So sweet. You can click on the photos to enlarge them and see the amazing detail.
It is cold here at home and of course the forecast is for snow tomorrow. I’m listening, I know the earth is sheltering buds and blooms and green. For now, I’ll enjoy the memory of these Lenten Roses.
March observations
In a futile attempt to keep the deer from lapping all the seed from the feeder, I had poked stakes in the ground to hold some fencing. I should have known they would just trample it and walk in at snack time. I pull it back up as much as possible and we repeat. The lingering snow has made it easy to see the birds. A murmuration came through and introduced a pair of Rufous-sided towhees to the feeder. Such beautiful birds!
There is a warming trend which is allowing a slow melt and the snowdrops are coming into view.
And a few hours later, the melt softens the icy white and I can begin gathering great piles of pine and maple brush from the lawn. As I commented to a passing motorist while shoveling the other week, 2014 is providing great opportunity for fresh air and exercise. It is also drawing me to search for beauty unfolding.
