IN THIS GARDEN...

from "THE SECRET GARDEN (1911)"  -Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924)

"Sometimes since I've been in the garden

I've looked up through the trees at the sky.

I've had a strange feeling of being happy,

as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest...

making me breathe fast.

Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing.

Everything is made out of magic,

leaves and trees,

flower and birds,

badgers and foxes....

and squirrels......

and people.

So, it must be........

.......... all around us.

In this garden...

In all the places..."

Photographs 2025

 

FROM ABOVE....

CLEAR EVENING 

   by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) from the collection " Dark Side of the Moon" ( 1926)

The Crescent moon is large enough to linger

A little while after the twilight goes

This night the garden perfumes are earth and apple

dewy pine and rose....

Over my head four new-cut stars are glinting

And the inevitable night draws on;

Evenings on evenings

Years on years forever

Be taut, my spirit, close upon and keep

The scent.....

the brooding chill

the gilding fire-fly

A poem I learned before I fall asleep....

                                                                                            EACH EVENING.......

"We are all naturally seekers of wonders. We travel far to see the majesty of old ruins, the venerable forms of the hoary mountains, great waterfalls, and galleries of art. And yet the world's wonder is all around us; the wonder of setting suns, and evening stars, of the magic spring-time..." -Albert Pike

            "Every evening brings us closer to God..." -Martin Luther

"So let us welcome peaceful evening in.." -William Cowper

 photographs 2025

IT'S BEEN a DIRTY WEEK.....

" A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory..." - Leonard Nimoy (Spock)

Sea Soil. Earth. DIRT. My fav. Not Texas tea, but close enough, in the North Island. It squooshes between your toes like soft sand.

Of course, it would be pouring rain, when the truck came, full of Sea Soil.  No  it does  NOT smell fishy. It smells like rain. Kelp, Fish by- products, organic matter from the logging industry, compost. Rich. Loam.

Seeds have been waiting for weeks. Echinacea, Calendula, daisy, Poppy, Chamomile, Black Eyed Susan, Cosmos ( they thrive on neglect....) ferns....more and more Cosmos.

Green peas. Skads and skads of peas planted between 1 year old blueberry bushes.

"There's something magical about DIRT. When I put my hands in it , I feel life in it..." - Unknown

Snow is melting on Mt. Washington Mountain range, at the same time of the last frost of winter.

The  workers kept digging in the mud, repurposing pots, tossing out dead perennials, frozen  from winter wet.

They dug up ferns growing in the greenhouse to dump in the now empty pots.  Ferns grow like crazy here. They love sea soil. They love rain. North Island has plenty..........

"Find out what it is that touches you most deeply. Pursue it. Learn about it. Explore it. Expand on it. Live with it and nurture it..." - Leonard Nimoy ( Spock)

Bare patches on the terrace under the cherry tree got a makeover with large pots full of Sea Soil and  Alchemilla ( Lady's mantle)

                               
Vine Geraniums, over wintered,  laced with fertilizer sticks, have grown wild inside.  They're ready to go outside in a week, maybe sooner , if they start wanting to take over....

"Life is a garden: Dig it.."- Joseph  Campbell

Front rose bed with old roses, hyacinth, and tons and tons of Cosmos seeds stuffed under Sea soil, with the worms.

Pots filled with Maiden hair ferns, Japanese painted ferns, Sweet peas, Coral Bells....

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.." 

                      -Leonard Nimoy ( Spock)

One new rose. A hybrid tea. Planted in a massive pot near the back door, near the wall, in the sun. Protected from the wind.

It's been a dirty week. It's been a great week.  Everything new and fresh. The dirt's the best part....but just wait till the garden explodes....

(And one Pottery Cat that looks over all. ) "Live Long  and Prosper..." 

                                                                              - Leonard Nimoy ( Spock)

 Photographs 2025